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

Trane trio in skills final

SkillFRIDGE_2011UK: Three apprentices with Trane UK are among the six competitors who will compete in this year’s SkillFridge UK final.

The three Trane apprentices are North Glasgow College/BEST students Stewart Bothwell and Scott Wearing and Joseph Conroy of Eastleigh College/ECTA. The other finalists are Umesh Kara of Climate Control (South East), studyng at the College of North West London; Gavin Murray of Montgomery Refrigeration, a student at South East Regional College; Chris Bailie of BL Refrigeration, studying at South East Regional College.

All will now go head-to-head in a three-day practical task at the Skills Show from November 14 to 16 at the NEC in Birmingham.

Contestants will have to tackle the complex installation and commissioning of a refrigeration system into a simulated cold room in the quest to be crowned SkillFridge champion.

SkillFridge is organised by SummitSkills, the Sector Skills Council for building services engineering.

“Based on the standard witnessed in the heats we’re expecting this to be the most competitive UK final we’ve seen so far,” said Neil Collishaw of SummitSkills.

“With the Skills Show this year hosting even more competitions over a larger area, the stage for SkillFRIDGE is really exciting and a once in a lifetime chance for the competitors to demonstrate their skills to a huge audience.”

Latest News

21st July 2026

BDR Thermea completes GI Holding purchase

ITALY: Netherlands-based indoor climate solutions company BDR Thermea has announced the full, 100% acquisition of Italian HVAC manufacturer G I Holding.
21st July 2026

OCS to buy FM rival Mitie

UK: OCS has announced its proposed acquisition of facilities management rival Mitie in a deal worth up to £3.1bn.
21st July 2026

Group will argue for risk-focused PFAS policies

USA: The Sustainable PFAS Action Network (SPAN), a US coalition advocating for what it calls science-based, risk-focused PFAS policies, has formed a working group to stress the importance of refrigerants.
20th July 2026

EPEE calls for heating and cooling initiative

BELGIUM: The European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE) has called for a dedicated European heating and cooling initiative, accompanied by financial support and fiscal incentives.
19th July 2026

HPA UK lines up first conference

UK: Tickets are now on sale for HPA UK’s first annual conference since its formation in January from the merger of the three main UK heat pump associations. 
19th July 2026

Exploring dehumidification in air conditioning

FRANCE: A new technical brief from the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) reviews typical air conditioning processes involving dehumidification and major air dehumidification technologies.