George Skinner has built up his air conditioning company GSC Ltd. from nothing into an award-winning operation with a workforce of 33 people in the space of just over three years.

And with a string of contracts to install air conditioning into new buildings all over the Island, GSC’s future looks bright.

Earlier this month, the company’s burgeoning success was recognised by its suppliers at Mitsubishi Electric’s Advanced Products annual distributor meeting, which was held in Arizona. GSC won Mitsubishi’s “International Distributor of the Year Award 2006”.

Mr. Skinner had no doubts as to why the company has grown so fast since it started up in October 2003.

“It’s our people,” he said. “We have put together a group of people — 80 percent of them Bermudians — who are enthusiastic, dedicated and hard-working.

“That’s all you need, good people to do the job, and my job is to support them when they need it.”

GSC will be installing their air conditioning equipment in two neighbouring major buildings currently under construction in downtown Hamilton — Victoria Place at the corner of Dundonald Street and Cedar Avenue, and also 9 Dundonald Street, where a block of 51 residential units is going up.

The company has also worked on the Police barracks at Southside, cottages at Elbow Beach, the Fritholme Gardens Estate and the condos being built at Hamilton’s waterfront development near the Miles Market supermarket.

“Looking at the construction that’s going on and that which is supposed to happen in the future, I think everybody in the industry is going to be stretched to the limit,” Mr. Skinner said.

“Most of our work so far has been installation, but when you sell and install the amount of air conditioning that we have done, then you have to build the service side of the organisation.

“That’s why our emphasis at the moment is on training our people and we’re also doing training with some small contractors, so that they can do the servicing as well, as we can’t do it all ourselves.”

During this year, GSC’s technical staff will undergo extra training in Bermuda and at Mitsubishi’s US headquarters in Suwanee, Georgia.

GSC has agreed a “strategic alliance” to sell Mitsubishi’s Mr. Slim and City Multi Variable Refrigerant Volume Zoning air conditioning systems exclusively in Bermuda.