www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za RACA Journal I June 2023 29
Personality Profile Sponsored by :
BARNEY RICHARDSON
LOOKS BACK ON 60 YEARS
By Eamonn Ryan
As outgoing SARACCA executive director Barney Richardson ’ s career approaches its 60th year , he has decided that this year is finally the year to put his feet up .
© Eamonn Ryan / RACA
His first job was in 1964 : the year Beatlemania convulsed the world , Cassius Clay became Muhammed Ali and won the world heavyweight boxing title , and racial segregation was outlawed in the US . Richardson explains that it came by chance through a friend and just happened to be in HVAC & R with a company called ThermAir which was looking for trainee engineers . “ I immediately took to the industry , and through those subsequent years I studied at the Port Elizabeth Technikon for an engineering diploma , and workwise was doing estimating , as well as some ventilation and air-conditioning design work . At that time it was common for people to not go to university but for their employer to send them regularly to technikon until they got the engineering diploma .
“ Then in 1973 , I was selected to go to a seven-week Carrier system design course in Syracuse , New York , covering all design aspects of HVAC engineering , and during which I also did a number of air-conditioning control , piping and pumping courses with other major US companies – which ultimately lasted four months with a European holiday added on . From there , my career accelerated . In the late 70s I was appointed as director of what became Improvair ( after a series of mergers and acquisitions ) in Port Elizabeth .
“ For a long time through the 1970s and 80s , I was responsible for a lot of refrigeration and air-conditioning projects for chocolate manufacturer Cadbury : various cooling conveyor projects making the flake chocolates , crunchies and soft centres . After a time , Improvair became too big for Port Elizabeth , and also too top-heavy with highly qualified senior people who needed to be kept busy . Some of the directors were relocated to other areas , and in my case it was to Kempton Park in 1986 as design and estimating director .
“ In those days refrigeration related to air conditioning was a significant part of the industry , mostly central plant based compared to the wall and split units of today . We were extremely busy , doing major projects for big companies such as OK Bazaars , Pick ‘ n Pay , and , for instance , 55 Marshall Street , the Anglo American head office . I also worked on the Old Mutual Office Park in Menlyn , Pretoria .
“ I spent nearly 33 years with Improvair until in the late 90s there was another restructuring with quite a few of the directors retrenched . I was moved into the Viking packaging airconditioning unit on the manufacturing side for a few years and then retrenched at age 56 .”
After an interim year-long job , the director position at SARACCA became available in 2002 , where Richardson has been employed full time for the past 21 years .
Richardson notes that there are fewer of the big airconditioning contracting companies today , as a result of the trend towards split room air conditioners which dominates now . “ The big central systems are still around , but the contractors capable of doing that work are fewer .” RACA
SARACCA executive director Barney Richardson
www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za RACA Journal I June 2023 29