Ken Johnstone 1940-2023

UK: Portsmouth-based air conditioning distributor Hushon (UK) has announced the death on Friday of the company’s co-founder Ken Johnstone. He was 83.

Having gained an HND in naval architecture and marine engineering during his apprenticeship at Portsmouth dockyard, Johnstone switched to an air conditioning career with Dunham Bush in 1960. He went on to work for Carrier and Trane before forming Hushon (UK) in 1987 in partnership with Tony Martin.

One of the UK’s longest established independent distributors, Hushon’s original focus was to distribute the Hushon branded range of medium and large capacity split systems along with packaged units. Spanish manufacturer Hitecsa became the main supplier in the late 1990s and Toshiba in 2006.

Ken Johnstone’s son Ben became MD in 2017 following the retirement of co-founder Tony Martin. Although largely-retired by that time, Ken Johnstone remained a director until his death, supplying advice when needed.