Tim East has built his reputation on being able to fix what others have messed up. But now some consultants have realised that giving him the job in the first place saves money, hassle – and time. Paul Braithwaite talks to a hands-on engineer
TIM East, owner of Coolex, is what I would consider a typical engineer.

When he talks about his business or the job he is working on, he is articulate, passionate even.

Tim is a successful businessman.

His business is small by modern standards but his reputation goes before him.

“I believe I will do the job better than anyone else,” he says simply. So do others. Tim has built a reputation on being able to clean up what others have messed up.

Sometimes, he admits, some 20% of his business is fixing what others could not do or didn’t do very well.

But he adds this is good for business because consultants have begun to realise they should ask him to tender in the first place.

“If I do the job, then another company does not have to clear up after me. It saves time, money and aggravation,” he laughs Which brings me to Tim’s latest job, installing fabric air conditioning at Lenham Storage, Kent.

When Lenham Storage won the warehousing contract for Lindt Chocolate it had to act quickly.

Until this contract, Lenham had mainly dealt with non-perishable or ambient goods.

For the new contract it needed to air-condition three of its warehouses – and fast.

The consultant who specified the work was John Evans of JE Evans Associates of Crystal Palace in south London.

Tim’s company has been receiving a lot of work from J E Evans because of its ability to clear up the mess which other companies had made.



Tim’s was one of six tenders. He says he had a week to tender for the job and when he won the tender he virtually had to start right away. “Often you tender for work and it takes ages before you know whether you have got the job or not.”

Chocolate has to be stored at or around 140C or the cocoa will leech out.

Tim’s brief was that the temperature had to be maintained at 140C ±20C.

The tender was initially to supply and fit fabric air conditioning in one warehouse (sheds 16 and 17) – and subsequently two others.

The concept was to utilise DX system air handling units, connected to fabric ducting. The use of fabric socks will provide a more uniform temperature within the sheds than can be obtained by using traditional ducting and diffusers, according to Tim. Further, it is quick and easy to install.

Tim’s work began on the first warehouse at the end of March and the air conditioning was up and running before June. It would have been finished in six weeks if he could have obtained the equipment quicker. Tim has three permanent employees and then he calls on a bank of sub-contractors who work for him when he needs them.

He employed up to 20 people on the Lenham job.

Putting up the rails for the fabric was relatively easy. So was installing the fabric!

The sock ventilation came in six boxes from Belgium in 10m lengths. He needed 3000m for the first warehouse which is 160m long by 36m wide.

Tim adds: “There are 27,000 nozzles and I am assured they are all hand sewn.”

Coolex also installed the lighting and the power for the air conditioning with a new switch room and services. Tim says that two of the cable runs are more than 230m and here the copper conductors are 150mm.

The SWA cable weighs in at 10kg a metre and is not very flexible or easy to install, he says.

In Shed 16 & 17 Coolex installed 97 low bay lights. The lights switch off automatically if no movement is detected in the shed for 50 minutes. Coolex also built the control panel for the lighting which is powered via 40Amp lighting busbar track, manufactured by Zucchini, which allows for lights to be unplugged and moved to a new position along the track, if required.

Each AHU has a three-phase power supply, rated at 125Amps per phase.



A BMS system is to be installed by Powell Systems Engineering in order to monitor the shed temperatures and alarms remotely. Until the local utility comes in to upgrade the power supply, Lenham Storage has had to use a mobile generator to supply the extra electricity.

The DX cooling plant is supplied by five Emicon air handling units from the Italian company’s UK distributor Delrac.

In all, there will be 11 AHUs in the whole installation.



The air which is blown through the ducting is a mixture of fresh, chilled air which is introduced from outside condensers and recycled air. The condensers use R407C.



Each AHU has four centrifugal fans blowing into a common header arrangement, before distributing into the socks. The total airflow per AHU is 26460m3/h (or 7350l/s). Each has twin-circuits and a total cooling capacity of 97kW with a sensible cooling capacity of 75kW. Combined there is 485kW total capacity and 375kW sensible capacity.

Each AHU has an auxilary centrifugal fresh air fan installed, made by Vent-Axia. The fresh air is locked out should any common alarm occur.

The first storage unit, which was previously used for ambient storage, has had to have the roof insulated and roof lights covered to cut down on the solar gain.

The other two units were having the racking stripped out when I met Tim there and they, too, would be insulated before Coolex could begin to air condition the buildings.

Training works for Tim

TIM East has been working for himself since he was 20 years old. He started Coolex six years ago and specialises in air conditioning.

Tim did an electrical apprenticeship with an industrial company. He crossed over to the mechanical side of the business and worked for a company which was contracted to London Underground. He was promoted to project manager during his time there.

Later he was a working partner in a construction company which undertook commercial refits. It was during this time that Tim went on various refrigeration and air conditioning training courses so that the company could install its own systems in the re-fits. After three years the partners decided to disband by mutual consent but he had widened his knowledge as the company had fitted many air conditioning systems, including splits and VRVs.

New warehouse but no ivory tower

TIM East has a dilemma. The work is coming in fast and furious and the turnover and profit are rising year by year. Tim is considering expanding his operation but he admits he does not want to lose control of Coolex.

“I also like to work alongside the men on the job. I would not want to lose this either. I am not one to sit in an ivory tower.”

Nevertheless, Tim has just moved into a 200m2 warehouse and offices unit in Tenterden in Kent.

“I will have a secretary and administration staff to back me up.”

Domestic air con units as well

AS well as commercial and industrial work, Coolex also offers domestic air conditioning.

Tim East is happy to install any type of air conditioning but works mainly with a US manufacturer called Unicon which entered the UK market at about the same time as Coolex.

The first couple of jobs were checked rigorously by the company for the quality of the work, says Tim, but once Unicon decided it was happy, the leads began to pour in.

Now, it is a case of Unico makes the sale and all Coolex has to do is install the air conditioning.

Unicon offers an air conditioning unit which is installed in the loft and ducted into the rooms via flexible ducting of around 2inch diameter. All that shows are the ceiling outlets which look similar to recessed lighting.

“There is not much else on the market which isn’t ugly or too obvious,” he adds.

So far Coolex has installed 87 residential air conditioning units mostly in the south east of the country except for one in the south of France and one in Jersey. Tim has also installed the units in a couple of Chinese restaurants and curry houses.

Tim adds: “I believe it is essential to have good construction knowledge in the HVAC business, for fixing, structural supports and making apertures through load-bearing walls. If you can undertake the project without involving builders and other trades, the job runs much more smoothly.