Specialist air conditioning supplier, Cool Designs Ltd (CDL), has been named Distributor of the Year at the ACR News Awards 2014.
The trophy was presented to Darrel Birkett, CDL's founder and managing director, by celebrity Lenny Henry at the awards evening, which was held at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham on 12 February.

The judges praised CDL's vision and commitment in becoming the first carbon neutral air conditioning supplier in the UK. They also commended the company for combining outstanding charity and community work with commercial success.

CDL has been the recipient of the top distributor award now on a number of occasions. Darrel Birkett said: 'It is obviously very pleasing to once again receive recognition by one's peers in the industry. I am also delighted that our success is not just a flash in the pan, but reflects a winning formula that we have evolved and built into the company's approach over a number of years.

'It is based on a lot of passion, creativity and hard work on the part of the CDL team. It also reflects the fantastic support we receive from our key manufacturers such as Toshiba.'

The distributor was also singled out for its dedication to training, in which it has invested significantly in recent years. The company, which recently celebrated 10 years as a Toshiba distributor, has capacity to train up to 400 engineers each year.

Cool Designs operates a highly successful and growing video tutorial library via You Tube, available with open-access for engineers.