INTERVIEW Cool under pressure


After nearly 40 years at the heart of the industry, Bitzer UK’s outgoing MD, Kevin Glass, refl ects on a career built on trust, curiosity and compressors.


"I expect I’ll stay


involved in the industry in some capacity. I won’t be working fi ve days a week, but I want to support the industry where I can."


How did you get into the refrigeration


industry, and what made you stay? It was quite accidental, really. I was doing a four-year construction plant technician apprenticeship with Taylor Woodrow. Just after my third year, they said there’d be no jobs at the end. So, I started looking around and came across what was essentially a handyman’s position at Greenham Humidity Control. It turned out to be installing split system air conditioning units and servicing dehumidifi ers. That was my introduction to refrigeration. I eventually moved into sales, and through a roundabout way, I ended up at APV Hall Commercial, which later became Bitzer UK. That was in 1986. There was no single turning point where I thought, “this is it


for life”, it was more that I never found a reason to leave. The variety of roles, the constant changes, and the trust people placed in me kept me engaged. I was always learning something new. It never got dull.


You became known as the ‘go-to expert’ on compressors. What made you fall in love with compressors? I’ve always joked about the term ‘expert’, but I suppose after 39 years, people start calling you one whether you like it or not. But to be honest, working with Bitzer made it easy. From the start, Bitzer was always leading in compressor design. We were fi rst with a commercially viable screw compressor, and by the late ’90s, Bitzer had become the world’s largest independently owned refrigeration compressor manufacturer. Because I came from a technical background, I had to learn


the ins and outs of compressor technologies. That knowledge lent itself to training others. I spent years running training courses and working with customers. I think being approachable and honest helped build that reputation. It wasn’t that I knew more than everyone else. I wasn’t afraid to admit when I didn’t know something. I’d always make sure I went and found the answers!


What did Bitzer UK look like when you fi rst joined compared to now? When I started, Bitzer products were distributed through APV Hall Commercial, one of two UK distributors. Bitzer was mainly European, with a global turnover of around 30 million Deutsche Marks. Today, it’s more than €1.2 billion worldwide. When I joined, I was the youngest person in the offi ce, so when we got our fi rst PC, they just assumed I’d know how to use it. I didn’t. I had to teach myself DOS and Lotus 1-2-3 from scratch and ended up building a spreadsheet pricing tool the whole team relied on. That kind of problem-solving kept me hooked.


What are the biggest changes you’ve witnessed in refrigeration and air conditioning since the 1980s? I’d say the two biggest changes over the last 40 years have been refrigerants and technology. When I started, the only refrigerant I knew was R22. Then came R12, R502 and a handful of others. We were facing the CFC bans. Now, there are, what feels like, hundreds of refrigerants, each with its own quirks and regulations. Technology – not only refrigeration equipment and predictive maintenance systems, but the software we now use on a daily basis – has made the industry more effi cient. When I fi rst started, we were doing selections by hand using paper and calculators. Now we have software that can complete the same task in minutes.


What innovations do you think had the biggest impact?


The one thing that stands out is Bitzer’s Refrigerant Report. The fi rst one was written by Herman Renz and contained about 15 refrigerants. Now, we’re on version 24 with lots of refrigerants. But the impact has been huge. It’s become kind of like the industry’s refrigerant bible.


What were the biggest challenges you faced as MD of Bitzer UK?


I think my biggest challenge was actually trusting myself to 10 November 2025 • www.acr-news.com Download the ACR News app today


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