Yorkshire & Humber MEP, Edward McMillan-Scott, visits Leeds manufacturer Airedale International Air Conditioning

Mr McMillan-Scott, MEP for Yorkshire & Humber and Vice President of the European Parliament, received a short guided tour of the manufacturer’s 25,000 m² manufacturing facility and £2 million test centre which sees precision air conditioning, IT cooling, process and comfort cooling systems manufactured for names such as IBM, HP, Barclays, RBS and Vodafone amongst others, in the UK and 60 countries worldwide.

Airedale International’s Commercial Director, Mark Viner, said: “As UK market leader in our field, we firmly believe that the export market presents a huge opportunity for us to grow the business. With 420 people employed nationally, and around 330 people locally, we’re one of the leading engineering businesses in the region.”

Mark continues: “Export growth will have a very positive impact on the local economy as we increase our manual, administrative and managerial headcount as well as allowing us to expand on the number of apprenticeships we can offer.”

Among the items on the agenda for discussion last Friday was an understanding of the issues faced by the business in the European marketplace, including potential forthcoming legislative changes. Mark concludes: “Mr McMillan-Scott was able to provide valuable guidance as well as opening up some good networking and lobbying opportunities. We are grateful to him for his time.”