LACA Exhibition 2015

Last week we headed off to exhibit at the LACA Main Event in Birmingham. As well as having a stand in the main exhibition, we also took one of our Food Cubes along. We stationed the Cube outside the venue, and lots of visitors followed our special treasure maps to hunt it down for a look around!

Our lucky dip treasure chest located in the Food Cube proved to be very popular, with prizes including bags of sweets, PKL goodie bags, travel mugs, Parker pens and Kindles. Three lucky people won Kindles this year – congratulations to Phillipa, Tracey and Rachel.



As always, we had a great time meeting new people and catching up with old friends, and had some great conversations about how our KitchenPods, Food Cubes and temporary kitchens can help different schools overcome a variety of catering issues.

Recent School Projects

We've installed several temporary and permanent catering facilities in schools in the last few weeks, with many schools preparing for September already. Here's a selection of photos from some school projects we've recently completed.

Cavendish Primary School in Manchester has had a temporary kitchen and dining facility installed for 18 months while their old facilities undergo a refurbishment. The large kitchen facility has areas for preparation, production, dry and cold storage, and dishwashing, as well as a dining hall, toilets and staff room.



We've also recently installed a Food Cube at Fairfield High School for Girls in Manchester. The school wanted to offer a catering facility with a more contemporary high street feel to particularly appeal to older pupils. The Cube has helped reduce queue times in the main dining hall and has taken pressure off the catering staff. It has also proven to be popular with users of the nearby sports hall, and the Cube is generating additional profits outside of normal school hours by catering for people using the sports facilities.



The same contract caterer also ordered another identical Food Cube for Tewkesbury School (above). They have been so pleased with the popularity and success of these first two Cubes, that they've just placed an order for a third!

Sneak Preview: Meet the Space Station!

We’re really excited to give you a sneak preview of our newest product, available to hire from PKL! Meet the Space Station – a brilliant, self-contained modular servery that allows you to set up a café facility almost anywhere.

This fantastic “café on wheels” enables you to create a food retail outlet even where there is minimal space, as the clamshell construction means that it neatly folds away after use. The servery unit’s hinge mechanism also enables it to be split into two sections for hassle-free transportation.

The integrated design allows the Space Station to be ready to trade within a matter of minutes, as all the equipment and food storage is built-in and ready to use. Simply wheel it into position, unlock the unit, unfold it, and it’s ready to go!

Features include in-built refrigeration, hot or cold food display options, lockable cupboards and an in-built service line allowing you to connect a range of other equipment such as coffee machines, panini grills, soup kettles and much more.

Available with a range of equipment to choose from, the Space Station can be designed to suit your exact requirements, and the whole unit can also be fully branded with your logo and colours.

From exhibition halls and offices to hospitals and universities, the Space Station is the perfect solution for a wide range of buildings and can be used either where there is no space for a café, or to supplement your existing facilities.

If we’ve whetted your appetite, give us a ring for a chat about how hiring a Space Station could help increase your catering revenue. 

Cake Sale for the Nepal Earthquake Appeal

On Saturday 25th April a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, killing thousands and affecting millions of people. Many have been left with nothing, having lost their homes and having limited access to shelter, food and clean water. It will take years and millions of pounds to help put things right, so PKL staff wanted to help.

Last week we held a cake sale in the canteen, with everyone bringing in all sorts of food to sell. We raised a total of £90, which we have donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Nepal Earthquake Appeal. 

The DEC incorporates 13 member agencies: Action Aid, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, Care International, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, Plan UK, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision. In times of crisis, the DEC enables these 13 charities to collectively raise money to reach those in need quickly. The money will be spent on things like rescue operations, medical help, emergency shelters, food, clean water and blankets for people affected by the earthquake.

If you'd like to help too, you can visit the DEC website to donate.

Trident Football Club - Season Summary 2014/15

As the football season draws to a close, here's how AFC Trident (sponsored by PKL) got on...

Summary

Stroud District Football League Division 5: CHAMPIONS 

Charity Cup Section D Finalists: Result 2-2, lost 4-2 on penalties 

Gloucestershire County Cup Semi-Finalists: Lost 3-1 vs Northway

Played 30, Won 23

Goals For: 143

Goals Against: 34

Clean Sheets: 12

Overall Goal Difference: +109

Top 4 Goal Scorers

Chris Morris: 40 goals (in 26 games)

Liam Poole: 34 goals (Liam is the only player to play all 30 games)

Karl Robertson: 17 goals 

Matthew Hindley: 16 goals 

League Facts

Trident's biggest win of the season was 13-2 vs Hardwicke 3rds

Trident beat every team in the league at least once

Trident finished the season undefeated at home

Overall league goal +90

Trident scored 114 goals in the league

9 clean sheets in the league

Trident won the league after beating Frampton Utd 2-0 with 3 games to spare

Believe it or not, both of these photos are of Karl Robertson. What a difference a season can make, eh?

