AIR CONDITIONING
From kitchen table to national distributor in two decades
From humble beginnings in 2003, air conditioning distributor Cool Designs has grown into a thriving £21m business. As the company celebrates 20 years’ trading, ACR News speaks to founder and managing director Darrel Birkett about the journey, and his reflections on the future
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DL has grown rapidly in the past two decades. What is the secret of your success?
Our approach from the start was to be customer- led. For us, this means listening to what contractors actually want, and not trying a force a solution on them that doesn't meet requirements, just because it's the easy option. It also means protecting our customers: we always position ourselves on their side of the table, for example in discussions with national accounts and manufacturers.
How did it all begin?
When we started out, I was running things from home, literally on the kitchen table. Our turnover in the first year was £600k. I had been working at Greenham Air Conditioning for 10 years, distributing Fujitsu and Panasonic. When the business was sold, I moved to PHM Distribution. Shortly after, an opportunity came up with CDL – it had originally been launched as a temporary project and was going to be shelved. I thought I could make something of it. There were also aspects of my previous companies I didn’t quite agree with, and thought we could take a different approach.
How did the launch team come together? Lee Neale (now branch manager in Gateshead) and I were friends at school and we both worked at Greenham Air Conditioning. Michelle Lawson (now heading the VRF side) was our first employee, and Ray Steel (now branch manager at Warrington) joined in 2005. Shortly after, Chris Oldroyd joined as our first external sales person (now Area Sales Manager for
18 February 2023 •
www.acr-news.com
CDL line-up: Darrel Birkett (Managing Director), Lee Neale (Office Manager Gateshead and Projects), Chris Oldroyd (Regional Sales Manager), and Michelle Lawson (VRF Sales Support).
chillers, AHUs and heat pumps), and Ally Stubbs (head of logistics). All remain with us today
How does your approach to business work in practice, day-to-day? From the first day customers learn of a new project, we work hand-in-hand with them. This involves visiting site or their client, understanding requirements and offering suggestions that may not have been considered. Where relevant, we also offer bespoke control solutions to deliver improved energy savings. The whole approach is to support our customers and add value from first contact to final completion – and beyond, through ongoing support. The focus is on helping customers win projects, and ensuring they have the skills and knowledge to deliver outstanding results for their own clients.
Training is a big part of CDL’s offer. How does this fit in with the strategy? Absolutely, training has been a cornerstone of the business from the beginning. We offer a wide range of courses covering all levels of technical ability, from introductory courses to advanced, enabling customers to progress and build their skills. Courses moved on-line during Covid, however we are now back offering full in-person training from our branches. Due to increased demand, and to help customers quickly get up to date, we have now also put our training ‘on-the-road’ to save people travelling to our offices, where numbers are inevitably limited. In total, we have trained around 3000 engineers to date over 20 years.
How have changes in technology and refrigerants impacted your approach?
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