Harling to retire from Williams Refrigeration

UK: Malcolm Harling, sales and marketing director at Williams Refrigeration, is set to retire at the end of December, after over 25 years with the company. 

Harling began his journey in foodservice 47 years ago when attending Broadstairs Catering College to train as a chef. During this time he spent some summers on the P&O Oriana as a steward and met the late Queen working as a footman at Buckingham Palace. As a qualified chef, he worked all over the globe, from Zurich to Sydney, including a stint in a hotel on the Great Barrier Reef.  

In 1991 he was appointed as an area sales manager with Falcon Foodservice Equipment and then, in 2000, became sales and marketing director at Williams Refrigeration. 

Harling’s foodservice career has seen him deliver some of the largest refrigeration contracts in the UK and around the world, including Wembley Stadium, the Sydney Olympics and Le Cordon Bleu, in both London and Paris. 

In 2008 he was elected chair of the Foodservice Equipment Association (FEA). Since then, he received the CEDA Legacy Honour in 2021, the  FEA Chair’s Award in 2022 and, in 2024, was honoured with the FEA’s Outstanding Contribution to the Industry Award.

Taking over from Malcolm Harling will be current Williams’ national sales manager Garry Allitt.