With sites in Edinburgh and St Helens, Capital Cooling Refrigeration Limited is the UK’s premier commercial refrigeration business, supplying the leisure, retail and hospitality sectors. Initially founded in 1996, the business went through a restructuring in 2017, which saw it diversify its offering and expand its national delivery network.
Like many businesses Capital Cooling Refrigeration Limited had been experiencing financial difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was not eligible for any Government assistance. It entered administration on 30th July 2020 and Quantuma secured a pre-pack sale to Beheren Limited trading as Capital Cooling, a company controlled by Rcapital Partners LLP.
The majority of the 47 employees will be retained through TUPE, however a small number of circa 4 employees were made redundant by the company prior to the administration.
Steve Steadman, CEO of Beheren Limited trading as Capital Cooling commented: “The pandemic hit at the worst possible time for Capital Cooling Refrigeration Limited. While support from both the UK and Scottish Governments was requested, this was unfortunately unsuccessful and left the company in a position where tough decisions were required in order to secure the long term future of the company.
“As part of this process we have taken the opportunity to relocate the business to a new operational hub. While Capital Cooling will always have roots in Scotland, more than 80% of our deliveries take place south of the border. By shipping all goods to Edinburgh to then return them back down South for delivery was not only poor for efficiency but also for our environmental impact.
“The new hub, a 26,000 square foot new-build facility just off the A14 in Kettering, is in the perfect geographical location to serve the entire UK. It will be home to 24,000 square feet of warehousing while a showroom and 2,000 square foot of office space will be used by the southern based members of the team.”
This move also allows the business to exit their current head office just outside of Edinburgh with the team moving to a much more modern and sustainable facility just three miles away within the industrial hub of Livingston.
Carl Jackson, joint administrator, said: “Unfortunately, Capital Cooling Refrigeration Limited is not the first casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sectors which the business primarily works with – leisure, retail and hospitality – are amongst some of those hit hardest. This, coupled with the business not qualifying for any government support, made trading during this period difficult.
“We have achieved the best possible outcome for this situation in the pre-pack with Beheren Limited trading as Capital Cooling, which will see the majority of employees retained.”
Beheren Limited trading as Capital Cooling continue to have the support of all of their key suppliers and will honour all orders and warranties for their clients ensuring that the transition to the new company is seamless.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Quantuma LLP is a leading business advisory firm which works with businesses at key milestones, delivering partner led solutions to help clients take advantage of opportunities and overcome a range of operational and financial challenges, enabling them to achieve their business objectives and ambitions. The business has 18 offices, including 15 in the UK, two international offices in Cyprus (Nicosia and Paphos) and one in Mauritius.
