Franz to head Cofely sales

GERMANY: Gerold Franz is to head up sales at Cofely Refrigeration, one of Germany’s leading industrial refrigeration contractors.

Previously chief executive of leak detection company Brandes GmbH, as well as of Airwell Deutschland, Gerold Franz will be charged with expanding the national and international sales network and forming the sales strategy within individual regions and countries.

Gerold Franz is already very well known in the refrigeration business in Germany. Before his post at Brandes, he was chief executive of Airwell GmbH in Frankfurt am Main for two years. Between 2003 and 2010, he undertook various roles at Danfoss GmbH in Offenbach. During this time he was responsible for sales for Austria and Switzerland, as well as for refrigeration in the food sector.

He previously held various sales-related roles at Johnson Controls and Honeywell.

In addition to optimising sales in its home market, Cofely is keen to expand its international sales level and to strengthen its position in the most important emerging markets. An important part of Cofely Refrigeration’s growth strategy was the recent announcement of the start of construction of a new factory in the former Bahlsen area in Lindau. Scheduled to open at the beginning of next year, Jochen Hornung, Cofely Refrigeration’s md, said of the new factory: “We need this factory for our expansion. The new construction will allow us to further enhance efficiency and is therefore the basis for our planned growth.”