Raworth joins new cold store business
6th March 2018
UK: Kevin Raworth, a co-founder of Norpe Viessmann distributor NRL Refrigeration, has been appointed UK sales director of a new company, Cold Store Distribution.
Established by Hampshire-based Cold Store Rentals, Cold Store Distribution has been established to serve the needs of trade clients seeking Italian built Misa cold rooms. Founded in 1969, Misa became part of the Epta group in 2011,
Kevin Raworth has 35 years experience in refrigeration manufacturing sales. He co-founded Stockport-based Norpe Viessmann distributor NRL Refrigeration in 2009. NRL was the former Norpe UK business of which Kevin Raworth was MD. He previously spent 18 years at Foster Refrigerator, latterly as UK sales manager, before joining Carpigiani UK as sales director.
Unlike Cold Store Rentals which specialises in both leasing long and medium-term rental and hire of cold rooms to the end user, Cold Store Distribution will sell purely to trade only, with a primary target market of refrigeration and catering equipment companies.
Haworth previously worked with Cold Store Rentals MD Steve Prior, when the latter was UK director of Viessmann Cold Technology.
“The opportunity to work with Steve and fellow director Tom Scott and the chance to bring a new quality product and service to the trade sector was an easy decision, to be honest,” commented Kevin Raworth, who left NRL last year.
Comprehensive service
As sole UK and Ireland distributor of Misa cold rooms, Cold Store Distribution will principally offer a pre-set range of 14 optimum sizes of chillers with and without floors and freezers, although other sizes will be available. These will include options for monoblock and split-system refrigeration units and shelving.
Cold Store Distribution will therefore offer a bespoke and comprehensive service to the trade sector, tailoring its products according to the clients’ requirements; for example, the company can just supply the cold room or provide a complete service including survey and on-site installation. The Misa product is supplied inclusive of a 12-month warranty and the company will also hold spare parts in stock, and complement the coldroom range with plug-in serveovers, under-counter bottle coolers and multidecks all from stock.
Thanks to its large stockholding at its warehouse in Hampshire, modular cold rooms can be delivered within one week.
The company is also exploring a partnership with a potential sub-contractor, who it is hoped will operate the CSD brand in Northern Ireland, opening up more of the domestic market.
“An excellent quality of service, a speedy delivery and a professional installation are what matters most to businesses who need a cold store solution, quickly and with a minimum of fuss,” Kevin Raworth explained. “We are able to offer a free site survey on behalf of distributors, visiting the end user client to make sure that the cold room is of the appropriate size and will be situated in a location which is suitable to take the facility. We are also able to assess any access issues, which sometimes can be a problem, as well as providing a quote to the distributor for delivery and installation,” he added.
The new business will be operating an interactive website where trade customers can produce their own quotations and drawings. Customers will be able to click on the various cold store options to obtain a price, select refrigeration systems and shelving if required with an additional option to request a drawing of the installation layout.
