We have probably all gotten our hopes up for a white Christmas this year. The early snow fall did indicate this is the way the weather was going to turn out. Well unfortunately we will just be subjected to even more rain (if this is possible!) Christmas is going to be a soggy one.
The weather warnings that have come as a result of heavy rainfall mean that the transatlantic mild fronts have been sent on their way and our chances or snow are dwindling.
In areas such as Cornwall and Devon there have been amber weather warnings. This mean anyone in this area needs to be prepared for potential flooding. When the time comes this means all furniture and white goods such as refrigeration units should be moved or protected. There has been a yellow weather warning issued in the Midlands for when this bad weather moves from Cornwall upwards. By Thursday, those in Yorkshire will also have a yellow weather warning.
Things aren’t going to improve over the weekend either, there is yet more rainfall pushing its way through the country. The Met Office has said this, “Very unsettled and windy, with occasionally heavy train pushing north-eastwards.
“Further locally heavy rain is likely midweek separated by drier showery interludes, with the best drier weather likely to be in the east. Strong to gale-force winds are also likely in places, but especially in the north-west. Temperatures will mostly near or perhaps a little above normal, although patchy overnight frost remains likely, a pattern that should continue in the run up to the New Year, with similarly unsettled conditions likely to prevail.”
Regulatory authorities have announced that a new meningitis vaccine, MenAfiVac, can be stored without refrigeration for up to four days in what is being hailed as a significant breakthrough for Africa’s “Meningitis belt.”
Whilst such a short amount of time may seem trivial to some, one of the biggest obstacles in providing vaccination courses in Third World countries is keeping vaccines cold when transporting it from electrified cities to villages without power. Using antipolio drives as an example, the freezers, generators and fuel necessary to make ice for the shoulder bags of vaccinators is more costly than the actual vaccine.
Previous meningitis epidemics had cost countless lives in Africa, the hot hattman winds contributing to the deaths of 25,000 Africans and leaving 50,000 disabled during the worst years.
MenAfriVac, produced in India, was originally introduced in 2010 and in Chad this year, the vaccination campaign cut cases to near zero in the districts where it was used whereas other nearby districts suffered serious outbreaks.
Experts now say it is safe for four days, provided it stays below 104 degrees.
Though temperatures in Africa do exceed that, Dr Godwin Enwere, medical director for the Meningitis Vaccine Project, ensures teams will typically remove the vaccine from the coolers before sunrise and distribute the vaccine to villages before the afternoon hours when temperatures peak.
The energy event is coming closer and closer! It is being held on the 11th and 12th of September at the NEC in Birmingham.
The organisers are claiming that the event will help organisations with managing their energy usage as the pressures are growing on businesses to be more environmentally friendly.
Those who are attending the event will hear in depth talks from a variety of companies and learn first-hand knowledge how companies reduced their energy bill. EcoCooling are a global supplier of evaporative coolers and they helped Net-A-Porter.com save there refrigeration costs by 90 per cent within their warehouses.
As well as EcoCooling, all major energy companies will have a stand on the show floor to answer any questions.
There will be four theatres holding many conferences including information on the latest technologies, case studies and concepts. Within the sessions there will be solutions based on energy management, energy efficiency and even types of products and services to use.
Belimo will also have a stand at the show. They are leading worldwide when it comes to actuator and valve technology for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. They will be offering their products and they have a great reputation for value for money. Their valve measures, controls and balances systems so this means that the systems that it is used within can be optimised and therefore will improve energy efficiency. This in turn will also lower the costs of operating the systems.
The Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Show was launched earlier this year and due to the response there will be another one in 2014. The dates are currently the 11th to the 13th of February and will be held in the NEC in Birmingham.
A different date has been previously announced but this coincided with another event, Mostra Convegno which is the Italian Exhibition.
Already the ACR show in 2014 is already being backed by key organisations within the industry. These include: The Institute of Refrigeration, the British Refrigeration Association, and the Federation of Environmental Trades Association, among others.
Jan Thorpe who is the event director for the show said, “It was an extremely positive result for a brand new show, and provides an excellent foundation on which to build for the next ACR Show in 2014. We are already working on exciting plans to expand the event. This includes even better networking opportunities and visitor attractions, such as cutting edge business and technical presentations, training and other high interest features.”
There were a total of 3,492 visitors and exhibitors. It proved a brilliant opportunity to view the latest developments in the industry. 30 per cent of those who visited were contractors and installers and a further 18 per cent were manufacturers. Ms Thorpe added, “The visitor analysis shows that nearly 70 per cent of visitors had either direct responsibility for purchasing decisions or influenced them. It reflects the overwhelming feedback from exhibitors that the show attracted people with serious buying power.”
The newest company to the Ferguson Group, IceBlue Refrigeration Offshore is celebrating their first successful year in business.
