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Supporting MK Food Bank A Collective Effort Across Local Business

jules@thelasthurdle.co.uk — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 12:06:14 +0000

1,253 Items Collected for MK Food Bank 💛

What started as a simple idea has turned into something huge!

Thanks to the incredible support from our clients, business partners, suppliers and the wider Milton Keynes community, we’re proud to share that 1,253 items have been collected for MK Food Bank.

Every crate placed, every item donated, and every business that got involved has played a part in making this happen.

From offices and trade vans to community venues and local organisations, the level of support has been nothing short of brilliant.

This campaign has been a reminder of what can be achieved when businesses come together with a shared purpose and we couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who took part.

You didn’t just support a campaign…
You’ve helped support local families across Milton Keynes.

Thank you 💛

This April, we’re supporting MK Food Bank as part of their Battle of the Brands campaign and anyone who knows our team knows we love a good competition.

So, we’ve joined forces with our sister company Facilities Management Solutions under the wider PGS Group, with one clear goal:

To collect as many food donations as possible for local families.

About MK Food Bank

For those who may not be familiar, MK Food Bank provides short-term crisis support and care for individuals and families across Milton Keynes.

The scale of that need is growing.

In 2025, over 20,000 food parcels were distributed across Milton Keynes and the surrounding area
That represents a 21% increase compared to 2024
More than 4,500 households were supported in 2025 alone

Emergency food parcels typically contain long-life items designed to provide meals for three days, offering immediate support to those facing unexpected financial difficulty.

MK Food Bank operates across 13 serving centres in Milton Keynes, helping ensure support is accessible to those who need it.

How We’re Making It Easy to Get Involved

We know that most businesses want to support initiatives like this, but time and logistics can often get in the way.

So, we’ve structured this in a way that removes as much friction as possible.

Throughout April, we’re placing donation crates in workplaces across the area. Each business hosts a crate for one week, usually in a staff kitchen or communal space, and invites their team to bring in an item.

We provide the poster, donation guidance, and handle all collections and delivery to MK Food Bank.

No disruption. No ongoing commitment. Just a simple way to contribute.

A Collective Effort

What makes this initiative powerful isn’t any single collection point, it’s the number of businesses taking part.

Each crate may only collect a small number of items on its own, but together, the impact builds quickly.

It’s a reminder that small, consistent actions across a community can lead to something far more meaningful.

First Crates Now Out Across Local Businesses

Our MK Food Bank collection is now underway, with the first donation crates being placed across local businesses.

A big thank you to MKM Building Supplies and Grant & Stone for getting involved and hosting two of our first collections.

With crates now in place, teams are collecting food donations on site to help support local families through MK Food Bank.

This is just the start, and we’re looking forward to rolling out more crates across the area over the coming weeks.

If you’d like to take part and host a crate for a week, we’ll take care of everything — from delivery to collection.

👉 Get in touch and we’ll get you set up.

Local Businesses Getting Behind the Campaign

It’s great to see more local businesses getting involved as our MK Food Bank collection continues.

A big thank you to M D Govier Electrical Engineering Ltd for supporting the campaign and hosting one of our donation crates.

With the crate now in place, their team are collecting food donations on site to help support local families through MK Food Bank.

Every new business that takes part helps build momentum, and it’s great to see the number of collection points growing across Milton Keynes.

If you’d like to get involved and host a crate for a week, we’ll take care of everything, from delivery to collection.

👉 Get in touch and we’ll get you set up.

Continuing to Build Momentum

It’s great to see the campaign continuing to grow, with more local businesses getting involved across Milton Keynes, including Sikla.

A big thank you to the team for the warm welcome and support, it’s always encouraging to see businesses not just take part, but genuinely get behind the cause.

With the crate now in place, more donations will be collected on site to help support local families through MK Food Bank.

Each new location helps build momentum, and it’s great to see the number of collection points continuing to increase.

If you’d like to take part and host a crate for a week, we’ll take care of everything, from delivery to collection.

Get in touch and we’ll get you set up.

