PKL Sponsor Trident Football Club

This season, PKL are proud sponsors of local football team AFC Trident. The team has been very successful over the past few seasons, winning back-to-back titles and the charity cup. The shiny new PKL-sponsored home kit was warmly welcomed by the team and has clearly worked its magic as they have won every game so far this season!

The new kit made its debut in the team's last pre-season friendly against Alkerton Rangers Reverves. Trident claimed a 4-2 victory, but the excitement over the new kit apparently eclipsed the excitement of the win!

AFC Trident at a glance...
Established: 1976
Home ground: Plock Court, Gloucester
Kit Colour: Purple, white and black
Nickname: Purple Army
League: Stroud District Football League Division 5


August/September Results

When the fixtures were announced, the opening three league games were against tough opponents who Trident had struggled against in the past, so it was important for the team to get off to a strong start.

First up, Trident took on Quedgeley Wanderers 3rds, where after a close first half the Purple Army went on to win 7-1 thanks to a hat trick from Chris Morris and further goals from new signings Liam Poole and Karl Robertson.

Next up, Trident made light work of Cashes Green Res, winning 11-0, including another great performance from Liam Poole who scored a hat trick.

Trident's next challenge came in the form of Rodborough Old Boys, who put up a tough fight, making it a close game. With five minutes left to play, Trident were awarded a penalty which was converted by Matt Hindley, with the game ending 3-1 to Trident.

This month's final league game was against Coaley Rovers Res. The magic PKL shirts continued to work a treat, and Trident won 9-0.

After a much-deserved week off, Trident's next opponents were Lechlade 87 in the first round of the Gloucestershire County Cup. Following a shaky start and an early goal from Lechlade 87, Trident fought back with goals from Daniel Whisby and top goal scorer Chris Morris. The second half saw a second goal for Chris Morris, as well as goals for Liam Poole and Karl Robertson securing a 5-2 win. This saw Trident safely into the second round of the cup, for only the second time in four seasons.

Season Summary

23.8.14 Stroud District Football League Division 5
Trident 7 vs 1 Quedgeley Wanderers 3rds

30.8.14 Stroud District Football League Division 5
Trident 11 vs 0 Cashes Green Res

6.9.14 Stroud District Football League Division 5
Trident 3 vs 1 Rodborough Old Boys

13.9.14 Stroud District Football League Division 5
Coaley Rovers Res 0 vs 9 Trident

27.9.14 Gloucestershire County Cup Round 1
Lechlade 87 2 vs 5 Trident

MPBA Membership

I'm delighted to announce that PKL is now a member of the Modular & Portable Building Association.

In its own words:

"For more than 75 years, the Modular & Portable Building Association has been the voice and leading authority on the manufacture and application of both temporary and permanent factory based construction technologies in the UK.

The heart of modular construction technology in the UK, the MPBA works closely with Government and other regulatory bodies to ensure that the interests of the Modular or Offsite Industry are the focus of its activities.

In addition to the main Council, the Technical, Health & Safety and Marketing committees are constantly working hard to promote all the benefits that the industry is capable of providing."

All members are thoroughly assessed before joining, and the MPBA has developed an enforceable code of ethics and practices.

As well as PKL being a member, I now also sit on the committee as a member of the main MPBA Council. I'm looking forward to attending the next committee meeting in November and working with the MPBA in the future.

PKL's Macmillan Coffee Morning 2014

Today we joined thousands of people across the country to take part in the World's Biggest Coffee Morning to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. The PKL canteen was decked out with yards of bunting, and the tables were positively groaning under the weight of all the cake ready to sell.

Following last year's success, the standard of baked goods was particularly high as the more competitive members of staff battled to out-bake each other.

Top picks this year included some fabulous lemon drizzle cake, the most delicious sausage rolls we've ever eaten, posh cake pops, a magnificant array of chocolate brownies, and some rather fancy honey glazed flapjacks.

The feast has been available all day, so for some of our more hungry members of staff, it has constituted breakfast, elevenses, lunch and afternoon tea! We suspect our next fundraising event will need to be a charity slimathon...

We're really pleased that we've managed to beat last year's total, and have successfully raised £175 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

It's not too late to donate to this worthy cause, so donate online here.

Temporary Kitchens for Hotels

It’s been a busy time for hotel hires recently, so I thought it would be useful to write a blog post with some info about our temporary kitchen hire for hotels.

What and Why?
We hire out temporary kitchen facilities and commercial catering equipment for use during hotel kitchen refurbishments, kitchen emergencies, events and busy periods. Our units are available in a range of sizes and include production and preparation kitchens, walk-in coldrooms, dishwashing units, dry storage units, and dining facilities. You can select the exact items of catering equipment you need from our fleet of 9,000 items, and they come ready-installed in the kitchen units. Alternatively, we can hire individual items of catering equipment for use in your hotel’s own kitchen or in marquees during events.

