Haj Sahota, celebrates 25 years of working in the HVAC industry. Twenty years at Rycroft Ltd, followed by a further 5 years in Ormandy Rycroft Engineering after Avingtrans plc acquired the assets of the business in 2018.
 
We asked Haj about his career and how things have changed over that period.

What has been the most significant changes you have seen in the industry and in your role in the last 25 years?
 
From a technical & product perspective, we have always been customer focussed and we have adapted continuously to changing market and legislative demands. We have always had a standard range of products, but our strength is in our ability to design and build bespoke solutions for our clients.
 
When I started in 1998, the market demanded stand-alone cylinders and plate heat exchangers. Copper and copper-lined vessels, and carbon steel were the most specified materials. Today, stainless 316 and LDX steels are the norm which have displaced copper and copper-lined vessels. We still have craftsmen that can make copper vessels; we must be one of the only companies to have retained this manufacturing skill.
 
Plug and play skid packages are more in demand these days, as spiralling site costs make them a more appealing choice. We have the capability to design and build skids with a 1m2  footprint to plantrooms that can exceed 50m2.
 
Due to a combination of factors including changes in manufacturing methods, raw material and energy costs, shell and tube heat exchangers have been slowly replaced by brazed plate heat exchangers.
 
Climate change and information technology has steered the industry into new business areas including large data centres, energy recovery, ground- and air-source heat pumps. Our business used to just heat water, now we cool it too!
 
Technology continues to dictate modern day life. As IT evolves, so does the way we work and our client expectations. When I first started here, communication was done on the land-line phone and drawings were sent for approval by fax or post. We had just one computer capable of using the internet and all drawings were done in 2D AutoCAD. Now we use Invertor, Solidworks and Revit as CAD tools to accommodate the ever more complex demands of our client’s needs.
 
How has your career progressed since you started 25 years ago?
 
I left University with a Mechanical Engineering degree and started with Rycroft (part of the Newmond Group). It was here that I really started to learn about “real world engineering”.
 
I was here eight months when they acquired Heatrae Industrial, and the production side moved to Bradford. This arm of the business was new and as the main engineering team remained in Norwich, they needed an engineer to bridge the gap between the 2 sites. I was offered this role and successfully integrated the two businesses together over the following 2 years.
Then an opportunity came up in the Rycroft Process Solutions side of the business to work on the bigger projects, including package plant rooms, and I became the Lead Project Engineer for the next 10 years.
 
When Rycroft was bought by Ormandy in 2007, I became the Bradford's sites UK Core Drawing office Manager and ran the Drawing office, which consisted of UK Core, Heatrae and Hartley and Sugden. Following Avingtrans acquisition in 2018, I continued as the Drawing Office Manager, which is my current role.
 
What do you enjoy about working at Ormandy?
 
As the Drawing Office Manager, I have trained many apprentices, from school leaving age and it has been a joy to watch them develop and progress, making their own mark on the business.
 
I have made many friends, not just work colleagues and continue to meet people from all areas of life.
 
The bespoke nature of the business keeps me interested, as no two jobs are the same and I am constantly learning.
 
Over the last 25 years, there have been many peaks and troughs, that have affected the business, and I have learnt from this and continue to pass my experience onto the next generation.