The Campaign Continues to Grow

It’s great to see the campaign continuing to grow, with more local organisations getting involved across Milton Keynes, including Badminton England.

A big thank you to the team for supporting the campaign and hosting one of our MK Food Bank donation crates.

With the crate now in place, their team and visitors can contribute food donations on site, helping to support local families through MK Food Bank.

Each new location helps build momentum, and it’s encouraging to see the number of collection points continuing to grow across the area.

If you’d like to take part and host a crate for a week, we’ll take care of everything, from delivery to collection.

👉 Get in touch and we’ll get you set up.

Community Supporting Community

It’s also fantastic to see local charities getting behind the campaign, including Harry’s Rainbow.

A big thank you to the team for supporting the MK Food Bank initiative and hosting one of our donation crates.

Even better, their crate has already been filled with donations, a wonderful reflection of the generosity and support within our community.

It’s a great example of community supporting community, organisations coming together to make a wider impact across Milton Keynes.

Each contribution helps build momentum, and it’s encouraging to see donations already coming through from across different parts of the local community.

If you’d like to take part and host a crate for a week, we’ll take care of everything, from delivery to collection.

👉 Get in touch and we’ll get you set up.

Supporting the Campaign Across Multiple Locations

It’s great to see businesses extending their support across multiple sites, including Elavation, who hosted donation crates at both their Wolverton and Silverstone offices.

With both crates already filling with donations, their teams have made a fantastic contribution to the campaign, helping to increase the volume of food collected and the overall impact for MK Food Bank.

A big thank you to everyone at Elavation for getting involved and for their generous donations. Supporting the campaign across two locations is a brilliant example of how businesses can go further and make an even bigger difference.

As collections continue to come in, it’s encouraging to see the momentum building across multiple sites and the role local businesses are playing in supporting families across the area.

Local Trades Supporting the Campaign

It’s great to see more local trades getting behind the campaign, including Central Plastering & Services.

A big thank you to the team for getting involved and supporting the initiative. With a donation crate now in place, they’re helping collect food donations directly through their day-to-day work.

It’s a great example of how businesses out on the road and working across local sites can still play a part, making it easier for donations to be gathered from across the community.

As more crates are rolled out, it’s encouraging to see the campaign reaching different types of businesses and continuing to build momentum across Milton Keynes.

When One Crate Isn’t Enough

Some collections quickly outgrow the crate… and this is a great example.

A big thank you to Crown Business Finance for their incredibly generous support of the MK Food Bank campaign. What started as a single crate has turned into an impressive collection of donations, showing just how much impact one business can have.

It’s a brilliant reflection of the team effort behind the scenes and a reminder that when people get behind something, the results can go far beyond expectations.

We may have delivered the crate, but Crown Business Finance filled it… and then some.

This is exactly what makes this campaign so powerful, businesses coming together, going above and beyond, and making a real difference to local families across Milton Keynes.

Still Time to Get Involved

The campaign will run throughout April, and there’s still time for businesses to take part.

If you’d like to host a crate for a week, we’ll take care of everything, from delivery to collection.

Get in touch and we’ll get you set up 01908 569031emailinfo@pgsolutions.co.uk

Thank You

A big thank you to all the businesses and teams already involved.

We’re looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together.

The post Supporting MK Food Bank A Collective Effort Across Local Business appeared first on Plumber Milton Keynes | Plumbing & Gas Solutions Ltd.

Celebrating 15 Years of Plumbing & Gas Solutions

Lolah — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 15:24:34 +0000

Looking back to where it all began, it was just Carl, Mike, and Steve on the team. Since then, we’ve experienced remarkable growth. Today, our team includes Carl as Managing Director, Darryl as Operations Director, and Mike as Operations Supervisor. We’re proud to have five highly skilled commercial gas engineers: Steve, Dom, Kellan, Brad, and Jack. Our plumbing team consists of Korben, Harvey, and Liam. We’re especially proud to have five apprentices: Alex, Joe, Lolah, Lauren, and George. Additionally, Tyler is our Digital Marketing Executive, while Lorraine and Saphie keep things running smoothly in the office as Office Administrators and Hayley handles our accounting.

