Happy Christmas from PKL!

As we enter the festive period, please note that we will be closing on Friday 21st December and reopening on Wednesday 2nd January.

As always, PKL will be operating an emergency response service over the Christmas period. Please note that this is for genuine emergency requirements only and we will not be able to provide sales quotes for projects until the new year.

If you are faced with a requirement for an emergency kitchen over Christmas, please phone 0845 840 42 42 to speak to a member of our on-call team.

From all of us here at PKL, we hope you have an enjoyable Christmas break, and wish you a happy and successful 2013!

The End of Movember

To mark the end of Movember, we thought we'd share a photo of all our PKL Mo Bros and Mo Sistas! The boys (and girls) have been working really hard cultivating their moustaches throughout the month and have raised a whopping £700 so far, with donations still coming in. If you'd like to donate to the PKL Movember team, please visit their webpage here - thanks!

Since so many members of staff took part, we thought we'd summarise with "the good, the bad and the ugly"... Enjoy!

PKL Does Movember

A large team of PKL staff are taking part in Movember this year, growing moustaches throughout November to raise awareness and money for men's health charities.

Meanwhile, strange things have been seen outside in our yard...

 

 

Mid West Catering Equipment, a division of PKL which sells second-hand catering equipment, has also seen some unusual Movember action. Why not visit the Mid West Movember Gallery, or pop over to read more on the Mid West blog!

If you'd like to support PKL's Movember team, visit their webpage here to donate.

PKL Food Cubes – Creating a Positive Legacy

The image of modular buildings in schools has long been overshadowed by a legacy of slowly decaying classrooms and buildings no longer fit for purpose. But things have moved on a great deal in the world of modular construction as  Lee Vines, sales and marketing director at PKL, guest blogs to explain why.

Lee Vines, Sales and Marketing
Director at PKL

"PKL Food Cubes can be used not only to provide relief to busy dining areas in schools or provide additional catering facilities where pupil intake has risen sharply, but they can also be used to help create a positive legacy.

Our Food Cubes are supplied with a 15-year structural warranty, meaning they are built to last and are fit for purpose and unlike a GRP (glass reinforced plastic) or wooden construction, they can be used comfortably all year around.  Food Cubes are manufactured with a structural steel frame and fully insulated, fire rated and vandal resistant walls means that they easily comply with the latest building regulations. 

We advise extreme consideration before procuring something with a lower specification, which might not have the staying power of a compliant modular building and could end up costing more in the long term, or become unusable during certain times of the year.

One of the most important aspects of a Food Cube, is that they can begin to create a positive legacy at a school with almost an immediate effect. Constructed, delivered and installed in just six weeks, PKL Food Cubes have seen a variety of uses including to introduce a healthier school menu and  to ease pressure on existing dining facilities.  In the vast majority of cases where  Food Cubes have been introduced we have witnessed an uptake in school meals almost immediately.  This means fewer pupils going off site at lunchtimes and revenues  gained from catering are increasing, in some cases quite substantially.

PKL Food Cubes. Modular servery buildings for hire or sale.

Another major benefit of the Food Cube is that although a semi-permanent building, it is entirely relocatable, meaning that if for any reason the catering requirement reduces, or the school is closed, it is a simple task to move it to another school. 

We have also worked hard on exterior appearance and can now supply modular buildings with a wide range of wood cladding, brick slips, painted or vinyl wrap exteriors, meaning that each customer has full control over the final look and feel of the building.

I think that we have taken great steps to throw off the shackles of previous perceptions of modular and prefabricated buildings and are providing something which is not only great value, but will provide genuine longevity in terms of how long the buildings will last and for the positive effects that they can create."

PKL and Children's Food Trust Agree Partnership for 2012 Equipment

PKL Group, the UK's leading provider of temporary and permanent outsourced catering solutions, has teamed up with the Children's Food Trust to give schools the chance to kit out their kitchens for less.

The trust specialises in improving food education and cooking skills within schools, enabling pupils to reach their full potential.  With years of experience working with local leaders and services, thousands of schools, caterers and parents, the School Food Trust are experts in finding practical solutions that help schools to improve their meal service on a daily basis.

PKL is giving companies the chance to purchase high quality second-hand catering equipment at a greatly discounted price, offering the perfect solution for schools wanting to update their equipment without paying brand new prices.  The equipment on offer includes that used at Olympic venues this summer and it is a fantastic opportunity for schools to own some remains of the games.

For every sale made via www.mwcateringequipment.com PKL will make a donation to the Children's Food Trust.  The website is frequently updated with new additions of ex-Olympic kit and other ex-hire equipment available for purchase.

Director Lee Vines commented: "We're delighted to work alongside an organisation like the School Food Trust and to help enable it to continue the great work it does across the UK. We're constantly innovating our offering to the education sector, with the invention of our award-winning Food Cube and new Seed to Fork KitchenPods, and this partnership is another way we can help improve school food in Britain."

For further information on the Children's Food Trust please visit www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk.

Equipment is available to buy from www.mwcateringequipment.com.

PKL Website Refresh

We are delighted to announce that our newly refreshed website has gone live today. The updated site illustrates our whole range of products, including more in depth information regarding our permanent modular Food Cubes and KitchenPods, latest news and company information as well as providing in depth information regarding our complete range of temporary kitchens and catering equipment for hire.

The site also includes a newly updated press section, PKL case studies and information regarding PKL's Transworld Kitchens department, which supplies modular and containerised kitchens for delviery around the world.

Visit hwww.pkl.co.uk to have a look, and let us know what you think!

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.