Results

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

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

11.10.14 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Trident 6 vs 4 Dursley Town 3rds

11.10.14 Charity Cup Section D Round 1

Randwick Res 1 vs 5 Trident

11.10.14 Gloucestershire County Cup Round 2

Trident 4 vs 0 Quedgeley Wanderers 3rds

01.11.14 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Trident 6 vs 1 Brockworth Albion 3rds

15.11.14 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Barnwood United Res 1 vs 4 Trident

22.11.14 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Trident 5 vs 0 Stonehouse Town 3rds

29.11.14 Gloucestershire County Cup Round 3

Trident 3 vs 0 Blockley Sports

06.12.14 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Trident 2 vs 2 Frampton United 3rds

20.12.14 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Rodborough Old Boys 3 vs 1 Trident

10.01.15 Gloucestershire County Cup Quarter Final

The Village FC 2 vs 6 Trident

24.01.15 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Trident 8 vs 0 Coaley Rovers Res

31.01.15 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Stonehouse Town 3rds 0 vs 6 Trident

07.02.15 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Trident 13 vs 2 Hardwicke 3rds

14.02.15 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Cashes Green Res 0 vs 1 Trident

21.02.15 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Quedgeley Wanderers 3rds 1 vs 11 Trident

28.02.15 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Trident 9 vs 0 Randwick Res

07.03.15 Gloucestershire Semi Final

Northway 3 vs 1 Trident

14.03.15 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Trident 2 vs 2 Barnwood United Res

15.03.15 Charity Cup Section D Semi Final

Trident 3 vs 0 The Village FC

21.03.15 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Dursley Town 3rds 2 vs 3 Trident

28.03.15 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Brockworth Albion 3rds 2 vs 0 Trident

04.04.15 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Frampton United 3rds 0 vs 2 Trident

11.04.15 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Randwick Res 0 vs 0 Trident

18.04.15 Stroud District Football League Division 5

Hardwicke 3rds 2 vs 5 Trident

27.04.15 Charity Cup Section D Final

Longlevens 4ths 2 vs 2 Trident (Pen 4-2)

St George's Day Dishwashing Dragon

Jumping on the St George’s Day bandwagon,

Here’s our special flight dishwasher dragon!

For an Olympic-sized feast

This warewashing beast 

Is so good you’ll just have to have one!

If you want to hire your very own flight dishwasher dragon (or just a standard flight dishwasher...) click here. Alternatively, view our full range of warewashing equipment for hire.

PKL Training Day

We’ve had fun trying something new today! We set up one of our temporary kitchens outside the office and invited a couple of chefs from one of our equipment suppliers to come and run a training session for some of our sales guys this morning.

Dan, Ed, Bill and Ciaran were given a hands-on lesson on how to use a whole range of commercial catering equipment, including a combi oven and salamander grill, and experienced one of our temporary kitchens from a chef’s point of view.

The chefs showed them all the features of the different equipment and discussed the best ways to get the most out of it and use it for a range of cooking styles. They also demonstrated how the kitchen layout, designed by our expert kitchen design team, had been optimised to make the most of the space and create a practical, efficient workspace.





Since we were also hosting a client meeting in the office this morning, the boys were then tasked with making hot breakfast wraps for all our visitors, and were set to work putting their new equipment knowledge into practice. Following his stint in the kitchen, Ciaran is a definite combi oven convert!





This morning's experience should help the guys to have an even better, more practical understanding of our equipment, and to be even more knowledgeable when helping advise clients on the most suitable catering equipment for their projects.

The kitchen was then used by the chefs at lunchtime to cook beef curry with rice and naan, as well as a salmon and asparagus dish, followed  a very tasty jam sponge pudding and custard!

You might have spotted from the photos that the kitchen unit itself was one of our energy efficient eKitchens. These have been designed with a number of energy saving features including high-spec LED lighting, additional insulation in the roof and floor, a double-glazed serving hatch, thermostatically controlled space heater, plus energy efficient taps and electric water heater. Our eKitchens have an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating of B42 compared to D97 for a standard unit, and can save users over £350 per year in energy consumption, so they're a great option particularly for longer term hires.

Visit our website for more information on our full range of temporary kitchens and catering equipment for hire.