LACA / PKL School Kitchens Design Forum

CHELMSFORD, England, March 9, 2010 - 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 proceedings, focusing on the importance
of school meals and associated facilities - in the context of the changing
educational environment and higher profile of nutrition amongst young people.

Continuing, 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 were the theme of Linda
Smith of the School Food Trust, who presented the findings of the School
Lunch & Learning Behaviour Study. This showed quite clearly that improving
the dining room environment could play a pivotal role in increasing
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 provided an overview of the Buying
Solutions agency and John Robinson from PKL presented PKL Group's school
kitchen solutions.

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.

    Contact
    Sam Christie
    Tel: +44(0)1242-663000
    Email: postbox@pkl.co.uk
    www.pkl.co.uk

Contact: Sam Christie, Tel: +44(0)1242-663000, Email: postbox at pkl.co.uk