BESA pays tribute to Norman Mitchell

UK: The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has paid tribute to the work and influence of Norman Mitchell, who died on June 3.

One of the air conditioning and refrigeration industry’s leading figures, Norman Mitchell was a Fellow of the Institute of Refrigeration and was a former chair of the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Industry Board (ACRIB), the HVCA (now BESA) Refrigeration & Air Conditioning group, the UK’s F-gas register REFCOM and also a long-time president of the European contractors’ association, AREA. He also served on various standards committees over the years.

Norman Mitchell was still serving as chairman of Mitchell’s of Gloucester, the air conditioning contracting business established by his grandfather in 1905.

Head of REFCOM Graeme Fox, who knew him well and was able to represent the wider industry at last week’s funeral, described his former mentor as professional, dedicated and committed. 

Dedicated to the world of cooling and determined to improve standards through his work for BESA and others, Norman Mitchell was fiercely protective of the constitutions and rules of operation of the various bodies he served.

“Above all, his dedication to making sure all was done correctly is why we now have a strong contractors’ association in Europe and robust registration body in the UK,” Graeme Fox added. “The whole industry continues to benefit from the foundations laid down by Norman.”