World News

Industry news and insights from Europe and around the World

UK News

Latest news and developments in the United Kingdom

Products

Keep up-to-date with the latest new products and technology

Features

General articles, applications and industry analysis

John Smith is BRA president

BRA-Presidents-handover-2016
John Smith (left) takes over from Mike Lawrence as BRA president

UK: John Smith, Beijer Ref UK & Ireland’s group technical director, has taken over the role of president of the British Refrigeration Association.

John succeeds Mike Lawrence – a stalwart of the BRA – who has held the position since 2014. A handover took place at a recent FETA Strategy Forum in Marlow.

John has been in the RAC industry for over 30 years in a variety of technical sales roles, and has been an active member within the BRA.  He is currently chairman of the Equipment and Components section, and has been vice president since 2015.

fujitsu_gif_v1.8
Advertisement

Taking up his new role, John Smith said: “I would like to pay tribute to the sterling work Mike has done for the BRA in his time as president, and I look forward to taking on the role in what will be challenging times for our industry.”

The British Refrigeration Association is the only UK trade association representing manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, distributors, contractors, specifiers and end-users of refrigeration plant, equipment and components.

Latest News

6th December 2025

New R&D lab to boost Daikin data centre push

USA: Daikin Applied is to build a new 71,000ft2 (6,600m2) extension to its R&D test lab in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to support the wider development of data centre cooling solutions.
5th December 2025

ABB takes stake in data centre cooling software company

SWITZERLAND/UK: Multinational electrical engineering corporation ABB has taken a minority stake in UK-based data centre cooling software company OctaiPipe.
5th December 2025

Beijer Ref to buy Refspecs in New Zealand

NEW ZEALAND: Swedish wholesaling group Beijer Ref has signed an agreement to acquire New Zealand HVACR wholesaler Refspecs Refrigeration Specialties Ltd.
4th December 2025

SWEP BPHEs for data centre cooling

SWEDEN: SWEP has launched two new brazed plate heat exchangers (BPHEs) to meet the growing market demand in data centre cooling and district energy applications.
4th December 2025

Hitachi unveils new generation of wall-mount AC systems

FRANCE: The AirHome 800 HeatForce is the new generation of wall-mounted air-conditioning systems from Hitachi Cooling & Heating.
4th December 2025

Mitsubishi claims electronics cooling breakthrough

JAPAN: Mitsubishi Electric has developed what it claims is the world’s first technology to generate mm-scale flow within a channel, potentially eliminating the need for external pumps.