Awarded as part of National Apprenticeship Week 2025 (which will taking place 10^th – 16^th of February), the accolade celebrates and recognises the dedication, determination and achievements of apprentices across the region. Lewis was nominated by his line managers at Elta, Dan Owen, Engineering Manager, and Paul Brophy, Lead Engineer.

Having started his apprenticeship in November 2022 at Lima College in Dudley before transferring to Sandwell Academy, Lewis now works four days a week at Elta with a day spent in the classroom. Lewis’s responsibilities have grown as his three-year course has progressed, handling servicing and maintenance of products for the air movement and air quality specialists, taking part in inspections and testing, and visiting customer sites.

Lewis’s remarkable development and embracing of new opportunities outside his usual responsibilities has impressed his colleagues, leading to his appointment as a quality representative for the company’s West Midland site. This enthusiasm earned him the nomination for the Apprentice Star Award, and with his apprenticeship set to end this Summer, he will return to Elta in a full-time role.

“I didn’t even know I’d been shortlisted for the award because I was on site at the time, so finding out was a really nice surprise,” says Lewis. “My granddad was an engineer his whole life and that inspired me to become an engineer – this is what I’ve wanted to do, so it’s fantastic to be recognised with this nomination.

“Learning with Elta has been a great experience, and everyone’s been very welcoming. Daniel and Paul have been my mentors and they’ve given me a lot of support – if there’s anything I don’t know, I’ll phone them, and they’ll be around in a matter of minutes to show me what to do. I’ve really valued their help, and the fact Daniel started as a student here like me has shown me a clear development pathway and provided great insight into what’s required in the role. It’s an honour that they put me forward for this prestigious award.”

Lewis’s nomination is the latest in a string of successes for Elta’s training programme, following Sam Brophy and Anthony McGuiness completing their apprenticeships as Lean Manufacturing Operatives (Production/Assembly) last summer. With both Sam and Anthony now employed full-time at the company’s Kingswinford factory, these latest achievements further demonstrate our commitment to investing in its employees and helping them reach their full potential, as Daniel Owen, Engineering Manager, explains.

“We take pride in ensuring our apprentices have access to relevant training that allows them to excel in what they do,” says Dan. “Whether that’s gaining new certifications or flourishing in an expanding role, it’s excellent to see colleagues like Sam, Anthony and Lewis thrive and succeed.

“In Lewis’s case, it’s been fantastic to see him take on additional responsibilities as his apprenticeship has progressed. As his colleagues have said, nothing is too much trouble for him, so it’s no wonder he’s been nominated for the Apprentice Star Award. – we’re all rooting for him to win!”

For more information on the Elta placement program, click here.

We are delighted to announce that three of our products are finalists at the H&V News Awards 2020.

The H&V News Awards is the biggest HVAC event in the UK, featuring the biggest and the best in the world of building services. It’s an honour to be recognised in such competitive categories and is a testament to the innovation and hard work of our development team. Our forward-thinking engineers are continually working to push the boundaries of design, achieving technological firsts with industry leading products:

Air Movement Product of the Year – Finalist
Revolution SLC EC
Developed with the aim of future-proofing the range against regulation changes, the innovative Revolution SLC EC reduces energy usage costs by up to 20% and offers a significantly easier installation than conventional long-cased axial fans.

Air Movement Product of the Year – Finalist
Skyflow SSRL
The world’s first ErP compliant low silhouette axial roof fan, the Skyflow SSRL offers an energy and space-saving ventilation solution. Manufactured and tested as a complete unit, it avoids the need for ventilation contractors and distributors to combine their own roof cowl and plate fan from separate manufacturers – a practice which has seen a plethora of non-compliant roof fans installed since 2013.

Domestic Ventilation Product of the Year – Finalist
Mori dMEV II 150HT
An ultra-quiet, low-energy continuously running unit, the Mori dMEV II 150HT outperforms existing intermittent fans in the market. It features eight conventional flow background/trickle speed settings to choose from on-site, allowing it to achieve regulatory compliance even where higher whole dwelling ventilation rates are required.

We are incredibly proud to have been shortlisted and are looking forward to the awards ceremony in April.

The awards bring the number of employees at Elta who have worked for the company for over 20 years to 10. 44 employees now record more than 10 years’ service and a further 38 more than 5 years. Reaching their 20 year milestones are Paul Greenwood, Gary Muckleston, Matthew Targett and Tony Price; 15 years – Harry Bradshaw, David Brooks, Jason Hoskins and Steven West; and 10 years – Kelly Prestage, Monique Simmons and Toby Worrall. Certificates were presented to mark the achievements at Elta’s Head Office in Fareham, Hampshire and at the Building Services premises in Kingswinford, West Midlands where Toby and Kelly are based.

