UK: Family-owned refrigeration and air conditioning parts wholesalers Derbyshire Refrigeration has welcomed a third-generation employee to the staff.

It was perhaps inevitable that 17-year-old Henry Burton should join the family business. His mother Andrea Burton is currently joint MD of the business with Henry’s aunt Vanessa. His grandfather, Terry Hill, who died in 2020, was the original founder of the company.  

The refrigeration connection doesn’t end there; Henry’s other grandfather Bruce Burton, now retired, was also a refrigeration engineer with Nottingham Refrigeration and, later, GEA. His father, Adam, left school at 16 to join Watnall Refrigeration, later forming his own company East Midlands Refrigeration.

His uncle Ian Bradshaw, Vanessa’s husband, is also a refrigeration engineer, working for Alpine Refrigeration in Nottingham.

Henry Burton will initially be looking to expand and develop the website and social media activities for the company which first opened its doors in 1977 as a refrigeration contractor, becoming a wholesaler in 1985.