Mr Kirkham started his working life as an apprentice electrician and joined Prestcold Northern as a refrigeration installation engineer after qualifying. In 1979 Nationwide Refrigeration Wholesale (NRS) was born and he transferred to NRS as a sales engineer, developing his career through branch and sales management.

A proud moment for Mr Kirkham was starting his own wholesaling business, NRW in 1997 which quickly became a successful national player. After selling the business he joined Beijer Ref UK and Ireland as commercial director to share his wealth of wholesaling knowledge with his personal friend John Billson.

Mr Billson, managing director of Beijer Ref UK said: 'I have known Alan for many years and I have been both an employee and employer to him. He has stood firmly by my side assisting and supporting the decisions made to develop the business. I will be forever grateful to him for this.”