Lucy talks Preston and plastic containers

I’ve made visits to Preston on a number of occasions since the acquisition 

of Alison Handling last year, a delightful trip on the M6 I’m sure many of you will agree! I’m always impressed by the enthusiasm in the office and variety of products available for purchase, the knowledge of the team is priceless but I suppose that’s what you get for being in the industry for 30 years.

People often ask what’s changed since the merger last year, what are Alison Handling now doing differently. What AHS do they do very well and it’s quite niche. They understand their focus, how many warehouses can you go to and select from a huge array of products, the exact piece of equipment to use, with no minimum order and next day delivery? Even if you’re not sure what you should be buying their experience helps selected the best product

for your application.

 You are instantly greeted by rows and rows of trays, crates, pallets, Dolavs, totes, you name it they stock it, and not just in a standard colour that you have to stick with. A lot of equipment is available in multiple colour choices. You may have noticed one addition to the range of equipment and that’s roll cages and metal.  The handling equipment compliments the packaging range already available and has been a popular sale and rental item at PPS for several years.

To speak to the Alison team call 01772 687 940. 

Meet the Team - Hannah Swinson

Name: 

Hannah Swinson

When did you join PPS? 

20^th April 2015

What was your first ever job?

My first job was milking cows, I live very rural and it fit in well whilst being at college.

How do you take your tea?

Strong, milk, no sugar.

What is your favourite food?

Peanut butter on toast.

What are your hobbies?

I have a horse which takes up a lot of my spare time, however I like to explore new places and socialise often with friends.

PPS Reusable Plastic Trays are in Flavour at Dairy Fruit

Dairy Fruit, northern Europe's leading supplier of quality aseptic flavoured fruit preparations and liquid spice mixes for the food industry, recently introduce PPS food grade, reusable plastic trays into its logistics supply chain.

PPS Total Equipment Solutions Process

Crispin Gell - Sales Director of Dairy Fruit reported, “In reviewing our packaging and handling operations, it was decided to source a company who could provide a food grade rentable plastic tray system that offered stability and security when delivering our products.

We also had to give serious consideration to Heath & Safety regulations, taking into account maximum handling weights for operatives both within our facility and our customers. Plus we wanted a company that could supply a full service and minimise our handling involvement by collecting the empty trays from our customer’s facilities. These reusable plastic trays would then be washed before being returned to Dairy Fruit and into the supply chain loop. 

We also had to consider the cost of switching from the current cardboard packaging to the returnable tray system, as this was extremely important as we could not add this cost to our product.” 

Dairy Fruit engaged PPS Midlands in the review and they proposed a hygienic, cost effective and practical solution to this problem using bale arm trays, which are ideally suited for food applications.

PPS Business Development Manager Jonathan Issatt commented, “We opted for a durable, ventilated reusable plastic tray that has been specifically designed for transport and storage purposes and incorporates moveable swing bale arms to provide strong hand grips. When not in use, these containers can be stacked and nested in order to save space.

Supporting a full and comprehensive service, PPS Midlands BRC accredited factory in Measham is equipped with modern state-of-the-art high pressure wash facilities to clean all type and sizes of returnable transit packaging, including trays, crates, tote boxes, bulk bin containers and even houses a dedicated plastic pallet washing machine. The company also recently invested in a box drying facility, which is particularly important for PPS customers who need the containers to be dry before depositing product and to prevent damage and contamination.”

According to Crispin Gell of Dairy Fruit reported, “The new PPS returnable plastic tray, collection and wash service has allowed us to expand business within a number of new areas, with Dairy Fruit now able to fulfil some customers hygienic, reusable packaging and delivery criteria.

PPS has proven to be a very responsive company, professional in its approach and easy to deal with. We would have no hesitation in recommending them or their products”.

Returnable Transit Packaging for Christmas Food Deliveries

Christmas in Retail and Food Processing Industries

Plans for Christmas in certain retail sectors started in January and now there's Only 4 months to go!

I can’t believe that we have reached August bank holiday weekend already!  Summer has been and gone (was it ever here???) and before we know it the shops will be full of Christmas merchandise!

I know, I said the dreaded ‘C’ word, in August. Personally I love Christmas and I bought my first Christmas presents in January. I love all the build-up, the excitement on children’s faces and most of all the food!

Sometimes as consumers we don’t realise all the time and work that goes into making sure that all the edible Christmas delights arrive on our supermarket shelves ready for the festive period.  Since working closely with the food processing industry supplying them with various types of returnable transit packaging including plastic trays, crates and pallets alongside providing hygienic equipment washing I have begun to realise the lengthy process Christmas entails. They need to make sure that we have enough mince pies, turkey and of course brussel sprouts to fill our plates and at PPS we have to provide the food processers with enough plastic pallets, trays and crates to store their important produce in.

Christmas preparation in the food production industry starts as early as January but at PPS we notice a big increase in our tray rental in the summer months.  As soon as the sun comes out all the seasonal tray hire enquiries come in.  Luckily at PPS we have over 10 years of experience in the supply of returnable transit packaging and we have become accustomed to industry trends making us well prepared for the seasonal spikes.  We always ensure that we have a large rental pool of equipment ready for our customers including plastic pallets, trays, crates and returnable fish boxes.

