A market study on refrigeration and AC enterprises in Belgium.

A study performed in 2007, by the Royal Belgian Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Union, in renowned refrigeration and AC companies of various sizes reveals interesting facts. One of the most striking is that almost half of the turnover in the sector was realized in maintenance and after-sales services. As for future prospects, 71% of the companies expect the installation market to grow over the next two years versus 29% who expect it to remain stable and none expect it to shrink. Predictions concerning the maintenance sector are even more optimistic, as 86% of the companies expect the market to grow, and 14% expect it to remain stable. In particular, a growth in the heat-pump (79%) and air-conditioning (79%) markets is expected. 90% of the companies generally favour medium-term (5-year period) investment plans, rather than short term investments (64%), which is nevertheless a decrease compared with a figure of 97% last year. As for predictions concerning hiring, 67% of the companies expect to hire qualified staff (installers 45%, maintenance technicians 34%) over the coming months and 81% of the companies expect to hire staff over the next 5 years. However, 97% of these companies consider that there will be a shortage of qualified staff.