The business was launched in June 2011 as a result of the growing demand for offshore refrigeration and freezing containers for storing and transporting food. After a very successful first year there are already plans to expand the product range at the end of this year.
The Chairman and CEO of the Ferguson Group, Steven Ferguson has said, “It has been a successful first year for IceBlue Refrigeration, with its fleet increasing substantially in the first 12 months. I am delighted that plans are in place to grow the fleet even further over the coming year. Having stock based at each of our international bases is critical towards ensuring that IceBlue Refrigeration Offshore is well placed to mobilise its fleet as quickly as its customers require the.”
Over the course of the last month there have been new containers sent to Singapore, Trinidad, the Middle East and Ghana. They are currently working on products that are specifically targeted for the Australian and New Zealand markets. The Norway base is the busiest as they supply refrigeration containers to the North Sea clients.
The Ferguson Group employs over 170 people across the world and is based in Aberdeenshire.
It’s great news to hear that a company in our industry is doing well, especially with most of us feeling the pinch in these hard economic times.
Willie Haughey, started a refrigeration company with his wife, Susan back in 1985. They started off with just four employees and now they have 11,000 and they are global giants. He has now found out that he is being knighted for business and philanthropy services.
He built City Refrigeration Holdings into a hugely successful business and he has also started the City Charitable Trust. Since he has set up the Charity it has donated more than £5 million most of which has been donated to local charities.
Mr Haughey said, 2Obviously I feel very honoured but I also feel privileged, humbled and overwhelmed, I was absolutely thrilled to receive the letter. It’s amazing, you never expect for a minute it could happen to you and when it does it’s a shock.”
Mr Haughey was born in Glasgow and moved the headquarters of his company to where his childhood home once was.
Hopefully the weather will pick up soon and we can all enjoy the weather and turn our air conditioning back on. Remember to have you unit checked to ensure it is working properly.
Hastie Group Limited is leading in design, installation and maintenance of technical services to the building and infrastructure sector.
The company has grown from an air conditioning company based in Sydney and now provides services in four different divisions: refrigeration, electrical, maintenance and service and mechanical and hydraulics.
Sadly they have gone into administration as many businesses have done so over the last year due to the economic climate. This will have effects on businesses here in the UK and Ireland. This is because Hastie Group owned Rotary Group which is based in Warrington. They are now searching for a new owner and are still trading like normal even though the parent company is in administration.
Hastie employs 7,000 people around the world and is estimated to own £314 million.
The administrator has said, “We believe they are profitable businesses with liquidity headroom. Over the coming weeks we expect there will be an orderly process to sell the Rotary UK and Ireland businesses as going concerns.”
The Australian and Middle Eastern businesses have been suspended as they have insufficient funds for the administrators to keep them running. They have been suspended till their financial positions have been reviewed and analysed.
Inverclyde Royal Hospital (IRH) and Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) has had state of the art refrigeration facilities at the Greenock and Paisley premises by ACE Refrigeration, to help cope with the increased catering demands.
ACE Refrigeration has provided the IRH and RAH with a cooking and freeze production facility, working directly with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and BAM Construction.
The new facilities enable the catering teams at IRH and RAH to produce in excess of 4,000 meals per day and meet patients’ catering need for the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area. The brand new state of the art sites have helped GGC centralise its production, saving money, reaping large economies of scale and increasing the consistency and quality of the food created.
The Paisley equipment includes seven chill rooms, four rolling blast freezers, seven freezer rooms and three chilled production rooms and the facilities have a combined floor space of 1200 cubic metres.
Both of the jobs were finished on time.
Sales director of ACE Refrigeration, Shane McKenzie said, “When we were asked to undertake the work, we knew that it was going to be a big job.”
“In order to produce more than 4,000 meals a day, facilities like Inverclyde Royal Hospital and Royal Alexandra Hospital require robust refrigeration equipment because a hospital never sleeps.”
“Staff, patients, visitors you name it, they need looked after, which is why it was crucial for us to finish both jobs on time.”
“We had to import the blast freezers from Italy. The blast freezer we needed had to be able to produce 500 kilograms of frozen produce on two trolleys per hour, which not a lot of other manufacturers could match up to. The Italian equipment meant that we got the best value for money and production efficiency for the sites.”
The company used custom manufactured equipment to suit the unique requirements of IRH and RAH, for example the three specially manufactured compressor packs installed in the Greenock’s site basement, the design of which makes sure there is a maximum possible decrease in power usage.
Facilities Manager, David Macdonald at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said, “The experience brought by ACE Refrigeration was invaluable to the design of the facilities and they met our exact needs.
“They really are the specialists in the area and worked closely with us throughout the entire build to ensure we got what we wanted.”