Damian Buxton, recently promoted to the position of Managing Director of the Fareham operation, is himself a good example of a company philosophy that believes in developing its personnel and promoting from within –”It is an approach which benefits both the company and the individuals concerned and the fact that we have so many long service employees is testament to its success, providing the depth of knowledge, experience and continuity that provides real benefits to customers.”

David Osgerby, Managing Director of Elta joined guest presenter Huw Edwards on stage to give the ‘Contractor of the Year’ award to Imtech Aqua Ltd. With some 750 people attending, the Awards proved a real celebration of the best in building performance.

Amongst the guests on the Elta table was Les Fish, Managing Director of Ziehl-Abegg in the UK. In January this year, Elta announced a strategic alliance with Ziehl-Abegg to use the company’s motors and impellers as part of a commitment from Elta to meet the new energy and climate change legislation being introduced throughout Europe.

Elta is part of the £85 million Elta Group, a family of businesses with operations in six countries on four continents which, together with a network of international distributors, provides quality fans and related air movement equipment to customers worldwide.

Considered to be the building services industry’s equivalent of the Oscars, the awards represent the best companies and products in their fields. Elta is delighted to have made the shortlist for the award with a product that has been painstakingly designed and developed over a two year period, ahead of its launch in 2014. During the 24 month development and testing programme every aspect of the product’s design was scrutinised. For the impeller alone, in excess of 35, 3D models were created. These were reduced to 19 prototypes, the final one becoming the Mori dMEV unique ‘bladelet’ impeller. This unrelenting attention to detail was applied to all aspects of the design, development, construction and testing of the unit. The innovative

Mori dMEV conforms to System 3 ventilation types and is suitable for the extraction of stale air either direct or through short length ducting. The unit provides market leading SFP, some 30% below the nearest competition at the time of testing, and minimal noise emissions. Colin Hone, Head of UK Residential Sales, said: “Everyone here is excited about our nomination. The Mori dMEV is the most efficient dMEV unit ever produced and has provided our dedicated residential ventilation team with a fantastic product which has been very well received in the market.”

The prestigious awards, which celebrate their 21st anniversary this year, will be announced on Thursday 16 April at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London. .

The CIBSE Region’s Annual Dinner was held in the Old Hall of Queens’ College and saw many from the building services industry take the opportunity to catch up with colleagues, celebrate the best in the industry and enjoy an evening’s entertainment.

Amongst those gathered at one of the UK’s most iconic and historic venues were Mark Gallifant, Phil Warner and Mark Butler of Elta who hosted an Elta Fan table of 7 guests. Commenting on the black tie evening, Phil, National Sales Manager for Elta, said – “We were delighted to support the dinner as the headline sponsors, part of our ongoing commitment to supporting events which help to celebrate best practice in ventilation and to foster networking within the industry.”

The Quietflow SQS DCV is a finalist in the ‘Air Movement Product of the Year’ category, with the winners to be announced on 25 April at the awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

Available in eight standard sizes from 100mm to 710mm, the Quietflow SQS DCV features the BAT (Best Available Technology) Vpro backward curved impeller with three dimensional profiled blades. The impeller is powered by the Ziehl-Abegg EC external rotor motor, offering high energy efficiency and excellent reliability.

The Quietflow SQS DCV is part of the demand controlled ventilation range which, when coupled with sensors, further improves already impressive energy savings by matching the speed of the fan to the occupancy levels of an environment. Energy Consumption and Performance testing on a 250mm unit demonstrated that a reduction in operating costs of 60 percent can be achieved by the SQS DCV, compared to the standard SQS fan. This is achieved through the improved energy efficiency of the DCV version which can remove the same amount of air from an occupied space whilst operating at a reduced speed. This cost saving can be increased to 92 percent if a sensor is employed to vary the flow rate based on the CO2 levels detected. As an acoustically treated single in-line fan it provides excellent sound characteristics which makes it suited to applications requiring location close to building occupants, and, as a compact unit, it is ideal for overcoming space restrictions in buildings with low ceiling voids.

Jenna Chambers, Strategic Marketing Manager at the Elta Group, comments – “Given the increase in the number of entries to this year’s awards we are delighted to make it through to the shortlist. The new blade geometry offers real benefits in terms of low noise emission, reliability and improved efficiency. There is a very definite focus on how energy savings can be made in building services technology so we are hoping that the results of the product comparison trials will impress the judges and stand us in good stead for the awards in April.”

Elta is part of the £85 million Elta Group, a family of businesses with operations in six countries on four continents which, together with a network of international distributors, provides quality fans and related air movement equipment to customers worldwide.

Following a record number of entries in the 2012 HVR (Heating & Ventilating Review) Awards, the third time the annual awards scheme has been run, the four judges have put through two Elta fans as finalists in the ‘Commercial/Industrial Ventilation Product’ category. The first finalist is the Raptor SPA, a plate mounted axial flow fan designed for a wide range of building services applications. Available in nine standard sizes (250mm to 710mm), the SPA offers air volume flow rates of up to 6.27 m3/s. The other finalist, again from the Raptor range, is the Raptor SDA, a case mounted axial flow fan designed for use in a wide range of duct mounted applications, from sports halls and schools to factories and warehouses. The SDA is available in eight standard sizes (250mm to 630mm) and offers flow rates of up to 4.60 m3/s.