Expanding Our Expertise

Over the last fifteen years, we’ve expanded our services and gained more remarkable skills. Our talented engineers are fully qualified and experienced in Domestic and Commercial Installations, including Gas, Oil, LPG, and Electric systems. We’ve come a long way from our early days, when we primarily focussed on domestic properties. We’re incredibly proud of the team we’ve built.

Investing in the Next Generation: Our Apprentices

One aspect of our business that we always like to shine a light on is our apprentices. We take great pride in training the next generation of professionals. Alex, our Domestic Gas Apprentice, has been with us for over two years. Joe, our Plumbing and Heating Apprentice, has been part of the team for more than a year. Lolah, our Digital Marketing Apprentice, also joined us over a year ago. More recently, we’ve welcomed two new apprentices, George and Lauren, who started in late 2024 and are already thriving in their roles. At Plumbing & Gas Solutions, we are committed to supporting our apprentices, helping them build their portfolios and providing the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.

Working with Prestigious Clients

Over the past fifteen years, our brand recognition has grown immensely, and we now work with major clients such as Milton Keynes Dons, Cranfield University, and Center Parcs, among others. Our highly-skilled engineers always strive to complete their work efficiently and effectively, ensuring that our clients are satisfied and confident in returning to us for their future needs.

A Word from Our Leadership Team

“PGS has come a long way since 2010, and we are now in the best position we’ve ever been. We have an amazing team from top to bottom. Our engineers, office, management and marketing teams are all excellent, bolstered by the apprentices that we’ve trained up to form the heart of our team. “

“We take great pride in the extremely high level of service that we provide. Our goal is to be the best plumbing and heating business in Milton Keynes, and we are able to do just that thanks to our fantastic team. “

The Birth of the PGS Group

In 2021, our Managing Director, Carl, took a significant step in expanding our business by launching our sister company, Facilities Management Solutions. This marked the beginning of an exciting new chapter for us, and we officially became the ‘PGS Group.’ The decision to create Facilities Management Solutions was formed to offer a more comprehensive range of services to our clients, and it’s been a game-changer for us. Over the past few years, we’ve worked hand-in-hand with our sister company, ensuring that both teams collaborate seamlessly to meet the needs of our clients.

The Strength of Our Team

As we reflect on our journey so far, it’s clear that the strength of our team is at the heart of everything we’ve accomplished. The way the different departments within the PGS Group work together is truly impressive. What makes us stand out isn’t just the services we provide—it’s the people who make it all happen. Our team is brought together by a shared vision, and it’s this collective dedication that pushes us forward each day. Each member has played an integral role in our growth, and it’s the energy, dedication, and passion everyone brings to the table that makes us Plumbing & Gas Solutions.

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Empowering Apprentices

Lolah — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 12:47:19 +0000

At Plumbing & Gas Solutions, we are proud of a lot of things; the quality of work, our customer service, and the relationship we have with our clients, for a start. However, nothing makes us prouder than the way we are able to incorporate apprentices into our workforce, and help to nurture them into the next generation of skilled engineers and plumbers.

This #NationalApprenticeshipWeek, we are sharing a bit of insight into our experience putting apprentices at the heart of our business strategy, enabling us to provide an excellent service, while growing in a sustainable way.

Each day, we deploy a team of 12 out to support our clients with all of their plumbing and heating requirements. This team is comprised of 8 fully qualified technicians (four gas engineers and four plumbers), and then the remaining 4 are all apprentices [plus a bonus apprentice in our marketing team!]. This is a pretty high ratio, with a third of our team in training. But, there’s proof in the pudding.

Proven Results

We love the idea of developing the future of our region’s workforce, providing fully-qualified, home-grown commercial gas engineers and commercial plumbers, and have been passionate about doing this for a decade, now.

It’s not just a feel-good initiative, though. We’ve seen first-hand how beneficial it is to invest in apprentices.

