COMPANY PROFILE
technology. Its reliability. Turning up when you say you will and fi xing the problem properly. That’s what’s grown our business more than any marketing strategy. Looking back, three truths stand out:
■ Plans are easy, delivery is hard. Perfect maintenance strate- gies mean nothing if you can’t get engineers on site.
■ Trust is earned in hours, not years. Clients remember the 10pm rescue forever. Lose that trust once, and it’s gone.
■ Resilience beats fl ashy growth. Surviving tough winters and staffi ng gaps matters more than chasing headlines.
The AI experiment
Business advisors have their place, but they’re expensive. At one point, I was paying more for a month of advice than it now costs for a full year of ChatGPT Pro licences for my entire team. Out of curiosity, I asked AI: “Write me a business plan to exit with £10m in fi ve to eight years.” It delivered in seconds, pages of milestones, projections, and strategy. The kind of thing consultants would take weeks to produce. At times, using AI has felt less like a strategy and more like trying to drink from a pint glass while someone points a fi re hose at you. The sheer volume of possibilities, prompts and directions is overwhelming. But hidden in the torrent are real gems, insights that can accelerate planning, challenge assumptions, and give you an edge if you’re willing to do the work of fi ltering. That’s when it hit me: AI isn’t replacing me. It’s just giving me
homework at scale. The plan wasn’t wrong, but it didn’t crawl into a freezer at
2am, wrangle procurement delays, or motivate a team after a tough week. Execution still belongs to people. That doesn’t mean AI isn’t valuable. Used right, it can be
transformative. The challenge is bridging the gap between theory and practice. To push forward, I created a new role in the business focused purely on digital innovation and effi ciency. For a small Island fi rm, that’s unusual. A partner told me we’re only the second company they’d seen do this, the other had 4,500 employees. That comparison made me smile. Why should modernisation be reserved for giants? The aim isn’t gimmicks. It’s practical wins:
■Cleaner reporting and transparency. ■ Engineers supported with the right information at the right time.
■Stronger compliance and documentation. ■Less admin, more service. ■ If digital tools strip out friction, the engineers and the clients benefi t most.
Building partnerships and trust Innovation isn’t done in isolation. We’ve strengthened ties with an international wholesaler, giving us sharper access to parts, knowledge and supply resilience. We’ve also built a reputation for supporting national contractors, keeping their satellite sites on the Island running to the same standard (or better) as mainland operations. That peace of mind has earned us trust with major players. Technically, I’m proud that we’re the only company on the
Download the ACR News app today
Island certifi ed to deliver CO₂ installations and service. We recently completed a coldroom project with that technology, proof that we can deliver sustainable, low-GWP solutions, not just talk about them. There’s plenty of hype about AI replacing jobs, but I don’t buy it. Refrigeration and FM are too grounded in reality – food spoils, patients rely on chilled storage, and clients demand uptime. Those are non-negotiable. AI won’t replace engineers, but engineers using AI will outperform those who don’t. The danger is letting outsiders defi ne what that looks like for us. The opportunity and responsibility are to make sure AI
refl ects the real world of plant rooms, kitchens, and chillers, not just PowerPoints.
Looking ahead So, where am I after 10 years? Proud of building a business that started small, stayed
resilient and now supports both Island clients and national contractors. But also restless, aiming for growth, innovation, and yes, that bold £10m exit in fi ve to eight years. The next decade won’t just be about vans on the road. It will be about how our industry chooses to adapt digital tools and AI. The headlines will be big, but the real test will be whether those tools actually help engineers deliver better service. AI gave me a £10m plan in 40 seconds. That was nice. But
the next decade will still come down to people. Because when the freezer fails at 2am, no algorithm is going to turn the spanners. Engineers will.
www.acr-news.com • December 2025 13
'With major off shore wind manufacturers based on the Island, there’s also a clear opportunity for
refrigeration and FM to support the renewable- energy supply chain.'
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
