Who are ACV?

The name ACV stands for ‘Ateliers de Construction d’Appareils de Chauffage et de Ventilation’, which translated is ‘Heating and Ventilation Equipment Workshops’.

 How did it all begin?

In 1922, after the first World War, a small group of Belgium engineers in Ruisbroek who worked for ACEC, who specialised in the manufacture of electrical equipment, decided to start their own company. The new company’s focus was in the manufacture and sale of radiators, boilers & condensers. After a rocky few years, in 1928 three men rescued ACV; Joseph Heureux, Cornelis Joannes Van Griethuysen & Albert Buchet.

One year later, Albert Buchet took leadership of ACV, with ambitious plans for the company and soon became the go-to supplier for home comforts in Belgium.

ACV UK Ltd, based in Dalgety Bay Scotland, was formed in 1991 to supply and support the ACV range of tank-in-tank heating and hot water products to the UK and ROI.

Fast forward to the present day and ACV UK is now a part of Groupe Atlantic. Founded in France in 1968, Groupe Atlantic is made up of 13 strategic and complementary brands that create thermal comfort solutions in four areas: heating, hot water, air conditioning and ventilation. With a global ambition and strong manufacturing culture they currently have 28 manufacturing sites across the world, over 9,000 employees, and products distributed in more than 17 countries.

This step forward in ACV’s history called for a refresh of their visual identity, whilst staying true to their strengths of ‘Excellence in hot water’ and specialists in stainless steel.

What makes ACV different?

In the UK, ACV are focusing on the commercial market with their range of heating and hot water products that use their patented tank-in-tank concept.

The tank-in-tank is a Domestic Hot Water storage (DHW) exchanger completely immersed in a steel outer tank that contains primary water. The wall of the inner “tank" itself acts as the heat exchanger between the primary circuit (connected to the boiler) and the DHW storage tank. The benefits of a system like this are high performance, fast recovery, low storage, reduced heat losses, reduced scale build-up and protection from legionella.

 Darren Finley, Executive Officer Commercial Products – Groupe Atlantic UK & ROI, looks after the UK subsidiary and comments:

“We think that ACV UK has been one of the industry’s best kept secrets. Their tank-in-tank design delivers exceptional hot water performance to  provide increased efficiencies and a hygienic system.

 This new identity reflects the talents and engineering knowhow that goes into their products and service. ACV UK joins some of the leading UK commercial heating brands in Groupe Atlantic, including Ideal Heating Commercial Division, to strengthen our product offer and provide complementary hot water products to our customers.”

 As well as a new brand there have been some changes to the team to support the growth plans. Charlie Newell, who was Country Manager for Commercial Products (Keston, Ideal Heating Commercial Division and ACV UK) in Scotland and Northern Ireland will also now lead the whole ACV UK salesforce.

ACV UK is an active member of CIBSE and SoPHE and their experienced teams regularly present CIBSE-accredited CPD seminars on comparing and evaluating the different hot water sizing guides.