Leeds College of Building wins Team of the Year at RAC Cooling Awards

Leeds College of Building (LCB) has won the Team of the Year award at the RAC Cooling Awards in London, beating six refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump (RACHP) businesses and bodies to the title.

The college said the ceremony was held at the Grosvenor House Hotel and that the awards are judged by major clients and figures from the cooling industry. The organiser's own event page gives the ceremony date as 24 September 2026 and describes the event as the 23rd annual RAC Cooling Industry Awards.

LCB refrigeration and air conditioning lecturers Graeme Warnock and Sam Dyson collected the award on the night.

Graeme Warnock, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Lecturer at LCB, said: "To be honoured with this award shows the recognition of the hard work and dedication that has been put into the development of our RACHP department."

The judges' verdict

According to the organiser's winners page, the judges described LCB as "a good team of trainers and assessors that have improved standards and pass rates", and noted an impressive increase in the pass rate of end-point assessments.

The judges also said the team was dedicated to what it was doing, and that testimonials showed the impact of individual team members in increasing the success of the courses and their results.

The organiser says the Team of the Year category is intended to reward collective achievements within RACHP organisations, and that entries are judged by a panel of expert judges from across the sector.

The competition

LCB said it beat Energy Saving Products, Epta UK, Institute of Refrigeration, Guzman Heating and Cooling, Nationwide Air Conditioning and SURE Solutions to the award.

The organiser's shortlist confirms the field. It lists Nationwide Air Conditioning's entry on specialist HVAC delivery and the Institute of Refrigeration's Adaptation 2025 Conference among the Team of the Year nominees. Epta UK said separately that it was shortlisted in the category for the delivery of its Retrofit doors project.

In the same ceremony, the organiser said the 2026 Training Initiative of the Year award went to MCFT Technical Academy.

The college's RACHP training

LCB runs a Level 3 RACHP technician apprenticeship covering the design, installation, routine maintenance, reactive service, commissioning and de-commissioning of systems. The college's course page gives the apprenticeship a funding band of £20,000.

Warnock said demand for engineers in the sector was strong. "Working in the RACHP industry is one of the most rewarding sectors, there is a high demand for engineers in the UK and worldwide, the opportunities are endless," he said.

LCB describes itself as the UK's only specialist further education college focused solely on construction and the built environment. It says a new building under way at its North Street Campus will increase the size of its estate by a third.