Shops, cafés, florists, offices and everything of a similar size. We design, install, commission and maintain systems that keep your space comfortable and your stock, staff and customers happy — fitted around your trading hours, not ours.
Free site survey • F-Gas registered engineers • All work guaranteed
A commercial installation isn’t a domestic one made bigger. Longer running hours, heat from people, lighting and equipment, and the simple fact that downtime costs money all change how a system should be specified. Here’s what that looks like in practice.
Retail units lose conditioned air every time a customer walks in, and gain heat all day from window displays, spotlights and south-facing glazing. Undersize it and the shop is warm by lunchtime; oversize it and it short-cycles, blasts cold air at whoever’s nearest the door, and costs more to run.
We survey the actual glazing, lighting load and footfall pattern rather than working off floor area, and place indoor units so the airflow washes the space instead of pointing at the till.
Typically suits A wall or ceiling-mounted unit sited away from the entrance, with an air curtain effect over the door on busier units.
A coffee machine, a grill, an oven and forty people in a small room is a serious heat load, and it peaks exactly when you’re busiest. Hospitality spaces also have a noise problem no spreadsheet catches: a unit that drowns out conversation ruins the room even if the temperature is perfect.
We size for the peak, not the average, and we specify for sound as carefully as for capacity. Where ceilings allow, a recessed cassette spreads air in four directions and all but disappears.
Typically suits A ceiling cassette over the seating area, with a separate unit behind the counter so staff aren’t cooking in the kitchen’s own heat.
Some premises aren’t really about human comfort at all. Flowers, chocolate, wine, cosmetics and pharmacy stock all have a temperature they keep best at — and cut flowers in particular hate both warmth and a direct draught, which will curl petals in a morning.
The answer is rarely more cooling. It’s the right amount, delivered gently, from a unit positioned so nothing sits in the airstream. We’ll walk the shop with you and work out where the stock actually stands.
Typically suits A discreet high-wall unit angled away from displays, running at low fan speed with a tight temperature band.
Open-plan floors are never uniform. The window side bakes in the afternoon, the meeting room is empty until it holds eight people and a screen, and the comms cupboard needs cooling in February. One thermostat for all of it guarantees complaints.
Zoning solves it. A multi-split runs several indoor units from one outdoor unit, each controlled independently, so the meeting room can be cooled hard while nobody at the desks notices. And because these are heat pumps, the same kit heats the floor in winter, often cheaper than the existing system.
Typically suits A multi-split or VRF system with per-room control, plus a dedicated unit for any server or comms room.
“The single most common fault we’re called to on commercial sites isn’t a broken system. It’s a system that was never right for the room in the first place.”
ArcticNord engineering teamMost of our commercial work is fitted with the premises still trading. Six stages, and you know where you are at every one.
We visit, measure the space, assess heat loads from glazing, occupancy, lighting and equipment, and work out where pipework, drainage and the outdoor unit can realistically go. Half an hour on site saves a great deal later.
System type, capacities, indoor unit positions, outdoor plant location and a fixed price. No provisional sums, no day-rate extras, no surprises when the invoice lands.
Noisy or disruptive stages go out of hours. Larger sites are phased area by area so only one part is affected at a time. You tell us when you can’t be interrupted and we build the programme around it.
Dust sheets, floor protection, cores drilled with dust extraction and a full clear-down at the end of every day — not just at the end of the job. The space is fit to trade in each morning.
Pressure test, evacuation, charge weight recorded, airflow and temperature readings taken, controls configured and your team shown how to actually use them.
Commissioning certificates, equipment documentation, refrigerant records, warranty registration and a recommended service schedule — one folder, everything your files need.
Commercial operators carry legal duties that domestic customers don’t. Here’s what sits with you — and what we take off your desk.
| Your duty as operator | What we do about it |
|---|---|
| Use qualified engineers | All installation, servicing and refrigerant work is carried out by F-Gas registered engineers, and the certification sits in your handover pack. |
| Keep records for each system | We maintain the equipment record for every system we look after — refrigerant type and charge, work carried out, gas added or recovered — and hand you a copy each visit. |
| Carry out leak checks at the required frequency | Check frequency is set by each system’s CO₂-equivalent charge, not its size in kilowatts. We work out which of your systems are in scope and put them on a schedule so nothing slips. |
| Arrange TM44 energy inspections | Systems above the statutory output threshold need a periodic energy inspection by an accredited assessor, lodged on the national register. We’ll tell you whether yours qualify and help arrange it. |
| Recover refrigerant properly at end of life | When equipment is replaced or decommissioned we recover the refrigerant, dispose of it correctly and document it — so your compliance trail has no gap in it. |
General guidance, not legal advice. What applies to you depends on your specific equipment, refrigerant charge and premises — we’ll confirm it at survey.
Commercial systems run far more hours than domestic ones. Planned maintenance keeps efficiency up, breakdowns down and your compliance records current — and it’s the cheapest part of owning a system. We have a dedicated commercial maintenance page covering exactly this.
Almost always. We plan the install around your trading hours — noisy or disruptive stages go out of hours, and larger sites can be split into phases so only one area is affected at a time.
If you lease the premises you will usually need landlord consent for the outdoor unit and any penetrations through the building fabric. Planning permission can apply to external plant, particularly on listed buildings or in conservation areas. We’ll flag anything we spot at survey.
Typically twice a year for systems in constant use, or annually for lighter duty. Statutory F-Gas leak checks are separate, and their frequency depends on the refrigerant charge in each system.
Yes. Everything we fit is an air-to-air heat pump, so the same equipment heats the space in winter — frequently at a lower running cost than the existing heating, and with far quicker response.
VAT-registered businesses can usually recover VAT on qualifying commercial installations, and capital allowances may apply. Speak to your accountant — we’ll supply whatever documentation they need.
Yes. We’re used to working to a main contractor’s programme, providing RAMS and certification, and reporting into an FM system.
Tell us about the premises and we’ll arrange a free survey, then put a fixed written proposal in front of you.
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