We have probably all gotten our hopes up for a white Christmas this year. The early snow fall did indicate this is the way the weather was going to turn out. Well unfortunately we will just be subjected to even more rain (if this is possible!) Christmas is going to be a soggy one.
The weather warnings that have come as a result of heavy rainfall mean that the transatlantic mild fronts have been sent on their way and our chances or snow are dwindling.
In areas such as Cornwall and Devon there have been amber weather warnings. This mean anyone in this area needs to be prepared for potential flooding. When the time comes this means all furniture and white goods such as refrigeration units should be moved or protected. There has been a yellow weather warning issued in the Midlands for when this bad weather moves from Cornwall upwards. By Thursday, those in Yorkshire will also have a yellow weather warning.
Things aren’t going to improve over the weekend either, there is yet more rainfall pushing its way through the country. The Met Office has said this, “Very unsettled and windy, with occasionally heavy train pushing north-eastwards.
“Further locally heavy rain is likely midweek separated by drier showery interludes, with the best drier weather likely to be in the east. Strong to gale-force winds are also likely in places, but especially in the north-west. Temperatures will mostly near or perhaps a little above normal, although patchy overnight frost remains likely, a pattern that should continue in the run up to the New Year, with similarly unsettled conditions likely to prevail.”
Longer window without refrigeration for Meningitis vaccine
Regulatory authorities have announced that a new meningitis vaccine, MenAfiVac, can be stored without refrigeration for up to four days in what is being hailed as a significant breakthrough for Africa’s “Meningitis belt.”
Whilst such a short amount of time may seem trivial to some, one of the biggest obstacles in providing vaccination courses in Third World countries is keeping vaccines cold when transporting it from electrified cities to villages without power. Using antipolio drives as an example, the freezers, generators and fuel necessary to make ice for the shoulder bags of vaccinators is more costly than the actual vaccine.
Previous meningitis epidemics had cost countless lives in Africa, the hot hattman winds contributing to the deaths of 25,000 Africans and leaving 50,000 disabled during the worst years.
MenAfriVac, produced in India, was originally introduced in 2010 and in Chad this year, the vaccination campaign cut cases to near zero in the districts where it was used whereas other nearby districts suffered serious outbreaks.
Experts now say it is safe for four days, provided it stays below 104 degrees.
Though temperatures in Africa do exceed that, Dr Godwin Enwere, medical director for the Meningitis Vaccine Project, ensures teams will typically remove the vaccine from the coolers before sunrise and distribute the vaccine to villages before the afternoon hours when temperatures peak.
The Energy Event
The energy event is coming closer and closer! It is being held on the 11th and 12th of September at the NEC in Birmingham.
The organisers are claiming that the event will help organisations with managing their energy usage as the pressures are growing on businesses to be more environmentally friendly.
Those who are attending the event will hear in depth talks from a variety of companies and learn first-hand knowledge how companies reduced their energy bill. EcoCooling are a global supplier of evaporative coolers and they helped Net-A-Porter.com save there refrigeration costs by 90 per cent within their warehouses.
As well as EcoCooling, all major energy companies will have a stand on the show floor to answer any questions.
There will be four theatres holding many conferences including information on the latest technologies, case studies and concepts. Within the sessions there will be solutions based on energy management, energy efficiency and even types of products and services to use.
Belimo will also have a stand at the show. They are leading worldwide when it comes to actuator and valve technology for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. They will be offering their products and they have a great reputation for value for money. Their valve measures, controls and balances systems so this means that the systems that it is used within can be optimised and therefore will improve energy efficiency. This in turn will also lower the costs of operating the systems.
The Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Show
The Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Show was launched earlier this year and due to the response there will be another one in 2014. The dates are currently the 11th to the 13th of February and will be held in the NEC in Birmingham.
A different date has been previously announced but this coincided with another event, Mostra Convegno which is the Italian Exhibition.
Already the ACR show in 2014 is already being backed by key organisations within the industry. These include: The Institute of Refrigeration, the British Refrigeration Association, and the Federation of Environmental Trades Association, among others.
Jan Thorpe who is the event director for the show said, “It was an extremely positive result for a brand new show, and provides an excellent foundation on which to build for the next ACR Show in 2014. We are already working on exciting plans to expand the event. This includes even better networking opportunities and visitor attractions, such as cutting edge business and technical presentations, training and other high interest features.”
There were a total of 3,492 visitors and exhibitors. It proved a brilliant opportunity to view the latest developments in the industry. 30 per cent of those who visited were contractors and installers and a further 18 per cent were manufacturers. Ms Thorpe added, “The visitor analysis shows that nearly 70 per cent of visitors had either direct responsibility for purchasing decisions or influenced them. It reflects the overwhelming feedback from exhibitors that the show attracted people with serious buying power.”
