Page 52 - Climate Control News November 2018

HVACR Leadership Awards
SPONSOR’S MESSAGE
“Contractors are such an integral part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Air-Conditioner Australia and our ability to reach our consumers. The 2018 Leadership Awards remind us of the excellence that exists amongst them and gives us the chance to recognise those that have gone above and beyond to grow and challenge the industry.
“We were delighted to come on board and sponsor the Contractor of the Year Award for 2018 and congratulate all of the award winners. On behalf of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Air-Conditioners Australia, I would like to congratulate Robert Sutton from Sutton Refrigeration on taking out the Contractor of the Year award and for setting such a strong example for Contractors this year.”
- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Air Conditioning ANZ National Sales & Planning Manager, Adrian Brown
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LEFT TO RIGHT: MHIAA’s Adrian Brown and Contractor of the Year, Robert Sutton.
MHIAA’s Adrian Brown congratulates award winner, Robert Sutton.
IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE HOW A MAN WITH SIX CHILDREN HAS TIME TO RUN A BUSINESS AND STILL WIN THE 2018 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD.
It’s all about quality workmanship for
Contractor of the Year Award winner
BUT THAT IS exactly what Sutton Refrigeration director, Robert Sutton, has done (with the help of his wife Ang of course who has been right by his side supporting him).
It was Sutton’s father that convinced him to try refrigeration for work experience in year 10, and here he is 20 years later running a suc- cessful business.
Sutton says he likes the challenge of working on such a diverse range of projects. “We can start in the morning working on a small sand- wich bar and finish the day working on a large screw plant or anything in between; it’s impos- sible to know what the next service call will be,” Sutton says. “The industry generally is con- stantly evolving but for me the job of a contrac- tor these days is the estimating and overseeing of a project from start to finish, whether that project is an installation or service call. In larg- er companies I assume there is an owner who is the contractor and below them is the engineer or estimator and the service manager.
“In a small company like ours I can go through many of these tasks myself in a single day. I believe the contractor of the year should
be the person that can design the project, esti- mate it, install and then commission the pro- ject on time and hassle free every time.” Asked about the challenges facing the industry and Sutton doesn’t hesitate.
“The amount of really bad workmanship I see, mainly in the air conditioning side but also in re- frigeration,” he says.
“I am assuming this is a price driven problem because we miss out on projects every year then we end up with a service call to the same pro- ject at a later date.
“This is a pet hate of mine.”
Sutton says the biggest challenge facing the in- dustry over the next decade is the move from HFC refrigerants to HFO and naturals.
“With new systems it won’t be so bad but prob- lems are likely to arise retrofitting older equip- ment to lower GWP refrigerants,” he says.
Sutton has plenty of plans for the future in- cluding Certificate V in refrigeration design.
“I look forward to the challenges that this in- dustry will provide me with over the remainder of my career; hopefully it will be as enjoyable as the last 20-plus years.” ✺
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