James Bailey joins Lowe Rental

UK: Commercial refrigeration rental company Lowe Rental has appointed James Bailey as technical director of refrigeration-as-a-service.

A chartered engineer with over 25 years of sector expertise, and founder of specialist consultancies Wave and Omega, Bailey has a wealth of experience in the assessment and adoption of emerging refrigeration technologies. 

His technical expertise and commercial insight have shaped the refrigeration strategies, technical specifications and design standards of the UK’s largest grocery retailers, including Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Costco, Iceland, M&S and Morrisons.

In 2022, he received the RAC Cooling Industry Gold Award in recognition of his contribution to the sector.

In his new role, Bailey will lead the technical development of Lowe’s RaaS rental model which is giving grocery retailers access to energy efficient, low-GWP refrigeration through an end-to-end rental service.

This offers design, installation, planned maintenance, breakdown response and replacement within a predictable monthly fee and no upfront capital expenditure. 

“The shift from purchasing assets to accessing refrigeration-as-a-service is one of the most significant changes underway in our industry,” said James Bailey. Lowe Rental is driving that shift, and has the scale and experience to accelerate it across the global retail sector. The opportunity to join a business with that momentum was incredibly compelling.”