NEWS RACHEL McCRYSTAL Trusttransition and
Full name: Rachel McCrystal Current role: Social Impact and Sustainability Manager Company: Daikin UK Time in role: 15 months, and with Daikin for three years Role and responsibilities: Rachel’s role as Social Impact & Sustainability Manager at Daikin UK is centred around broadening the part heating, cooling and heat-pump industry can play in delivering positive environmental and social change.
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efore joining the ACR industry, Rachel spent 20 years working in the charity sector, building extensive experience in social impact, fundraising, partnership
development, community engagement and creating opportunities for people and communities. Her career has also had a strong international dimension, having lived and worked in both France and Japan, experiences which have shaped Rachel’s approach to building relationships, understanding diff erent perspectives and bringing organisations together around a shared purpose. Rachel has brought that knowledge into Daikin and the
HVAC sector, connecting the company’s technology, technical expertise, training facilities, people and partnerships with wider societal challenges. Her work spans green skills and education, fuel poverty, community investment, decarbonisation, sustainability and social value, creating partnerships with local government, schools and colleges, charities, housing organisations and communities.
Key achievements Rachel has made an exceptional contribution to Daikin UK and the wider heating, cooling and heat-pump sector by turning sustainability and social value from commitments on paper into practical programmes that are creating opportunities for young people, local communities and the wider industry. A major focus of Rachel’s work has been centred on skills and education, where she has developed partnerships and programmes that help young people see engineering and green careers as genuine possibilities. She has forged partnerships with colleges to increase access to real heat- pump equipment and training environments, helping students learn new skills using technology they will encounter in the workplace. Working with Greater Manchester partners, Rachel’s passion has been felt through local school engagement using immersive VR and industry expertise to introduce pupils to heat
12 September 2026 •
www.acr-news.com
pumps, low-carbon technology and the careers that will be needed to deliver the transition to net zero. Rachel has helped establish Workplace Safari STEM
experiences at Daikin’s training centres, opening real-life engineering environments to schoolchildren. Following this successful activity, this model is being developed further, including a Workplace Safari at Daikin’s Traff ord Training Centre as part of Traff ord Green Careers Week in November 2026. Her work also extends directly into communities through
Daikin’s partnership with Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Rachel has championed initiatives connecting low- carbon technology with retrofi t, skills and local residents, including programmes aimed at improving homes and creating opportunities within the green economy. Recognising that technology alone will not drive heat-pump adoption, Rachel has initiated engagement with National Energy Action’s Community Retrofi t Hub teams, exploring how Daikin can train and upskill trusted frontline advisors who support vulnerable and low- income households through retrofi t. Rachel’s partnerships also extend to Daikin’s work with Dogs Trust to support the decarbonisation of its rehoming centres, helping demonstrate how heating and cooling technology can reduce environmental impact while supporting a national charity in delivering its core mission.
She has been instrumental in evolving Daikin’s initial support for Embassy Village in Manchester, a plan creating a purpose-built community for people who have experienced homelessness, into a legacy.
Rachel has driven change within Daikin leading work to establish the company’s Scope 1–3 carbon baseline and
Carbon Reduction Plan, strengthened the measurement and reporting of social value, and brought greater focus to supply-chain sustainability. Sustainability initiatives have included the Recycling and Reuse Task Force, engagement with refrigerant recovery and waste partners, and work through the Supply Chain Sustainability School, helping colleagues better understand the role they can play in delivering the sustainability agenda.
Away from work: Rachel loves hiking, cooking, baking and wild swimming.
It is also about people, skills, opportunity, trust and ensuring that the transition creates positive change for the communities it serves.
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