IceBlue Refrigeration Offshore Celebrates a Successful First Year
The business was launched in June 2011 as a result of the growing demand for offshore refrigeration and freezing containers for storing and transporting food. After a very successful first year there are already plans to expand the product range at the end of this year.
The Chairman and CEO of the Ferguson Group, Steven Ferguson has said, “It has been a successful first year for IceBlue Refrigeration, with its fleet increasing substantially in the first 12 months. I am delighted that plans are in place to grow the fleet even further over the coming year. Having stock based at each of our international bases is critical towards ensuring that IceBlue Refrigeration Offshore is well placed to mobilise its fleet as quickly as its customers require the.”
Over the course of the last month there have been new containers sent to Singapore, Trinidad, the Middle East and Ghana. They are currently working on products that are specifically targeted for the Australian and New Zealand markets. The Norway base is the busiest as they supply refrigeration containers to the North Sea clients.
The Ferguson Group employs over 170 people across the world and is based in Aberdeenshire.
It’s great news to hear that a company in our industry is doing well, especially with most of us feeling the pinch in these hard economic times.
Owner of City Refrigeration Holdings to be Knighted
Willie Haughey, started a refrigeration company with his wife, Susan back in 1985. They started off with just four employees and now they have 11,000 and they are global giants. He has now found out that he is being knighted for business and philanthropy services.
He built City Refrigeration Holdings into a hugely successful business and he has also started the City Charitable Trust. Since he has set up the Charity it has donated more than £5 million most of which has been donated to local charities.
Mr Haughey said, 2Obviously I feel very honoured but I also feel privileged, humbled and overwhelmed, I was absolutely thrilled to receive the letter. It’s amazing, you never expect for a minute it could happen to you and when it does it’s a shock.”
Mr Haughey was born in Glasgow and moved the headquarters of his company to where his childhood home once was.
Hopefully the weather will pick up soon and we can all enjoy the weather and turn our air conditioning back on. Remember to have you unit checked to ensure it is working properly.
Hastie Group is in Administration
Hastie Group Limited is leading in design, installation and maintenance of technical services to the building and infrastructure sector.
The company has grown from an air conditioning company based in Sydney and now provides services in four different divisions: refrigeration, electrical, maintenance and service and mechanical and hydraulics.
Sadly they have gone into administration as many businesses have done so over the last year due to the economic climate. This will have effects on businesses here in the UK and Ireland. This is because Hastie Group owned Rotary Group which is based in Warrington. They are now searching for a new owner and are still trading like normal even though the parent company is in administration.
Hastie employs 7,000 people around the world and is estimated to own £314 million.
The administrator has said, “We believe they are profitable businesses with liquidity headroom. Over the coming weeks we expect there will be an orderly process to sell the Rotary UK and Ireland businesses as going concerns.”
The Australian and Middle Eastern businesses have been suspended as they have insufficient funds for the administrators to keep them running. They have been suspended till their financial positions have been reviewed and analysed.
Scottish Hospitals Helped by Glasgow Refrigeration Company to Meet Demand
ACE Refrigeration has provided the IRH and RAH with a cooking and freeze production facility, working directly with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and BAM Construction.
The new facilities enable the catering teams at IRH and RAH to produce in excess of 4,000 meals per day and meet patients’ catering need for the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area. The brand new state of the art sites have helped GGC centralise its production, saving money, reaping large economies of scale and increasing the consistency and quality of the food created.
The Paisley equipment includes seven chill rooms, four rolling blast freezers, seven freezer rooms and three chilled production rooms and the facilities have a combined floor space of 1200 cubic metres.
Both of the jobs were finished on time.
Sales director of ACE Refrigeration, Shane McKenzie said, “When we were asked to undertake the work, we knew that it was going to be a big job.”
“In order to produce more than 4,000 meals a day, facilities like Inverclyde Royal Hospital and Royal Alexandra Hospital require robust refrigeration equipment because a hospital never sleeps.”
“Staff, patients, visitors you name it, they need looked after, which is why it was crucial for us to finish both jobs on time.”
“We had to import the blast freezers from Italy. The blast freezer we needed had to be able to produce 500 kilograms of frozen produce on two trolleys per hour, which not a lot of other manufacturers could match up to. The Italian equipment meant that we got the best value for money and production efficiency for the sites.”
The company used custom manufactured equipment to suit the unique requirements of IRH and RAH, for example the three specially manufactured compressor packs installed in the Greenock’s site basement, the design of which makes sure there is a maximum possible decrease in power usage.
Facilities Manager, David Macdonald at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said, “The experience brought by ACE Refrigeration was invaluable to the design of the facilities and they met our exact needs.
“They really are the specialists in the area and worked closely with us throughout the entire build to ensure we got what we wanted.”