WR launches industrial refrigeration division as part of ambitious growth plans

WR Refrigeration, the UK"e;s largest commercial refrigeration contractor, has unveiled plans to become a major force in industrial refrigeration.

The company"e;s Spalding branch becomes the national focus of expertise for industrial technology. The company already has significant experience in large scale cooling with ammonia refrigeration, used extensively in agriculture and industrial process cooling, and plans to expand significantly in related industrial technologies.

Hugh Cole, WR Refrigeration"e;s managing director, said: "We have always been strong in the commercial and retail sector. We now have ambitious plans to expand our activities on the industrial side. The aim is to broaden the base of the business, and extend our capabilities into new areas – enriching our offering across the board".

The company believes that rising food prices and a resurgent farming sector will enable industry to invest in new, more efficient manufacturing systems, including state-of-the-art refrigeration plant.

The move is also partly in response to the trend towards use of natural refrigerants across the industry, which requires the development of new skills, often drawn from the industrial refrigeration side of the business.

Chris Cocks, who is heading up the new industrial division, says: "Commercial refrigeration systems are now becoming more industrialised, which requires a different approach to system design and refrigerants. Our plans feed back into this and will enable us to provide the best possible solutions in both commercial and industrial technology."

From the initial base in Spalding, the operation will be rolled-out to a strategic network of branches nationally, to provide a service and contracts capability across the country. Design and contract management will be based at the company"e;s Leeds and Leicester branches.

The company is aiming for a turnover of around £5million for the new division in the first 18 months, with anticipated growth of 30 per cent a year over the next five years.

WR Refrigeration is a member of the Huurre Group, the largest refrigeration contracting and service provider in Scandinavia, central and eastern Europe and Russia. The group is a leader in industrial refrigeration, managing and delivering large turn-key projects throughout the region.

Hannu Saastamoinen, Huurre"e;s CEO, said: "WR Refrigeration is ideally placed to grow its offering, extending its capabilities and service to its established customer base while supporting new customers."

The new UK industrial operation will provide a full spectrum of industrial refrigeration services, including system design and specification, contract management, installation and commissioning, energy and performance analysis, service and maintenance contracts, and plant monitoring and data management.

David Back, contracts manager for the new division, says: "The company has long experience of the food sector through its nationwide involvement with the retail chains. It is a natural progression from this to enter the distribution networks and manufacturing bases supplying the retail sector and the wider field of industrial and process cooling."

WR will be offering specialist refrigeration technologies aimed at a wide range of industrial applications, including:

• Spiral chillers, freezers and retarders;

• Blast freezers/chillers;

• Batch and trolley blast systems;

• Fluidised beds and IQF;

• Tunnel freezers and spin chillers;

• Scraped surface HX/ votators

• Ambient coolers

• Cooling for high risk areas and clean rooms;

• Evaporative dry cooling;

• Sock cooling.

• Baudelots

• Process water cooling

• Ice rinks

Refrigeration technology offered will embrace direct expansion, low pressure receivers, flooded; gravity, thermosyphon pump systems; secondary systems operating on glycol, brine or specialist thermo-fluids; ammonia and carbon dioxide-based systems form the norm together with heat recovery and adiabatic cooling.

The scale of industrial plant and the nature of the systems used require that safety issues are put at the top of the agenda. Chris Cocks says: "All the natural refrigerants need a much higher degree of safety awareness with the respective procedures. Ammonia obviously has its toxicity issues, carbon dioxide has its high pressures and with hydrocarbons it is flammability. We take this very seriously, with in-depth training provided to staff."

Many WR engineers have already been trained in the use of hydrocarbons. The next step is to roll out training in ammonia and carbon dioxide systems.

The company recently opened a state-of-the-art carbon dioxide training facility at its Birmingham branch, to act as a centre of excellence for both the commercial and industrial sides of the business.

The company"e;s status as an independent contractor gives it great flexibility in the area of branded technology. Chris Cocks says: "As an independent, WR has the freedom to install any manufacturer"e;s equipment. This requires specialist product training, but gives us a valuable insight into the pros and cons of each manufacturer"e;s proposals, together with highly experienced and flexible engineers."

The industrial push has already resulted in a number of successful contracts, including a major project for one of the biggest names in food production. This involves pump-circulated ammonia systems, spirals, scraped surface and low pressure receiver systems.

Technical innovations introduced into the design are expected to save the client up to 11 per cent on energy costs when running on freeze and more than 60 per cent when operating spirals on chill.

"With the introduction of carbon dioxide, we are able to reduce some client"e;s freezing times by half and thereby significantly reducing their manufacturing footprint," says David Back.

Other tenders have been submitted for a number of multi-million pound projects for which WR is well placed.

Hugh Cole says: "It is an exciting initiative for WR. With the deep experience we have within the company, and the energy and knowledge of the team heading it up, I am confident that the industrial division will become a successful and growing part of the business."