PKL on The One Show

Eagle-eyed viewers might have spotted my fleeting appearance on The One Show on Monday, talking about PKL KitchenPods as a potential solution for schools requiring new kitchen facilities to help with implementing the School Food Plan and Universal Infant Free School Meals.

The feature looked at the issues some schools will be facing in getting ready for the changes, and touched on several potential solutions. John Vincent from The School Food Plan helped a headteacher explore a number of options to ensure her school could meet the Plan's recommendations. The PKL KitchenPod at Bush Hill Park Primary School in Enfield was featured (thanks to headteacher Sue Crisp) as an example of modular kitchen buildings which provide flexible procurement options - including purchase, rental or lease - which can help schools without funding for an upfront purchase.

The feature also discussed options such as the local authority or private caterers borrowing money to invest in school kitchens, with the knowledge that a good facility will generate a profit, enabling the money to be paid back over time. Bringing the catering in-house was another suggestion put forward in the feature. This option can provide a great solution to schools whose current catering company may no longer represent the highest quality and most cost-effective solution when faced by the increased numbers of children who will be entitled to free school meals from September.


One of our PKL Food Cubes was installed at the BBC studios for the day, for a live piece about how modular servery buildings can provide a solution to queues and congestion in school dining rooms. Mary Berry seemed to enjoy cooking pancakes in the Cube, describing it as "splendid" when interviewed by presenters Matt and Alex. Sadly we're not able to include a free Mary Berry with every Food Cube, but we do supply a variety of features and equipment,which we hope makes up for it!

I had a fantastic afternoon down at The One Show studios, watching rehearsals and pre-recordings. The studio is much smaller than I'd expected, but is run with such efficiency that a larger space really isn't necessary! I was also surprised to find that the outside filming area where our Food Cube was located is very open to the public, with people passing on the street able to watch from only a few metres away.

During a break in rehearsals, I had a chat with presenter Matt Baker, who was particularly interested in the issue as his own children don't currently have a hot meal option at school.

It was also nice to catch up with John Vincent from the School Food Plan and hear about the filming he'd done for the feature. I'm a member of the School Food Plan's Small Schools Taskforce, so we had plenty to talk about!

The show will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer until 10th March 2014, so watch it here asap if you missed it. The school meals feature starts 16 minutes in and lasts for about 10 minutes.

For more information on PKL school solutions, visit our dedicated schools website at www.schoolkitchens.com.

10 benefits of adding extra servery space in schools

I specialise in providing permanent kitchen and servery solutions for schools to help tackle a number of issues surrounding their food provision. Here's a list of my top 10 benefits of adding extra servery space in schools, based on my experience of providing PKL Food Cubes to schools across the country. I've backed it up with some info and quotes from the three most recent Food Cube projects I've worked on - enjoy!

1. Reduce queue times
Adding an additional servery area can significantly reduce queueing times. By making it quicker and easier for pupils to buy food, more are encouraged to do so.

When I was involved in our Food Cube project at Oasis Academy near Bristol, their primary reason for wanting a Cube was to reduce queues. "We manage facilities in over 30 schools now. Our experience was that some were struggling to manage the queues and pupils don't like waiting when they are hungry. We wanted to find a way to speed up the serving process and give pupils what they wanted with minimum fuss." Neil Porter of BAM FM told us.

At Cucina's Food Cube at Bexley Business Academy, my client Tony Ridgewell, the food and beverage manager, told me, "It’s playing a strong role in helping to reduce queues at key times". 

2. Ease pressure on the main dining hall
By locating an extra servery space elsewhere in the school grounds, it eases congestion in the main dining hall and makes it easier for pupils to buy food quickly and efficiently without creating a bottleneck.

"I think it's great that it has completely taken away the congestion in the main dining hall. The students seem to purchase more than before, as they are passing by the location of the Cube and not having to come back inside to purchase their goods." Lucy Horsman, the Kitchen Manager at Oasis Academy told us.

3. Improve stay on site
Many of my clients have come to me with concerns over pupils leaving site during breaks and making use of local takeaways. By adding an additional serving area within school grounds and making it quicker and more convenient to grab food at school, pupils are less likely to want to leave site. 

Following the Food Cube installation for Cucina at Bexley Business Academy, client Tony Ridgewell told me, "It is encouraging pupils to stay on site rather than leave the school at lunchtime".

4. Increase choice of food
Increasing servery space not only enables schools to sell more food, but also to offer a wider variety of foods. In my experience, being able to offer a wider choice of foods is a key factor in making school meals appeal to a larger number of pupils, and therefore increase sales.

Many schools I've worked with have used our Food Cubes to serve fresh sandwiches, wraps, paninis, hot pasta, bakery products, fruit and drinks, complementing the other meal offerings available in the main dining hall.

5. Increase catering revenue
Our Food Cubes have been proven to significantly increase catering revenue in all schools where they have been installed. With smaller queues, an additional location to buy from, and more choice, school food becomes a much more appealing option for pupils, resulting in more pupils buying food, and more food being purchased by those who do.