In fact, five of our eight plumbers and engineers completed their apprenticeship with us!

Meet Kellan

This is Kellan, one of our longest-tenured engineers. He has been with the business for over eight years now, having joined as an apprentice. As you can see, he has grown up a little bit over that time!

Having worked incredibly hard during his time with us, Kellan is now an incredibly skilled and knowledgeable gas engineer – the absolute best of the best in our region – and is an integral part of our team. A fan favourite, with some of our longest-standing clients seeing his whole journey play out since 2017, KP is the perfect demonstration of why we believe in apprenticeships.

And now, he’s paying it forward.

A Self-Sustaining Cycle

Once an apprentice gains the necessary knowledge and skills to be a fully-qualified gas engineer or plumber, they are able to gain independence, and can work on their own, have their own company van, etc. In addition to this, they, in turn, become the next teachers.

When we bring in a new wave of engineers to join the team, Kellan is often the first to offer support and help to teach them. This is partially because he’s been there and done it. All of our senior engineers are bought into this process, and whether they did their apprenticeship with PGS or not, we’ve all been there. Everyone in this profession started in the same place, and we love seeing our veteran team members passing on their knowledge to the next generation.

Once a member of our team finishes their apprenticeship, they will be expected to share what they’ve learned and support the next wave as they follow in the same footsteps. This cycle is the key to building up a sustainable workforce and instilling your values into the team from day one.

Meet Our Plumbing & Heating Apprentices

More Than A Spare Pair Of Hands

The key to fully maximising the potential of apprentices and getting the most out of these young, enthusiastic team members is to get them involved as early as possible. And, when we say involved, we mean actually involved. From their first job they go to on day one, our experienced engineers will guide them through some of the simple tasks and less technical parts of the work.

Naturally, they won’t be thrust into doing anything dangerous or difficult, and we never assign them with tasks that could compromise a client’s plumbing or heating systems. However, from the moment they put on their safety boots and a PGS polo shirt, we start challenging them.

Whether it’s taking the flue readings during a commercial boiler service, cleaning a magnetic filter or bleeding a radiator, every small task contributes to the learning process. As our apprentices build confidence and become more comfortable over time, we push them to get more and more involved, until they can single-handedly service a boiler with supervision from one of our senior engineers.

Good Habits

One of the key benefits of training your workforce from the ground up is that they will learn to do things the way that you want them to do it. From simply wearing the appropriate PPE all the way to the actual execution of works we carry out. While you would obviously expect a fully-qualified engineer to be able to do a good job and have the knowledge required to get the job done, we take pride in being extremely thorough with our work, and it’s best to instil that from day one.

By training our engineers, we engrain a thorough, professional approach in them from the start, and we pair them with the best in the business to shadow and support as they learn. This gives us the ability to develop good habits and maintain the extremely high standards we hold ourselves to, well into the future.

Growing Together

Arguably the most valuable benefit to our apprentice-heavy approach, and one that has nothing to do with the standard of work or the sharing of knowledge, is actually the fact that our business feels more like a family.

Our engineers spend hours together every day, working in various pairings and groups, depending on the job, and they of course work alongside our fantastic admin team in the office. Over time, as our apprentices grow, they truly become key members of the team, and as they grow, the whole family grows around them.

As an apprentice progresses to become a fully-qualified senior commercial gas engineer, they get to see two whole new generations of apprentices, and then engineers, develop behind them. This helps us bridge the well-known skills gap in our industry [the daunting space between an apprentice and a 10-year experienced veteran] by creating a direct line of support between every rung of the ladder. Our most senior team members support the guys who are fully-qualified, but still growing, and then they pass their knowledge down to the apprentices, who will one day be coaching up their replacement.

If you want a plumbing and heating partner that is passionate about supporting and nurturing the next generation of highly-skilled tradespeople, and who understand that apprenticeships are more than just cheap labour and a spare pair of hands, reach out to Plumbing & Gas Solutions, today.

You can call us on 01908 569031 or drop us an e-mail to info@pgsolutions.co.uk

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