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Andrews Sykes Group invest in a new major depot in Milan

Posted on 29/10/2018

Following a substantial property investment by the Andrews Sykes Group, our Italian subsidiary Nolo Climat has moved into a new depot located in the suburbs of Milan. The move will enable the business to continue its remarkable growth since first opening in Italy just seven years ago.

The new facility sits on a huge 4,000m2 site and is located very close to our previous depot in the town of Parabiago. The warehouse and workshops can now easily accommodate the largest of our chiller range along with the small portable units.

This new depot has been fully refurbished and customised to perfectly suit our business, allowing easy access and an excellent environment for our staff to service and test our equipment before going on hire. The IT systems provides extra capacity to increase communication speed for both data and voice, facilitating desk-to-desk communication with all Andrews Sykes depots.

Our new offices are very spacious and include a fully equipped training room. Staff welfare areas are well-appointed and provide employees with a much-improved working environment, with plenty of room to accommodate more growth.

To further support this development, a significant investment has been committed to our hire fleet and sees us add additional modern units including 750kW chillers and 500kW boilers. Throughout the year we have increased our staffing levels, creating new employment opportunities which we expect to continue into next year and beyond.

Speaking shortly after the new depot was officially opened, Alessandro Sisti, General Director for Italy, said: “This new depot offers us a fantastic opportunity to guarantee our new and existing customers an advanced level of service and we are confident that this strategic decision will strengthen our position within the market and allow us to reduce response times in situations where immediate action is essential.”

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Local teenager ‘loving’ work experience scheme following extension of Andrews Sykes’ partnership with CACT

Posted on 18/10/2018

Andrews Sykes have enjoyed a fantastic relationship with the Charlton Athletic Community Trust for quite some time and are delighted to announce the extension of our partnership for another two years.

The latest agreement sees us become an employability patron for the Trust going forward, providing us with an excellent opportunity to give something back to the community.

Jason Morgan MBE, CEO of the Charlton Trust, said: “CACT has had a long relationship with Andrews and we’ve been very grateful for their support on a number of events and projects over the years. We’re so pleased they have now come on board as a CACT Patron. The focus on employability is a great fit between CACT’s Education programme and Andrews’ ethos, and will make a real difference to the young people we work with.”

This arrangement will see us create opportunities for young people to undertake work placements at our Charlton depot, learn new skills in a variety of environments and receive interview training.

The first beneficiary of the scheme – Callum Wallace, from Woolwich – has undertaken a number of roles within the business during a placement spanning many weeks.

He said: “I enrolled on a programme with the Charlton Athletic Community Trust along, with other young people, and was then given the opportunity to gain some experience at a local company.”

“I’ve always wanted to be an engineer and that hasn’t changed. I’d say that my first taste of being in a workshop has actually made me even more determined to make it happen. I’m loving it.

“I’ve been working out in the yard, directing people on the forklifts, assisting the pump engineers and even got involved in some risk assessment stuff. But the thing I’ve enjoyed the most is stock-taking. It’s been my favourite thing so far, which I didn’t expect.

“Every day I come in and learn something new, which has been great for me. I like the fact that my day is structured.”

In recent years, Andrews Sykes have taken on permanent members of staff as a direct result of our association with CACT and it is likely that additional full-time roles will be available in future.

Mark Page, Southern Regional Director at Andrews Sykes, said: “At the recent CACT partners reception held at The Valley it was a privilege to hear from some of the young people who have been able to benefit from the great work carried out by CACT. Now as a CACT patron, we at Andrews Sykes are looking forward to being fully involved in the CACT Education programme.”

Dan Smith, Charlton Depot Manager, echoed Mark’s sentiments, saying: “Andrews Sykes’ Charlton team is very pleased to start a new adventure with CACT’s training program. This will be a great opportunity for us to help assist the younger generation within the local community to gain the key skills required for future employment in a variety of different businesses.”

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Lincolnshire hospital kept operational thanks to Andrews’ boiler hire

Posted on 10/10/2018

As far as hospitals are concerned, there is no ideal opportunity or timeframe in which to carry out HVAC maintenance or similar. A boiler breaking down unexpectedly is therefore extremely unwelcome but when these things do happen, it’s important that you seek assistance from experts capable of overseeing this necessary transition.

This was the precise scenario a well-known Lincolnshire hospital found themselves in when their boiler arrangement required upgrading. A supplementary system was required to be in place between the original kit being taken offline and replaced, with the client estimating this could take up to 12 weeks.