Quality
Our kitchen units are purpose-built high quality commercial facilities, able to cope with heavy use at hotels. They fully comply with all current health and safety regulations and offer a number of features including a ventilation canopy, auto gas shut off, automatic fire suppression system, easy clean extraction system, infestation-proof construction, 500 lux lighting level, food-safe wipe-clean walls and plastisol steel wall lining, non-slip safety flooring, and insulated fire regulated wall panels, ceilings and floors. We supply top brand commercial catering equipment which is thoroughly cleaned and tested before going out on hire.



Delivery
Our kitchens arrive on the back of a lorry and are craned into position on your site. We’ve fitted our kitchens into all sorts of tricky locations at different hotels – our delivery team are experts! Delivery can be at any time to suit you, so we can work to avoid any particularly busy times or days of the week. Our installation team are quick and professional, so disruption on site is kept to a minimum while we’re linking units together and connecting them up to services.

Disruption to Guests
As well as delivering at a time to ensure minimum disruption to your hotel guests, we can also provide additional sound insulation and odour control units on any of our kitchens that will be located close to guest accommodation. This will minimise any kitchen noise or cooking smells released from the extraction systems.



Support
We know that hotel kitchens are often used all day every day. While on hire, all our kitchens and catering equipment are covered by our 24-hour technical support service. If you have any problems such as equipment breakdowns, at any time or on any day, all you need to do is call our technical support number and we’ll arrange for an engineer to come and help you asap. In emergencies, the engineer will be dispatched immediately, otherwise our standard response is within 24 hours (usually on the same day).

More Information
If you’d like more information or a quote for hiring temporary kitchen facilities for your hotel, please get in touch with myself or one of my colleagues and we’ll be happy to help.

Introducing the PKL Halfway House for Golf Clubs

Calling all golf clubs! Here’s an exclusive first look at our newest modular solution!

What is the Halfway House?
Our new Halfway House product is a modular servery facility designed for golf clubs. The latest addition to our popular Food Cubes range, it can be used to generate extra revenue from food sales and additional golf equipment, as well as providing toilet facilities for players.

The modular unit is constructed offsite, is delivered complete with catering equipment and arrives ready to use. It is designed to be located on the golf course to provide a range of hot and cold drinks and snacks to players during their round. The facility can also be used to sell lighter items of golf equipment such as balls, tees, waterproofs, umbrellas and gloves.

Customised Design
We custom design each facility, including catering equipment of your club’s choice. This means it can be designed to meet your exact requirements in terms of look, size, layout and use. The Halfway House is available in a number of sizes and a wide range of colours and finishes, including wood cladding, brick slip, vinyl wrap and a painted exterior. By choosing from this wide variety of options, the Halfway House can be designed to include your own branding, or finished to blend in with existing surroundings.



Flexible Procurement Options
The Halfway House is available to hire or buy. This means that you do not need a large amount of up-front capital to procure a unit. For the hire option, all service and maintenance of the building and the equipment inside is included within the monthly fee, providing a fixed monthly cost.

Key Benefits

• Generate additional profit for your golf club
• Maximise potential to sell refreshments and equipment
• Additional facilities make your course more attractive to golfers

Clubhouse Refurbishment?
We also supply temporary kitchens and dining facilities. If you’re planning to refurbish your clubhouse, we can supply temporary clubhouse facilities to ensure you remain fully operational throughout any planned works – just contact our hire team for a quote.

Temporary Kitchens for Universities and Colleges

Having been responsible for PKL’s projects in a number of universities and colleges over the years, I’ve put together this brief overview to answer some of the most frequently asked questions from clients in this sector.


I need a temporary kitchen for an emergency / refurbishment / event – can you help?

Yes! Whatever type of project you have, if you need a temporary kitchen or catering equipment at your university or college, we can help. From large, comprehensive kitchens and dining rooms, to the hire of single coldroom units or items of catering equipment, we can supply a solution to match your requirements. Our in-house designers can design the perfect solution based on your specific requirements, and I can also offer advice on the best options if you’re not sure what you need.


We have listed buildings or access challenges on site – can you deliver to a site like this?

Of course! I’ve worked on a number of university projects which have involved contending with all sorts of factors. Our transport and planning teams are experts in planning deliveries to difficult sites, and produce detailed installation plans, risk assessments and method statements for every unit we install, taking all site factors into account.

Previous university projects I’ve worked on have involved manoeuvring kitchen units by hand or forklift through archways, craning units over walls, protecting listed trees and shrubs on site, and moving over or around listed buildings - our team can find a solution to pretty much any site challenge! Where access is required over lawns, listed cobbles or paving, we provide trackway to ensure that the surface remains protected underneath.

We specialise in non-invasive, non-attached weatherproof links to listed buildings, which when removed leave the building unmarked and in the same condition as before the hire started. We also offer a range of exterior solutions, such as painted finishes, vinyl wraps or screens, if the look of a temporary facility is an issue.

