Stroke Of Genius

City Facilities Management

In 1996 Sir William Haughey had with a stroke of genius that became the catalyst for the transformation of City from being a moderately successful refrigeration business into a globally successful facilities management company.

Just a year after the change of direction, Sir William won the contract to maintain the Scottish and north of England stores of supermarket giant Asda.

City’s outstanding performance for Asda saw its contract being extended to every store in the UK – and then further extended for a period of 10 years.

Business was booming and in 1999 Sir William bought the business back from 3i. Willie, Susan and their son Kenny now own 98% of the company they founded 25 years ago.

City Refrigeration Expands

Today, the Haughey magic shows no sign of waning, Walmart-Asda has just renewed City’s contract for another 10 years which will guarantee the jobs for thousands of people.

Meanwhile, other blue-chip British companies such as House of Fraser, Ladbrokes and Waterstones have chosen to appoint City.

At the same time, the Haughey bandwagon is gathering momentum overseas, particularly in Australia and the Middle East.

Turnover in 2010 turnover surged ahead by 15% to £304 million while City provided jobs for 9,766 people – an increase of 184 on the previous year.

Sir William’s not interested, however, in speculative ventures. The remarkable growth of City Refrigeration has been achieved with a softly, softly approach and working in partnership with people and companies with whom Sir William Haughey and his team forge long-term relationships.