At Marden High School, our Food Cube resulted in a 48% rise in food sales, while at Cucina's Food Cube at Bexley Business Academy, the Cube has generated over £500 extra revenue per week.

Barbara Patterson, Catering Services Manager at North Tyneside Council, said of our Food Cube at Marden High School, "It has really helped to improve service, increase income and reduce queuing time for students."

6. Encourage more pupils to have school meals
By making school meals a quicker and easier option, the installation of additional servery space encourages more pupils to buy food at school.

At Oasis Academy near Bristol, 30% of pupils now prefer to use the Food Cube, and school meal uptake has drastically increased. Pupil feedback was positive, with one saying "It's very convenient for us to buy our sandwiches especially when we are outside in the summer playing football."

7. Raise the profile of the school catering service
Installing an additional servery unit elsewhere in the school grounds makes the catering service visible to pupils who may normally avoid the dining hall. Locating an extra servery out in the playground or yard has been particularly successful at raising the profile and visibility of the catering service in projects I've overseen. The resulting increased usage of catering facilities in turn gets pupils talking about the food and drink offering and creates a real buzz within the school.

At Oasis Academy, Neil Porter told us that having a bright-coloured servery unit out in the playground is encouraging more pupils to use the catering service. He said, "It's a little bit novel. Children seem to like that."

8. Improve pupils' health and concentration
One of the issues I've come across time and again is the struggle to get pupils eating more healthily. By supporting stay on site policies, additional servery areas can enable schools to offer a wider choice of nutritious food and help get pupils eating better at school. This can have a direct influence on behaviour and concentration levels in the classroom.

9. Improved working environment for catering staff
Extra servery space means fewer queues, calmer, happier customers, and therefore a nicer, less stressful working environment for catering staff.

10. Benefits for teaching and support staff
We've had great feedback from teaching and support staff as well as pupils and catering staff. They've found that additional servery space benefits them too, including a teacher at Oasis Academy who told us, "It's great that I can buy my lunch whilst keeping an eye on the students when on lunchtime duty."

PKL & BAM FM Shortlisted for LACA Award

We are delighted to announce that our joint nomination with BAM FM has been shortlisted for one of LACA's Awards for Excellence. We are shortlisted for the Nan Berger Memorial Award, which recognises "exemplary work in the field of innovation, accreditation and/or collaboration which has led to a successful result either with increased meal uptake or raising the profile of the school catering service".

The nomination was for our joint installation of a Food Cube at a school in Bristol, which has impacted significantly on the uptake of school meals. The Food Cube has resulted in an overall increase of 22% in school meal revenue, as the convenience and popularity of the Cube helps keep lunchtime spend in school and enables a wider variety of food options to be served. Additionally, 33% of overall sales for break and lunch are now made through the Food Cube, and this has massively alleviated the pressure on queuing space and time in the main dining hall.

For more information on our Food Cubes, visit our website or call us to have a chat with one of our project consultants.

To see the full shortlist of nominations for LACA's Awards for Excellence, click here.

LACA / PKL School Kitchens Design Forum – London South Bank Centre

The latest LACA/PKL School Kitchen Design forum, held in London in February, addressed key issues relating to provision of school meals and associated facilities. Sponsored by PKL and the Local Authority Caterers Association, the event was attended by around 50 delegates representing local authorities, consultants and other stakeholders.

LACA Chair Beverly Baker opened the proceedings with a focus on the importance of school meals and associated facilities – in the context of the changing educational environment and the higher profile of nutrition amongst young people.

Continuing this theme, Liz Randall from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) explored the proposed amendments to regulations governing dining space and nutritional standards in school premises. It was clear from this presentation that improved facilities for both the preparation and consumption of food will play an even more important role in the future.

Factors influencing the take-up of school meals was the theme of a presentation by Linda Smith of the School Food Trust, who presented the findings of the School Lunch & Learning Behaviour Study. This study showed quite clearly that improving the dining room environment could play a pivotal role in increasing the acceptability of school meals to pupils.

The focus of the day then switched to the design and delivery of school kitchens. Robert Danks of Food Chain Solutions outlined a recent case study with Northamptonshire County Council, rolling out their “Hot Meal” plan in schools. Paul Saer of Buying Solutions followed, providing an overview of the Buying Solutions agency and John Robinson from PKL finished the first session with a presentation on PKL Group’s school kitchen solutions, including a number of case study examples.

After a lively question and answer session, delegates were then asked to work in groups to produce brief presentations for fellow delegates, covering their own successes and difficult situations in relation to planning kitchens and learning from operational use

Successes included training, marketing school meals and the use of regeneration kitchens. Areas of difficulty included the BB99 regulations, failure of architects, planners and contractors to listen to the people who will be running the facilities and a lack of understanding by head teachers. Funding for improving facilities was also perceived as a barrier to taking plans forward.

Following this interactive session the forum concluded with a presentation from Vic Laws of AVL Consulting, presenting the findings of a recent study into energy efficiency in school kitchens.

More information:

www.pkl.co.uk
www.schoolkitchens.com