Formerly employed by Mitsubishi Electric and Daikin, Mr Sherlock has extensive experience of working in the heating and cooling sector and the past 15 years have been devoted to the heat pump market. He said: “I aim to put this knowledge and understanding to good use in a hands-on capacity on behalf of Haier across Europe. I have no doubt that these are exciting times for Haier HVAC and there are some big announcements to come.

“The company will be rolling out new and innovative products in the months ahead. With energy saving firmly in the mindset of installers and end users this is set to be a busy year.”

Haier European HVAC general manager Bob Cowlard added: ‘’It is no secret that the A2W market is booming, mainly as it is viewed as a key element to the successful move to a carbon neutral future for domestic heating. The UK market is still in the early days of development with usage being driven by legislation rather than real customer demand.

“It is also under pressure from a lack of correct applications and naysayers who question if it can deliver what is really needed. Haier knows that the products can but they should be developed for the market and then correctly applied and installed. For this reason, Richard’s role is not only to lead the development of a product focused upon UK needs but also the full support package – training, application, after sales service and app development.’’

Haier is a global leader in comfort cooling offering residential, commercial and applied air conditioning solutions. For Mr Sherlock the focus will be on heat pumps, as he explained: “In recent years heat pumps have risen from a niche product to what will surely be a must-have mass market commodity. Haier is relatively new to the UK heat pump market and having the opportunity to have an influence on product direction at this time is really inspiring.”

Away from work, Mr Sherlock enjoys watching motor sport.