Having ascertained the heating and hot water requirements of the affected facility, Andrews Boilers proposed the installation of a 500kW unit which was connected to the customer’s existing pipework. This temporary boiler hire was the perfect solution to a problem that could have otherwise affected equipment sterilization, cleaning, cooking and other essential tasks.

By taking the time to understand our client’s specific requirements, we were able to provide a short-term arrangement befitting of their application without causing any knock-on effects to the hospital’s day-to-day operations.

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Emergency boiler keeps historic hotel in business

Posted on 08/10/2018

When one of the most historic hotels in Hertfordshire was at risk of temporarily closing its doors due to a major refurbishment project, Andrews Boilers were urgently called in to offer their expert advice.

The hotel in question is wholly committed to ensuring their guests are provided with the highest standard of service – failure to provide this can tarnish a visitor’s experience and in turn and the hotel’s long-standing reputation.

So when our client’s boiler needed replacing as part of the development, a temporary solution was required urgently to ensure guests were supplied with hot water and heating throughout their stay.

Our specialists recommended a 500 kW temporary boiler, which was delivered and discreetly implemented within 24 hours of initial enquiry. The boiler hire package proved to be an extremely successful solution, allowing guests to have an enjoyable stay whilst also preventing the hotel from incurring any further disruption during the refurbishment project.

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Independent festival in Hampshire seeks help from Sykes Pumps

Posted on 04/10/2018

When a music festival in Winchester required a solution for a complicated waterfall flow, Sykes Pumps Hire were approached to solve the issue and ensure festival goers could witness a unique attraction operating as planned.

The festival’s main stage was redesigned four months before the opening date but the waterfall stations were not yet functional. Our engineers conducted a free site survey to determine the most adequate equipment for an ongoing issue that other companies had failed to solve previously.

Once Sykes Pumps Hire settled upon a practical pump arrangement, our technicians installed a set of hired electric submersible wastewater pumps to provide a temporary solution and accommodate the sustained flows that were required.

With more than 60,000 people attending the well-known music festival every year, it is essential for the fair’s organisation team have perfectly functional equipment before the daily shows begin.

Our client was very pleased with the outcome and the short-term pump hire was successful in effectively fixing the issue with the main stage’s waterfalls. Our rental units were kept on hire for the entire duration of the music festival and ensured an eye-catching waterfall effect worked perfectly for the first time in a number of years.

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Andrews Heat for Hire help to keep school open

Posted on 02/10/2018

Severe weather conditions can create significant problems for schools, closing a school, even for just a day, interrupts education and can have serious implications for parents and students alike. Therefore when a school in Bristol called Andrews Sykes for assistance after their boiler room had flooded, we acted immediately.

Within 4 hours we had delivered and installed a number of DE25 2.8 kW Electric Fan Heaters, placing two in each classroom where they were able to heat the classroom with ease.  The DE 25 is a very efficient electric fan heater, it’s available with a built in thermostat for fully automatic and is suitable for virtually any location.

During the long cold months we aid to keep schools running, regardless of their broken down heating source, by supplying temporary heating – at economical hire charges. We deliver our units within the same day of the initial call, and pride ourselves on providing our clients with high quality value for money.

No matter how bad the weather conditions Andrews Heat For Hire can deliver anywhere within 4 hours of the placed order. The units were delivered and installed efficiently and the teachers and pupils were pleased with the solution provided.

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Andrews Air Conditioning Hire provide emergency cooling for South Coast hardware company

Posted on 27/09/2018

When the European headquarters of a major research organization in Portsmouth required an urgent cooling arrangement to solve a problem with their chillers, Andrews Air Conditioning Hire were drafted in to prevent UPS batteries from overheating.

The computer hardware company were experiencing issues cooling their UPS back-up batteries, which are used as an uninterruptible power source should their primary supply fail.

In less than 24hours, our specialists carried out a site survey and decided to install two PAC 60s, giving 17kW of cooling duty each. These were accompanied by two ASF50 cooing fans, which were situated near the PAC units to help circulate cold air. One of the PAC 60s was placed at the top of the room and the other to the side to cool the two main areas of concern.

The equipment we provided brought down the temperature of the room and ensured the batteries were kept running. Had we not reacted quickly, the equipment failure could have caused a major problem and halted operations within the organisation.

Our quick response exceeded the customer’s expectations, with our PAC60s proving successful at reducing temperatures within the application. The hired air conditioning equipment was actually used on two separate occasions to assist the same failure, allowing business to continue as usual.

