Adande played host to two MPs at its new test facility. LizTruss was joined by local MP Peter Aldous to celebrate the technology specialist’s £4.2 investment in R&D and its £0.5 million labs.
After unveiling the facility, Liz Truss said: “The British food and drink industry is leading global innovation right across the food chain. The energy saving technology on show today and Adande’s investment in research and development are fantastic examples of how the sector can become more competitive through reducing its environmental impact. Not only will this technology help to reduce energy consumption and cut costs, it will keep food at its best for longer and help reduce food waste.”
Peter Aldous said: “The £4.2 million investment is a great boost to an already highly successful company. It is great to be here to see this unveiling today and see this company going from strength to strength. ”
The new £500,000 laboratory is part of a £4.2 million investment to help Adande, and its consortium partners, accelerate the development and commercialisation of its Aircell air flow management system, which has been designed for the improved performance and reduced energy consumption of refrigerated displays used for food retailing. The investment is being funded by a £2.1 million Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI) grant and an AMSCI loan of £380,000, together with private equity investment.
The development of Aircell is see turnover grow at least fourfold to between £20 million and £30 million by 2018. The investment programme has also led to the recruitment of nine new employees at Adande in technical, engineering, management, sales and administrative roles. Additional employment opportunities will be generated at Adande, its consortium partners, other cabinet manufacturers and sub-contractors, leading to 97 additional jobs in the next eight years, the firm says.
The new facility includes three environmental chambers for testing to BS EN ISO 23953, which is the accepted industry standard for the testing of refrigerated display cases. They also provide the resources to meet and exceed future test standards. The energy efficient facility incorporates the latest design features, including a single control system to regulate humidity, temperature and fan speed within the chambers, backed by sophisticated data acquisition and monitoring systems. In addition, Adande has also established a dedicated facility, housing CAD resources and a sophisticated computational fluid dynamics’ suite, for the numerical analysis of complex issues, relating to fluid flows and simulation scenarios such as turbulent flows.
Adande’s Managing Director, Ian Wood said: “We have made a significant investment in the design and development of Aircell, with recent laboratory tests and in-store trials bringing the technology within the realms of commercial viability. We are now well placed to work with refrigeration equipment manufacturers and grocery retailers to deliver solutions, which meet the specific needs for sustainable refrigeration, tangible energy savings and an improved shopping experience.”
