HVAC Services in Kenya: Thaddeus Sewe Presents Airtouch Cooling Systems

Interview with Thaddeus Sewe, Technical Director at Airtouch Cooling Systems

Could you give us an overview of the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) sector in Kenya?

The Kenyan HVAC market is vast. Most European brands had been mostly looking towards South Africa, but they are now looking North, and Kenya has now become a hub in East Africa, given that our security situation has improved, together with many other factors, including on the environmental front. All of this makes it a nice place to invest.

I think we have enough expertise in our field, so if you invest in us, you will be investing in what is already a moving vehicle. We are on the road and this will guarantee that yours will not be a lost investment.

Now, focusing on our sector specifically and with reference to Airtouch Cooling Systems, we are currently partnering with a number of European brands, one of which is Blauberg from Germany, specialising in mechanical ventilation, as well as Italy’s Amech, through South Africa. This means that we provide quality equipment, which adheres to the Montreal protocol for ozone depletion. As you know, there is a greenhouse issue, so we are trying to do away with the hydrochlorocarbon gases that destroy the ozone layer, while bringing in HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons). These are basically the latest developments in our sector here at the moment, and Airtouch is actually at the forefront, which is why we have been featured among Kenya’s Top 100 mid-sized companies. The future is bright.

I understand that you also provide a whole range of products and services, which do not just involve refrigeration?

Yes, HVAC involves filtration, air conditioning and mechanical ventilation, so we provide a whole range of refrigeration equipment, cold rooms for mortuaries, chillers from Italy, air handling units and VRX systems.

Could you give us some background on Airtouch Cooling Systems?

The company was founded in 2002. We have been in business for over 10 years now.

Everything starts with knowledge about what we are doing. I am trained in HVAC and I used to be involved with a franchise of Daikin industries here in Kenya, following which I stepped out and founded Airtouch Cooling Systems. It’s a family-owned business and the capital was raised through savings, rather than through loans or any such sources. We started out small and we then partnered with consultants and corporate companies, which is how we ventured out.

We have been featured on Kenya’s Top 100 mid-sized companies. But in order to appear in the list, first of all you need to be paying taxes to the government, because your books need to be clean and need to be audited. This is how you set yourself up for that.

Do you manufacture your own products?

We don’t manufacture. We partner with the manufacturers. We buy from Blauberg and we are their dealers here. We are also the technical support centre in Kenya for Italy’s Amech. We are not their fully-fledged dealers, but we hope to acquire that status at a later date. They are very keen with their product, so they don’t just rush in with anybody. This is why we are answerable to South Africa, which is where we buy from, through AISA. But we do represent them in Kenya as far as technical support is concerned.

What kind of actions do you undertake to make yourselves known out there?

Firstly, we advertise in various media; and what makes you stand out, in Kenya or anywhere else, is what you do. You could be doing the same thing, but we do it differently from others. We provide good services to corporate clients, including banks such as KCB, Equity Bank, CFC Stanbic, etc., with whom we have annual maintenance contracts. We are also involved in the opening of their new branches, having won several of their tenders.

Does Airtouch Cooling Systems do any type of actions in terms of CSR?

Yes, we are in a partnership with a local polytechnic and we help train their youngsters. When someone has finished grade 8 and is unable to proceed to university, we manage to train them and pay for their school fees. This allows us to produce plumbers, electricians, mechanics, etc. This is something we have been doing for about 2 years now.

What would you say is the most difficult part of your business, in terms of doing business in Kenya as well as abroad? What are the main challenges that you face on a daily basis?

It’s a matter of capital. You find yourself in a situation where you have a lot of work to be done, and you have to raise a lot of capital to pump into it, in order to be able to deliver. In fact, I would say this is the biggest problem affecting SMEs.

Are you looking for any type of partners or investors?

Yes, very much so. If the opportunity arises and the field is well-levelled, we could venture into that.

What would your pitch to a potential investor who may listen to this interview? Why would he choose you instead of someone else?

I think we have enough expertise in our field, so if you invest in us, you will be investing in what is already a moving vehicle. We are on the road and this will guarantee that yours will not be a lost investment.

How many employees do you have?

We have 22 employees in total, 5 of whom are administrative staff and 17 forming part of our technical team. We began the training programme in South Africa with AISA, who trained our guys on chillers. We are a large team.

I understand that you work with several countries. Are there any plans to open new markets in the near future?

Yes, especially in East Africa. We plan to open branches in Rwanda and Uganda.

What is your vision for the future of Airtouch Cooling Systems in the next 2/3 years? What would you like to have achieved by then?

Our foremost goal is to open up, and the next most important thing for us is to create employment as much as possible, so that we are able to also offer others the opportunity to venture out. We don’t want to close ourselves in, but rather open up, in order to become big – not just for ourselves, but also for others, so that other people can also access opportunities.

I truely believe that the key lies in working hard and creating employment, since unemployment is among the main reasons why so many economies are currently reeling. It’s a big problem. But the government also needs to work on ways to empower SMEs.

All that I can tell other people out there is that they should have faith in SMEs. You need to trust them and hear them out, so that you can invest in them. There is a lot of untapped talent here in Kenya, but sometimes our guys can’t make it because of difficulties in raising capital or in being given fair chances to showcase what they have to offer.