EXPANSION plans for a global company with a base in Deeside have been welcomed as employment opportunities increase.

Sam Rowlands MS and Shadow Minister for Local Government, has expressed his delight at hearing more jobs could be created on the Staycold Export site in the Deeside Enterprise Zone.

He said: “I was delighted to keep cool and hear all about the success of Staycold Export.

“This global leader, which designs and sells fridges moved to a new site on the Deeside Enterprise Zone in January 2019.

“The company continues to grow and I welcome news that expansion plans for the Deeside base will create more jobs here in North East Wales.

“This international firm export over one third of their fridges and it is great to see Welsh and British businesses doing so well worldwide.

“I wish them every success for the future.”

Staycold Export Ltd is a manufacturer of commercial refrigeration with a global presence, dedicated to supporting the needs of leading food and beverage brands.

Most of its business is in the outdoor living and hospitality sectors which has seen an increase in interest during the Covid pandemic.

One of its successes is its back bar coolers which have been rated by the Carbon Trust as number 1 for both performance and energy efficiency.

Edward Jonas, managing director said they were delighted to have a visit from the MS and discuss their move to the area.

He said: "Staycold opened is new distribution hub on the Harwarden Business Park in March 2020, just as the hospitality business pulled down the shutters.

"It was about the worst possible timing. We had several thousands of cabinets on the way to us from our Asian manufacturing plants and we had no choice other than to fill the new facility to the rafters with fridges.

"I looked out at them from my office wondering if we would ever sell them. There was a short period of trading last summer when we shifted some stock, but apart from that, the pub business has been closed for about a year.

"However the good news is that since the restrictions have been lifted, the demand has been phenomenal and we could have sold everything in stock three times over.

"We have even supplied a container load directly to a company in Qatar who is preparing hospitality venues for the forthcoming world cup.

"There is one part of the business that has performed strongly throughout the pandemic and that is fridges for outdoor kitchens. The concept is that you build a second kitchen in your garden and kit it out with a built-in barbecue, possibly a pizza oven and certainly at least one fridge.

"We supply the fridge and since we sell them in hot locations such as Dubai and Australia they have to withstand tropical heat as well as a UK winter.

"We have delivered two cabinets to the top of the rooftop bar of the O2 Arena in London (formerly the Millennium Dome), others to super-yachts and some to famous name celebrity clients whose names we aren’t allowed to disclose. It’s the fastest growing sector in the business."

Now that the business is 'firmly into their recovery', they are planning an expansion of the Blastcool Outdoor Cooling division as well as more work on custom branding of the fridges for drinks clients.

The two next hires will be in marketing and then operations management and we will shortly be advertising for talented individuals to join the team.

Ed added: "We couldn’t have done any of this without the support of Welsh Government who have been brilliant all the way through our move into Wales. We benefitted from a Property Development Grant that helped us put up the building.

"We are already repaying the support given to us and I feel a big responsibility to continue the success.

"My dad and step-mum had a business manufacturing fridges that some may remember. It was called Quest Refrigeration and it was based in Flint on the Aber Park.

"They were in business in the days when it was still economical to manufacture here and they employed 120 people at the peak.

"I would love it if we could get back to those days of Welsh manufacturing and with freight having rocketed from $2000 to $20,000 a container, that may still happen. North Wales is a superb location to do business and we are glad to be here."