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Fox and Skelton head-to-head in IoR president vote

Graeme Fox (left) and John Skelton are the only two nominations for IoR president-elect

UK: Graeme Fox, head of REFCOM, and Marks and Spencer technical manager, John Skelton, will go head-to-head in the competition to become the next president of the Institute of Refrigeration.

With no further nominations from members, the two nominees selected by the IoR’s nominating committee back in August will contest the position of president-elect to replace current president Mike Creamer in 2022.

IoR members are now invited to vote for the next president and three nominations for the two vacancies on the board of trustees.

Graeme Fox and John Skelton are both current members of the IoR’s board of trustees.

Graeme Fox

A fellow of the Institute and former air conditioning contractor, Graeme Fox was appointed to head of technical at REFCOM in November 2016. Prior to that, he had been a director of AREA, the European contractors body for 17 years and president of the group from 2010 to 2014. During that time he formed a network of contacts across the UK, Europe and beyond which includes contractors, manufacturers, civil servants and politicians.

Fox is also a chartered engineer and an active member of CIBSE. Deeply involved with training, he is currently acting as the EU partner developing global minimum competency criteria for RACHP technicians in Article 5 countries on a UNEP project titled the Refrigerant Drivers’ Licence.

John Skelton

John Skelton has been at Marks and Spencer for two years, initially as refrigeration manager and now technical manager. Prior to that, he spent 14 years at Sainsburys, rising from refrigeration engineer to senior engineering manager. During that time, Skelton was also vice president of the British Refrigeration Association and a director of ACRIB.

A supporter of the employers group that delivered the RACHP Trailblazer Apprenticeship scheme, he is also the current chair of the IoR’s education and training committee.

Board of trustees

IoR members are also invited to vote for two candidates for the annual elections to the IoR board of trustees. 

Three nominations have been received this year: 

Ian Fisher, technical sales director of Mattair Maintenance,
Ana Catarina Marques, senior research fellow at London South Bank University,
Clive Thornley, operations director at Styne Industrial Refrigeration.

Voting closes at 12 noon (BST) on Thursday 28 October 2021 and the results of the ballot will be announced at the AGM in November. 

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