I know some of you will be reading this and think I’ve gone mad talking about Christmas but everyone in food processing and retail will have started thinking about Christmas months ago to make sure we have everything we could possible want during the Christmas period.

Contact us for more information about seasonal rental.



PPS Midlands Limited and PPS East Limited are returnable transit packaging specialists. Contact us with regards to reusable equipment services including pallet pooling, crate rental, tray rental, tray washing, plastic pallet washing, reusable fish boxes, pallet boxes and returnable transit equipment repairs

Moving Offices Rental Service

office moves - rental crates, boxes, trays pallets

PPS are excited to launch our brand new office and commercial moves rental service to complement our existing returnable equipment solutions.

PPS currently specialises in services connected to returnable transit packaging, this mainly includes rental of plastic crates, boxes, trays, pallets or pallet boxes. At PPS we rent all types of returnable equipment and wash it at one of our BRC accredited wash plants.  We also offer asset management to allow our customers to take greater control of their pool.

Rental Crates, Boxes, Trays, Pallets, Pallet Boxes - PPS Equipment 

We have been providing returnable equipment services for over 10 years.  It is this experience that we intend to bring to our new office and commercial moves venture.

PPS have invested in an extensive pool of removal equipment including lidded tote boxes, computer crates, dollies and sack barrows.  All this removal equipment is available to hire for short or long term rentals. 

Removal equipment rentals can be arranged by either contacting our experienced sales team or filling in one of our simple online order forms.

All our equipment will arrive with you on the arranged date clean and ready to use. Our crates can be sealed for added security and labels can also be provided to ensure that your move runs smoothly. To make your move even easier we can provide sack trucks and dollies to transport the crates.  We understand that certain items need extra protection so we can provide specially designed computer crates as well as accessories to protect the contents.

At PPS we understand that moving location can be a hectic period for any business, our professional service will remove a lot of the pressure at this time by handling all your packaging material requirements.  We have storage boxes, crates and packaging accessories available to hire.

We appreciate that even with the best organisation moves don’t always go according to plan.  With this in mind rental periods can be extended and extra equipment can be hired.  Our sales team are always available to discuss any extra requirements.

Joanne Moss from PPS Midlands said ‘We are always looking at new ways to expand our business and office and commercial moves seemed like the perfect new venture.  We already rent out returnable equipment and we were getting enquiries from potential customers wishing to hire removal equipment including tote boxes for storage whilst they moved or refurbished their premises.  We hated having to turn down business due to lack of stock so the obvious next step was to invest in a pool of removal equipment.

We are really excited to now be offering this service and we are looking forward to helping customers with their moves and refurbishments.’


PPS Midlands Limited and PPS East Limited are returnable transit packaging specialists. If you are interested in reducing your costs, waste and environmental footprint, then you should contact us with regards to reusable equipment and pallet pooling, plastic crates, plastic pallet boxes, container rental and supply, product repairs and equipment washing.

Returnable Packaging Equipment Company PPS Supports London Olympics and Diamond Jubilee Celebrations

PPS has been very active in recent months putting together equipment rental and washing packages to support a number of contractors that are preparing the Olympic venues for the start of the Games at the end of July.

PPS has long been really active in recent months compiling equipment rental and equipment washing packages which includes plastic trays, plastic pallets, plastic crates and plastic pallet boxes to support a number of contractors that are preparing the Olympic venues for the start of the Games at the end of July.

We have supplied a considerable pool of our collapsible pallet boxes to a company engaged in the construction of temporary seating arenas at a number of sporting venues across the London area.

We have also supplied a pool of solid pallet boxes to be used for the storing of nautical equipment for the Sailing event to be held on the south coast. We are at present in discussions with a range of other suppliers to the Olympics as diverse as the supply of our plastic pallets for the transportation of hay at the equestrian events to the supply of our plastic food trays for a business involved in catering for the thousands of athletes that will be competing at the Games.

PPS also supplied a pool of collapsible pallet boxes for the transportation of equipment used for the erection of the stage and temporary arena for the concert in front of Buckingham Palace as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Once the Olympic games are finished we at PPS are expecting to be extremely busy at our wash plants when the trays, pallets, crates and pallet boxes are returned to our pool for washing at one of our wash plants to be made ready for the next rental assignment.

PPS prides itself on our adaptable and responsive approach to customers and we are very confident in our capability to provide all tray hire and pallet rental requirements together with tray washing or pallet washing services for both customers who own crates and pallets as well as our own crate and pallet pools. PPS offer the most comprehensive range of crates, trays, pallets and pallet boxes in the industry and we can supply both rental and equipment washing services for both small volumes on an ad hoc basis or high volume crates on a longer term basis.

With an rising trend towards environmentally friendly packaging returnable transit packaging (RTP) is replacing single trip packaging such as polystyrene and cardboard boxes for the transportation of food products.  PPS’s trays, pallets, crates and pallet boxes are manufactured from durable plastic and are especially designed for several trips over a protracted life which ensures that in the vast majority of applications we can offer a lower cost per trip in comparison with single trip packaging products. PPS manage pools of equipment and part of that equipment management is the hygienic washing of all used packaging.

PPS Midlands Limited and PPS East Limited are returnable transit packaging specialists. If you are interested in reducing your costs, waste and environmental footprint, then you should contact us with regards to reusable equipment and pallet pooling, plastic crates, plastic pallet boxes, container rental and supply, product repairs and equipment washing.