The cooling sector plays an essential role in modern life, keeping our food fresh, our vaccines viable and our data centres running. World Refrigeration Day, devised by former Institute of Refrigeration (IOR) president Steve Gill, is intended to raise society’s awareness of this invaluable contribution.

With a similar aim to raise the profile of this industry, tackling its skills shortage by encouraging the next generation of RACHP engineers, SkillFRIDGE has aligned itself with the first ever World Refrigeration Day.

The regional contest at the Practical Refrigeration Training Centre will constitute the fifth of six heats held across the UK. It will see Ben Wilson of Knight Engineers, Tom Fearon of A & G Refrigeration, Sebastian Gajos of Climate Control Support, Kieran Nolan of Air Source Ventilation, and Jack Mealor of DD Cooling undertake a series of practical tasks under the watchful eye of SkillFRIDGE’s expert judges.

The judges will comprise Beijer Ref’s Ian Lemmon, Keith Nichols from KJP Consulting, Sam Cameron of Wave Consultants, and head judge Mark Forsyth.

Each competitor is vying for a place in the SkillFRIDGE final, taking place in November at WorldSkills UK LIVE at Birmingham’s NEC. After the last heat concludes on 16 July, the six highest scorers from the regionals will be announced as those who will head through to compete in the final.