ACR Journal

CMYK / .ai CMYK / .ai CMYK / .ai acrjournal.uk 15 CELEBRATING 20 YEARS The business was formed in January 2001 and two of the founders - Kevin Lancaster and Simon Davis – are still very much involved today. “Aqua came about as a result of our fundamental belief that we could make a dierence to the process cooling marketplace”, explains Aqua Director Simon Davis. “We came from industrial cooling backgrounds but had become frustrated at what we saw as a rather one-dimensional approach to customer needs. We saw potential in oering a more technically led methodology, designing to a customers’ requirements, understanding their needs, their process and their business objectives, rather than just trying to sell an o the shelf product.” Initially, Aqua focused on specifying, designing, and installing process cooling systems to various key industry sectors. Within a few years their aftersales division was established, oering a range of services such as preventative maintenance and emergency breakdown support. The energy efficiency effect “I think our success in the early days was due to the growing awareness around energy use, the eect of greenhouse gases and the environmental impact they have. This helped us have conversations with customers about more energy eˆcient and sustainable cooling system designs. Options like free cooling and even “chiller-less” systems, utilising natural cooling rather than mechanical refrigeration, really came into their own. Because Aqua focused on innovative system design, we could embrace these concepts and make them work for our customers. Once clients are happy to adopt energy saving technology, they realise the annual savings they benefit from, and suddenly their equipment is paying for itself, putting money back on the bottom line.” Queen’s Award & innovation A second development that helped put Aqua on the map was the invention of their patented Leak Prevention System or LPS. This saw them a recipient in 2015 of a Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation, marking a real turning point for the business and a personal high point for Simon. “Winning our Queen’s Award was a truly momentous occasion for Aqua, and me personally. Meeting the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh was one of those stand out moments in life. We had a great day celebrating as a Company when the Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire made our oˆcial presentation. Shortly afterwards, we won an Institute of Physics accreditation and even got a mention in Parliament!“ “The LPS was another example of looking at what the industry and our customers needed. We had become involved in providing cooling solutions for the rapidly growing data centre market. Still, all the eˆciencies water-based cooling technology could achieve for the sector were negated by understandable fears of overusing water in such a critical environment. There were plenty of leak detection products, but no one could guarantee 100% leak free operation. Our LPS changed that and enabled the sector to reduce their carbon footprint, lower operating costs, maximise eˆciencies but with zero risk.” 2018 saw Aqua launch a dedicated hire division, cementing their arrival as a temperature control supplier rather than just a cooling provider. For Simon, this was a natural next step, “we recognised that, in certain scenarios, a rental solution is truly the best option for some customers, so why not equip ourselves to service those needs and be able to oer our customers a sole-source supplier for their cooling and heating requirements?” Where next? After 20 years, Aqua does not plan to stand still with growth plans very much on the agenda and new head oˆce premises on the horizon. “Our focus this year is to build on the great foundations we have in place for our hire division”, says Simon. “That said, sharing a few bottles of champagne with sta to celebrate our milestone is top of my priority list right now!” www.aquacooling.co.uk Whilst the pandemic has forced celebrations to be put on ice (no pun intended!), 2021 marks 20 years within the industry for temperature control specialist Aqua. Aqua Hits 20 Year Milestone Expanding the Aqua Hire team Ben Davies Ben joins Aqua Group as director of the Aqua Hire Division. Having spent over 13 years within the temperature control sector, working within sales and contract engineering roles, Ben has specialised knowledge of the rental market. Ben commented: “I am really excited about using my industry experience and knowledge to help propel Aqua Hire to the next stage, building on the excellent achievements of the team to date. Will Fernley Will has joined Aqua Hire as technical manager, supporting the team with technical selections and planning on-site installations. Will has a wealth of technical knowledge and over 15 years of experience in the temperature control industry. Based in Denbighshire, North Wales, Will’s location will enhance Aqua Hire’s presence in the North of England.