News/Events

Lightfoot Engineers Support BAE in Saudi

January 2012

Lightfoot engineers are travelling to Saudi Arabia to support BAE Systems Ltd by undertaking an equipment inspection and facilities preperation prior to the installation of a complete air conditioning suite on a Saudi Naval vessel. This is the next phase in the ongoing contract Lightfoot has with BAE to design, manufacture, install and commission a full suite of air conditioning plants for three Saudi naval vessels. They will be in country for two weeks, expecting to return to Saudi at the end of February to start the installation and STW of the plants on the first vessel.

Lightfoot success with Refrigerant Reclaim Unit

December 2011

Lightfoot has built a proto-type refrigerant reclaim unit. After extensive tests the unit has successfully reclaimed refrigerant to equivalent virgin standards.

Design Phase for AMSS Ltd

November 2011

Lightfoot has completed the design phase of its joint venture with AMSS Ltd, Bitzer has been selected as the Compressor supplier for this overseas project, in part due to the compact design and flexibility of the control of its large semi-hermetic range of compressors.

Lightfoot Completes Workshop Upgrade

October 2011

Lightfoot has completed the re-organisation and upgrade of its main workshop. The whole re-structure was based around improving the 'flow through' of work, with dedicated build areas for each type of equipment.

Lightfoot agrees joint approach with AMSS Ltd

September 2011

Lightfoot has started a joint venture with AMSS Ltd to develop a fully integrated air cooling system for an overseas client. Lightfoot will design and manufacture the 'cooling pack' for integration into the AMSS system.

Lightfoot wins contract to supply training rigs to Blackpool and Flyde college

August 2011

Lightfoot Defence has been contracted to supply training rigs to Blackpool and Flyde college. The training rigs have a fault input facility included. The instructor will be able to input a range of faults for the students to diagnose and rectify. The students will be studying for the award of C & G 2079 and OD's regulations. The training rigs are due to be delivered and commissioned  around mid September 2011.

Lightfoot meets F-GAS deadline

July 2011

F-Gas regulations, all engineers handling refrigerants are to be F-Gas certified as of the 4th July 2011, this is a legal requrement. Lightfoot Defence has put all its engineers through the F-Gas certification process and has upgraded its REFCOM registration to 'FULL'.

Training for Saudi Engineers

May 2011

Lightfoot Defence has been appointed by Flagstaff (part of the Babcock International group of companies) to provide a full package of training, both operator and maintainer for the next generation of Saudi engineers that will operate the upgraded Air conditioning plants, (Lightfoots has supplied these plants for the Saudi navy SRMH vessels). The training will be delivered at Lightfoots fareham facility utilising a training rig that we have built to cover the practical elements of the course. This further extends the range of training rigs that Lightfoot currently build and supply. These include fault inputs, so instructors can 'set in' faults for students to hone their system diagnostic skills.

Two further Apache Servicing Stations Delivered

March 2011

The next two Apache fully integrated refrigeration servicing rigs were delivered to the UK Army. The units enable a continous process to be undertaken during the servicing of air-conditioning sysytems. Including - recovery, pressure test, refrigerant clean, oil removal and evacuation/charging in a seemless process. The innovative non-condensables purge system ensures no refrigerant is vented to the atmosphere, allowing the operator to comply with all current legislation (montreal protocol, kyoto, EU, etc). Lightfoot will be delivering the next contracted rigs in late March and April 2011.

Saudi Plants all delivered
March 2011
Lightfoot has now delivered all the complete air conditioning plants to Saudi Arabia following successful Factory Acceptance Tests (FATS). The first ship installation is programmed to start in April. Lightfoot will have 4 engineers in country for up to 3 months, installing and commissioning the plant around the vessels busy refit periods.

The Kenneth Lightfoot Medal
February 2011
The Kenneth Lightfoot Medal and prize will once again be presented to the winner of the best paper submitted at the Institute of Refrigeration’s annual dinner to be held in February this year. The winner this year is Andy Campbell and Oliver Riley for the paper entitled "Building Services for Low Carbon Supermarkets".

First Apache Servicing Stations Delivered

January 2011

The first Apache fully integrated refrigeration servicing rigs were delivered to the UK Army at the end of 2010. The units enable a continous process to be undertaken during the servicing of air-conditioning sysytems. Including - recovery, pressure test, refrigerant clean, oil removal and evacuation/charging in a seemless process. The innovative non-condensables purge system ensures no refrigerant is vented to the atmosphere, allowing the operator to comply with all current legislation (montreal protocol, kyoto, EU, etc). Lightfoot have been contracted to deliver a further 10 Apache rigs in the first quarter of 2011.

Saudi Contract on Track
January 2011
Lightfoot has started delivering complete ship air conditioning plants to Saudi Arabia. The first ship installation is programmed to start in April. Lightfoot will have 4 engineers in country for up to 3 months, installing and commissioning the plant around the vessels busy refit periods.

New Offices/Boardroom
November 2010

Planning permission has now been granted for new offices and a boardroom with interactive IT suite for presentations. The anticipated completion date is June 2011.

Japan Hold Cooling Systems
August 2010

Lightfoot has successfully designed, manufactured, delivered and installed three complete hold cooling systems to Japan. Lightfoot engineers have commissioned and handed over three complete ship sets of hold cooling equipment to Japanese shipbuilder MES. Engineers spent a total of 2 months on each ship installing and commissioning a total of 8 350kw plants and air handling units on each vessel in Japan.

New Employees
July 2010

Mr Steve Wilcock has joined Lightfoot to supplement the newly set up clean build facility. He will be responsible for all aerospace products build programmes. With extensive refrigeration, design and production experience he is a welcome addition to the growing team.

Mr Gary Sadler has joined Lightfoot as an in house build and assembly engineer, after completing six months intensive in house training he has qualified to work on the hand built compressor range and larger air conditioning packs, he will also be responsible for the in house testing of compressors before dispatch on our purpose built compressor test bed.

Mr Steve Rodgers, an experienced engineer has joined Lightfoot as a service and commissioning engineer. His extensive experience spans the installation of large and complex systems down to compact maintenance equipment. Since Joining us, he has already undertaken installation roles in the UK (Scotland) and later this year he will be a key member of the installation and commissioning team going out to Saudi Arabia.

New 'Clean Build' Facility
January 2010
Lightfoot Defence is pleased to announce that in addition to operating from our current facility , we have acquired a new ‘clean build’ facility for the specific assembly of Military Aerospace and land system products.

Company Reorganisation and Rebranding
January 2010

To enable us to align our services more closely with our expanding Military customer base, and indeed further strengthen and enhance our capabilities, we have merged and integrated the expertise and skills of both companies Lightfoot Refrigeration and Lightfoot Support Services under the rebranded organisation – “Lightfoot Defence”. To download our company announcement please click here...More>>