Guests enjoyed their choice of lunch from a range of street food specialists, whilst participating in family fun activities including bouncy castles, helter-skelters, football, basketball, table football, crazy golf and mini car circuits. There were magic shows throughout the day, complemented with live music and a singing DJ. Facility tours were available to allow employees to show off their workplace to their families.
The event’s much-anticipated headline act was Airedale’s very own in-house band, “The 1974”, named in honour of the year that Airedale opened. They performed two sets, with the crowds singing and dancing along in support. The band was formed specifically for the event and comprised Richard Hadley, Lead Controls Engineer as lead singer/ lead guitarist; Darren Farrar, Global Head of Marketing also on guitar; Paul Fairclough, Global Controls Development Manager, on bass and Jon Martinez, Head of Projects, on drums.
Airedale was formed in 1974, following a chance meeting of two air conditioning engineers, Alan Duttine and Peter Midgley, at Leeds Bradford Airport. The company went from strength to strength, offering cooling solutions to the emerging digital industry, and was sold to U.S. company Modine in 2005. The backing of Modine proved invaluable when the Leeds site burnt to the ground in a devastating fire in 2013, eventually being rebuilt and reopened in 2016 by The Princess Royal. Unknown to Airedale staff at the time, their resilience shown during the post-fire period when they were forced to work from temporary sites served as good practice for when Covid hit in 2020, and workers were again forced to work remotely. 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of Airedale and comes at a time of accelerated growth for the now-global organisation.
The half-century party follows a recent announcement by Airedale of further expansion in the UK, with the purchase of a new facility in Bradford, set to open later this year. Airedale by Modine currently serves global customers with precision cooling equipment, systems and technologies from Leeds and Consett in the UK; Rockbridge, VA, Grenada, MS and Allen, TX, in the U.S.; Calgary, Canada; and Guadalajara, Spain.
Adrian Trevelyan, vice president general manager, said: “I was delighted to be able to welcome so many employees, along with their friends and family, to our site for our 50th anniversary party. We have reached this milestone because of the expertise, experience and dedication of our workforce and it is important we celebrate this together. It was also a great opportunity to showcase engineering as a career option to younger generations.
“Having started at Airedale in production many years ago, I am extremely proud to lead this business. This landmark birthday marks the start of another exciting chapter of boldness and innovation for us, cementing Airedale’s place as a pioneer of manufacturing and engineering in Yorkshire.”