Both fans are new additions to Elta’s comprehensive product offering and are part of Elta Select, a range specifically developed to meet the new energy efficiency legislation1 to be introduced in January 2013. The Raptor products feature the FE2owlet sickle bladed aerofoil impeller and both units are powered by the Ziehl-Abegg external rotor motor that significantly increases efficiency and also reduces noise levels.

The Awards judges are David Frise, head of sustainability at B&ES (Building & Engineering Services Association), headline sponsors of the awards; Michael Smith, Engineering Director at BSRIA (Building Services Research and Information Association), Gay Lawrence-Race, Technical Adviser for CIBSE (Chartered Institute of Building Service Engineers); and Michael Duggan, Technical Manager at FETA (Federation of Environmental Trade Associations). Their selection of the category finalists was based on criteria which included innovation, outstanding technological achievement and service capability.

The judges will be amongst the assembled finalists and guests at the Awards Gala Dinner on 10 October 2012 at London’s The Grange St Paul’s Hotel where the seven category winners will be announced.

Elta is part of the £85 million Elta Group, a family of businesses with operations in six countries on four continents which, together with a network of international distributors, provides quality fans and related air movement equipment to customers worldwide.

The ZOO approach is designed to prevent the need to overheat an entire space to achieve comfortable temperatures at floor level. The fact that heat rises results in thermal stratification, meaning that the upper areas of a space are typically warmer than the lower areas where it is actually needed i.e. the ‘Zone of Occupancy‘.

Overheating results in significant increases in energy consumption, particularly in buildings with high ceilings where the temperature differential between floor and ceiling is greater. This is also true in the months when cooling of the building is required. Again, thermal stratification causes variations in temperature which can often result in the over-cooling of an area to achieve the required temperature at floor level.

Elta’s new ZOO fans are designed to distribute the heating or cooling evenly throughout the occupied zone, generating columns of air which gently force the stratified air down to the Zone of Occupancy, therefore removing the need for physical ductwork. In cooling situations, the fans can be used in closer proximity to operate as spot coolers, taking advantage of the evaporative cooling sensation.

The fans feature the latest in impeller technology: the FE2owlet sickle bladed aerofoil profile axial impeller powered by the fully speed-controllable Ziehl-Abegg external rotor motor. To reduce noise, the blade has been designed with serrations on the trailing edge of the wing, like the owl, hence the name. These serrations serve to muffle sound, with further noise reduction achieved by the incorporation of winglets, as seen on jet aircraft, on each blade. On an aircraft, the winglets are designed to smooth the airflow across the wing near the tip and reduce the lift-induced drag caused by wingtip vortices. The reduced vortices at the tip of the impeller blade lessen the turbulence and noise generated, as well as easing the path of the following blade, thereby improving efficiency and performance.

With the focus in HVAC increasingly on energy efficiency, the ZOO fan is specifically designed to address this. Not only can it significantly reduce a building’s energy consumption, but the fan itself is energy efficient and quiet in operation. It is fully speed-controllable, allowing the fan speed to be reduced to the minimum necessary to maintain the required temperature differential. De-stratifying an air mass consumes more energy than simply maintaining equilibrium. Once the air is de-stratified, the fan speed can be turned down typically by 30 to 60 percent, providing a major reduction in fan absorbed power.

Alan Macklin, Group Technical Manager at the Elta Group, comments: “The projected energy savings for space heating range from 10 to as much as 40 percent by reducing the energy required to condition the air in an occupied space. Of the estimated 40 percent of the world’s energy that is consumed by buildings, some 85 percent is used for room heating and cooling. It is therefore readily apparent that this is an area where any contribution to improving energy management can have a significant impact. Destratification of occupied areas using ZOO fans will result in energy efficient ventilation and lower the operational costs of the building while maintaining good indoor air quality.”

Elta is part of the £85 million Elta Group, a family of businesses with operations in six countries on four continents which, together with a network of international distributors, provides quality fans and related air movement equipment to customers worldwide.

Representatives of Elta Building Services and Elta Group will be accompanying key industry guests on the evening hosted by Huw Edwards, to be held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London on the 8th February 2012.

Commenting on the awards David Osgerby, Managing Director of Elta said ‘We are delighted to support the prestigious industry awards once more and like to wish all the candidates the best of luck with particular well wishes to the ‘Contractor of the Year’ candidates DSL, Imtech Aqa Ltd and Michael J Lonsdale Ltd.’

Elta is part of the £85 million Elta Group, a family of businesses with operations in six countries on four continents which, together with a network of international distributors, provides quality fans and related air movement equipment to customers worldwide.