Apprentice winner’s company fined for F-gas breach
5th August 2026
UK: Essex-based ADL Air Conditioning, the company co-owned by Dean Franklin, the 2025 winner of The Apprentice TV show, has been fined £1,230 for undertaking activities without an F-gas certificate.
Amongst a number of penalties for F-gas quota violations by a number of UK companies, the Environment Agency’s civil penalties list, published today, also includes a notification of the £1,230 penalty imposed on ADL Air Conditioning.
The company was issued with the civil penalty under regulation 31A of the Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulations 2015 for undertaking activities without the proper certification, contrary to Article 3(4) of the 517/2014 F-gas regulation.
As winner of the TV show, Franklin was handed a £250,000 investment deal with Lord Sugar, who joined the board of ADL.
Within days of the win, newspaper reports surfaced claiming that his air conditioning firm had been operating without an F-gas certificate over a 17-month period. According to The Sun newspaper, this was confirmed by both REFCOM and the F-Gas Register.
It is unclear whether the civil penalty relates to these specific claims as the Environment Agency does not publish details of any penalties before a 12-month appeal period has elapsed.
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