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Highly-experienced engineering specialist Dr Ian MacKenzie appointed to head department

Cambridge HOK has appointed highly-experienced specialist Dr Ian MacKenzie to head up the company’s expanding engineering and design division.

A chartered engineer who has held positions with responsibility for design and engineering in numerous manufacturing businesses for over 20 years, Dr. MacKenzie joins at a time when the business is investing heavily in expanding its in-house design expertise.

He will oversee work on structural engineering for the firm’s many large scale development projects, including new commercial glasshouses and vertical farms.

Overseeing the planning for heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) and C02 systems to ensure facilities perform at the ultimate levels of productivity and efficiency for clients will also fall under his responsibilities.

“I’m excited to be joining CambridgeHOK as I have been highly impressed with the quality of projects the business is involved in and leading on at present, and in particular at how it has been pushing the boundaries and innovating in the food and fruit growing sector,” he said.

“It really has been leading the way in terms of developing highly efficient and productive growing facilities and it is exciting to be joining a company where I feel I can use my experience to add value to the design and engineering process, bringing benefits not only to its customers, but also importantly the business itself.

“My role will see me working to ensure we continually develop our design and engineering expertise through innovation. Obviously the first task is to understand how the business operates and then bring my experience to fine tune and develop. There is always room to improve how you work and to introduce methods and efficiencies to improve the service to clients.

“I know there is a commitment to continued development and improvement at CambridgeHOK and that attracted me to the role. am confident there are exciting times ahead and that we can really deliver for clients.”

Continued investment into business as target set to build on successful 2020

Dr MacKenzie has worked in organisations supplying into a diverse range of industries throughout his career including telecommunications, oil & gas, power distribution, rail and construction.

John Holland, Managing Director of CambridgeHOK, says that experience will help bring fresh ideas to the company.

“We’re delighted to have been able to recruit someone of Ian’s ability, experience and reputation for engineering excellence across the manufacturing sector,” he said.

“At CambridgeHOK we pride ourselves on being industry leaders and being a one stop shop for people in the horticultural and hydroponic sectors.

“World-class engineering and design is at the heart of all we do and it is always the first stage of any successful development.

“It is our continued investment into this area of our work which has helped us develop leading knowledge, expertise and systems within our industry and Ian’s appointment, along with the recruitment of a further two new members of the team, is all about enhancing that further.

“We have had an excellent year with some really significant contracts in 2020. We will look to build on that in the coming 12 months.”

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