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Rally Poland provides penultimate ERC test for Ingram

Posted on 21/09/2018

Following his heroics in Turkey last weekend, Chris Ingram’s focus once again returns to the European Rally Championships and another exciting test at Rally Poland.

A fantastic WRC2 debut yielded a podium finish and gave Chris a taste of what he ultimately aspires to – and the signs are good!

Now at the business end of the season, Rally Poland marks the fifth of six ERC Junior Under 28 rallies and leaves just two more opportunities to close the gap on current leader Fabian Kreim.

As ever, Chris remains bullish and took some time out of preparing for his latest challenge to take stock of his feelings. The 24-year-old summarised: “I cannot wait. It’s such a busy time at the moment but it’s been amazing. And I feel sharper than ever with all the seat time!”

The need to quickly adapt to new surroundings between events clearly doesn’t phase the Andrews Heat for Hire man and his love for the sport is plain for all to see.

He explained: “It’s been great! Each rally is very different but, once again, there are a lot of fans here which is nice to see. Poland is probably the fastest average speed rally I’ve ever done and as always, we’re looking forward to it.

The epitome of calmness, Chris found time to convey his thoughts to us halfway through doing the recce.

“As we speak, Ross (Whittock) is just driving the 50km to the next stage and giving me some rest! Once we’re there, I’ll describe the road to Ross and he’ll write it all down – the Pacenotes. Then he’ll read them back to me during the rally.”

This meticulous planning has paid off more often than not and gives an insight into the level of dedication required from both driver and co-driver. Here’s hoping there’s another cause for celebration come Sunday!

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Ingram enjoys dream WRC2 debut at Rally Turkey

Posted on 18/09/2018

Last weekend marked a genuine landmark in the career of Chris Ingram – and he certainly didn’t disappoint! The 24-year-old got his first taste of World Rally Championship action in Turkey, fulfilling a lifetime ambition in the process.

The gruelling contest spanned four days with Chris and two other WRC2 drivers prominently positioned on the leaderboard at the close of action on Saturday.

And Sunday’s finale saw the Heat for Hire-sponsored man secure third place in the WRC2 category and a top ten finish overall, marking an astonishing introduction to World Championship rallying.

Reflecting afterwards, Chris said: “A podium on our WRC2 debut at Rally Turkey and probably even better – an overall top 10 amongst the best rally drivers in the world! Our strategy worked perfectly despite two punctures. Massive thanks to everyone who supported us! Dream come true!”

Unsurprisingly, Chris’s fans have been revelling in his success but for the man himself, there is no time for rest!

His attention has already turned to Rally Poland, which commences on Friday 21 September. Chris has the opportunity to make up ground on current ERC Junior U28 leader Fabian Kreim with just two rallies remaining.

A big performance here will set up a fantastic end to the European Rally Championship campaign culminating in a final showdown at the Rally Liepaja in Latvia next month. Best of luck, Chris!

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Ingram makes FIA World Rally Championship debut in Turkey

Posted on 13/09/2018

September is shaking up to be a huge month for ERC title holder Chris Ingram, starting with a landmark rally in Turkey this weekend. The 24-year-old is making his World Rally Championship debut in Marmaris, with this development perhaps indicative of the amazing progress made during a career still very much in its infancy.

Acknowledging the magnitude of the task ahead, Chris said: “I’m fully focused on our WRC2 debut. It’s a huge challenge ahead, competing on these brutal stages for only our 2nd gravel rally in the Toksport Skoda R5 – but what an opportunity!”

This gruelling rally combines smooth open roads with rocky mountainous tracks and starts at the popular holiday resort of Marmaris. Friday’s action includes two identical loops of three tests with a similar format on the Saturday.

The business end of the rally sees Sunday’s finale featuring four tests culminating in the Marmaris Power Stage – ending at the entrance to the Asparan service park.

Chris has been busy preparing for the event over the last few weeks and has even made some modifications to his car. The Andrews Heat for Hire branding is now prominently emblazoned on both the front bonnet and back bumper of his Skoda R5, which should make it even more visible to the millions watching at home!

Rally Turkey provides Chris with the optimum platform to demonstrate his incredible proficiency behind the wheel and compete with some of the best drivers on the planet.

It’s an exciting challenge for everyone connected with Chris, and we’re really proud of our association with the country’s number one ranked rally driver.

As always, we’d like to wish Chris the very best of luck ahead of this weekend and are delighted that we won’t have to wait too long to see him in action again with Rally Poland just around the corner!

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