Will hiring a temporary kitchen involve lots of noise and disruption on site?

No, not really. I appreciate that you’ll want to keep noise and disruption to a minimum, and we work hard to ensure delivery and installation is as quick and painless as possible, by preparing thoroughly and creating detailed plans in advance so there are no delays or surprises once on site.

The kitchens themselves are not too noisy to run, however if noise is a particular concern (perhaps if the kitchen is near student or staff accommodation) we can also provide extra insulation to our plant and coldrooms to reduce the noise emitted from the temporary kitchen and ancillary facilities. Likewise, if you are concerned about extraction emissions from the kitchen, we can also supply our facilities with Odour Control Units which can minimise cooking smells released from the extraction systems.

What if something goes wrong with the kitchen or equipment once it’s on site?

We’ll fix or replace it! I know that our university and college kitchens are often used all day every day, so our 24 hour technical support line is always open. All our kitchens and equipment are tested thoroughly before delivery, but if something does go wrong we’ll sort it out as quickly as we can. For major problems or emergencies, we can dispatch an engineer immediately, otherwise our standard call-out time is within 24 hours.

Is it a difficult process to procure your facilities?

No! PKL is a Pro 5 registered organisation which is a consortium made up of ESPO, YPO, CBC and NEPO. This means that we have undergone a pre-tender process to supply temporary kitchens to the public sector. Universities can place orders directly with Pro 5, safe in the knowledge that PKL has been assessed for best value. PKL is also a Crown Commercial Service listed supplier.


I hope this post has helped to answer some of the questions you may have about hiring temporary kitchens, dining facilities and catering equipment for your university or college. If you've got an upcoming project that PKL might be able to help you with, please get in touch for a chat and a no-obligation quote. You can also find more information on the PKL website.

Who does what at PKL?

My name is Joe and I have come to PKL for work experience where I was tasked to find out more about those behind the scenes working hard in the company. I went in search of some ‘willing’ participants for the blog and this is what I found out…


Name: Andrea
Job: Revenue Accountant
How long have you worked at PKL? 8 years
What do you do at PKL? The job involves managing the cash flow and the finances of the business. Following up on payments is another area of the job.



Name: Karsten
Job: Design Manager
How long have you worked at PKL? 10 years
What do you do at PKL? Karsten’s job involves managing the production of technical drawings for all PKL projects, so this would be for example the KitchenPod design drawings for clients.




Name: John
Job: Project Consultant
How long have you worked at PKL? “Since May 23rd 2007!” 7 years
What do you do at PKL? John focuses on the long term projects and specialises in areas such as the military, universities, prisons and the projects PKL are involved in with them.  He also takes calls for enquiries into new projects.



Name: Marcos
Job: Kit Heaven Chargehand
How long have you worked at PKL? 14 years
What do you do at PKL? His job in Kit Heaven involves the quality assurance side of the actual PKL products. This will mean checking all equipment is safe and to the expected standards. It also involves kit tracking, so keeping account of all the equipment going on and off hire and where it is. He also makes sure that any kit coming back to PKL is not damaged on return.


Name: Claire
Job: Fleet Manager
How long have you worked at PKL? 12 years
What do you do at PKL? Claire’s job involves managing the availability of assets such as the catering equipment and kitchen units. She is joined by Debbie (left) who also helps to manage the unit and equipment availability.


Name: Scott
Job: Quay Supervisor
How long have you worked at PKL? 15 years
What do you do at PKL? This job involves supervising all of the preparation of the kitchen units before they go off site. This means checking they are in good condition before they go on hire.




Name: Chris
Job: Catering Engineer
How long have you worked at PKL? 5 years
What do you do at PKL? Chris’s job is to install the catering equipment into the various kitchen units. He also goes out on site and carries out maintenance of equipment on hire.




Name: Tim
Job: Projects and Technical Manager
How long have you worked at PKL? 24 years
What do you do at PKL? This job involves running the department and working with site supervisors and engineers. His job is very much to do with project managing larger hires like large events. It also means working alongside the sales department.



Name: Nick
Job: Transport Manager
How long have you worked at PKL? 4 years
What do you do at PKL? Nick is in charge of ‘Transport and Logistics’ and is in charge of actually getting the kitchens from and to their destination, in and out of the business.



Name: Caz
Job: Marketing Executive
How long have you worked at PKL? 3 years
What do you do at PKL? The job includes many different aspects of marketing, including the main copywriting for PKL, updating the PKL social media sites, and writing marketing literature such as brochures and case studies.

Name: Andy
Job: Graphic Designer
How long have you worked at PKL? 4 years
What do you do at PKL? His job is largely design, so this involves designing the PKL brochures and doing the photography that will feature on those brochures. He also does the design and layout of literature and general advertisements for the business.