About Coles

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About Coles Refrigeration & Air Conditioning

Established in 1939, remaining one of the oldest and most reputable names in the business, Coles Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Pty Ltd (“Coles”) has successfully serviced Newcastle, the Hunter Valley, Lake Macquarie and the NSW Central Coast for the past 80+ years, on both a domestic and commercial scale.

The expert team at “Coles Refrigeration & Air Conditioning” hold both the knowledge and understanding of new technologies, with the skills, confidence and reputation that can only be offered by a long standing company, thus ensuring your demands are met to the highest of standards. Whether it be domestic or commercial air conditioning, or commercial catering and refrigeration, “Coles” ensure quality and functionality from a 100% local business with 24 hr service.

The wide variety of skills acquired by the “Coles Refrigeration & Air Conditioning” team allows the design, installation, finance, warranty and after sales service processes to be handled by one company, removing the hassle associated with dealing with multiple companies / consultants.

“Coles” delivers high quality assistance at all stages of the construction and installation process and accepts responsibility for all your services needs. When you deal direct with “Coles” air conditioning engineers, you get technical advice, the right price, quality installation, warranty back up and on going service, offered by technical engineers, not just a retail store employees and their installation representatives!

Due to the holding of large stocks, and a large fleet of well equipped technicians, “Coles” can provide same day service response for 98% of all breakdowns, as well as 24 hr service. Unlike companies that retail off the shelf products, “Coles Refrigeration & Air Conditioning” offers obligation free quotes and technical advice to ensure accurate sizing of systems and professional design services.

The reputation held by “Coles” lies heavily with the ability to offer honest and independent advice on air conditioning, refrigeration and catering equipment brands to the Newcastle, Hunter Valley, Lake Macquarie and the NSW Central Coast, communities for several generations. When you purchase a product from Coles Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Pty Ltd, you get quality brands, great service, technical advice and competitive prices.

Our Proud History (reliable since 1939)

Coles Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Pty Ltd was founded by the late Sidney Harold Cole in 1939. Mr Cole was the son of a British mechanical engineer who came to Australia in the 1880’s to establish Adelaide’s first ice works and meat chilling plant.

The 1920’s saw (our founder) the late Mr Cole construct New South Wales’ first dairy cool room. This came as a response to refrigeration in Sydney becoming more popular for small shops and homes. In 1931 Mr Cole opened the Newcastle branch of ‘New Systems Telephones’ (later to become Email Limited) at 91 Hunter Street, Newcastle. Between 1933-1938 Mr Cole was appointed engineer/ manager. [Upon Mr Cole’s arrival to Newcastle & The Hunter there were less than thirty (30) commercial refrigeration installations.]

When ‘New Systems Telephones’ Newcastle branch closed, Mr Cole decided to venture into his own business (Coles Refrigeration). His first customer became BHP Shipping, a valued client continuously maintained until the closure of the Newcastle BHP Steelworks. A refrigeration cabinet factory was opened, at Broadmeadow in 1946, and it produced commercial refrigeration for sale all over Australia.

In March 1964 the business was sold to two (2) of Mr Cole’s senior staff. Always a leader in technical fields, Sid Cole used this early example of “worker participation” to good effect. The company grew and expanded. This model of worker participation has continued to this day.

Today, Coles Refrigeration & Air Conditioning is proud to continuously trade for 80+ years, still 100% locally owned and managed, and offering quality, energy-efficient, commercial and home / residential air conditioning, commercial refrigeration, commercial catering equipment / kitchens & mechanical ventilation services.

Client Reviews

“I just thought I would share some feedback with you on this very hot day. In the past, our air conditioning has always struggled badly on these hot days.The guys out the front (with glass windows) would be sweating and they would turn the air right down. The people in the back of the office would need to bring jumpers and cardigans to work on a day like this. BUT NOW – AFTER YOUR TECHNICIAN WAS HERE LAST MONTH. It’s fantastic. We have been in this building for 10 years and the air conditioning has never worked better!! So thank you to everyone there for making that happen for us. We are all very happy and have been mostly unaware that it’s even a hot day out there. We love it!!”

Carol Britts
Complete Business Technologies / Administration Manager
Thank you Coles Refrigeration & Air Conditioning for the professional work you produced in installing the bar and kitchen at the Mark Hotel.

“Your professionalism, quality, honesty, and delivery timeframes were outstanding given you were under an extremely tight schedule to get the project completed. I was especially impressed with your effort to accommodate any additions to the original scope, including the client's request to refurbish the entire kitchen two weeks prior to Christmas. I have no hesitation in recommending you and Coles Refrigeration & Air Conditioning to future clients and trust we will continue to further strengthen the relationship between our companies.”

Michael Rigby
RTC Group / Director
“Coles have been responsible for the provision, installation and servicing of all our beverage and catering equipment, air conditioning & general refrigeration. I have conducted business with Coles since 1994. I have no hesitation in recommending Coles Refrigeration & Air Conditioning to prospective clients.”

Mike Thomas
Shenanigans at the Imperial / Owner
“We were impressed by the excellent sales advise, design, installation and after sales service we received. All equipment restoration was carried out professionally keeping costs to a minimum. Coles Refrigeration & Air Conditioning ensured that our budget was met and that we received the best available equipment within that budget. For future requirement, we will not hesitate to involve Coles Refrigeration & Air Conditioning. Thank you for the professional input and service!”

Kathleen Farley
Salamander Shores / General Manager
“Thank you for the excellent work produced by your staff during the fit out of our new kitchen. The stainless steel exhaust and benchwork are second to none. Our cool room, pantry and freezer are working beautifully and the shelving and the layouts are exactly to our requirements. I will always be available to be contacted to recommend the work you and your staff did on our new kitchen.”

Cheryl Bellamy
Shoal Bay Retirement / Catering Supervisor
“Throughout all the stages of development and construction, I always found the staff from Coles to be highly professional and diligent in their works. Cole's tradesmen who carried out the works at our site were always helpful and met our stringent OH&S requirements. The buildings that were refurbished present various challenges with timeframes and meeting relevant codes and standards. With Cole's help, we were able to meet and exceed all expectations. I have no hesitation in recommending Coles Refrigeration for any future works in which they tender.”

Michael Ross
New England Trading / Operations Manager
“Mitchel Cousins has presented at two workshops held by the Energy Hunter team, helping businesses gain an understanding of real life ways to improve performance, reliability and cost savings of plant and equipment. Mitchell displayed high level of knowledge in both his specific industry, as well as energy efficiency. It was a pleasure working with Mitchell and I would happily do so again.”

Kyle Furner
Energy Hunter / Project Coordinator
“I was on site this morning at 47 Darby Street for the RMS Fitout project, and the foreman was heaping a fair bit of praise on you guys for the quality and speed of work! Thanks for helping us out on this one.”

Chris Vlatko
Schreiber Hamilton Architecture / Associate Director