EIA talks to Nathan Wood, MD to Farmwood about its work, and what its like to be Deputy Chair of the EIA Air Quality Working Group.
When people ask what Farmwood does, the easy answer is ventilation, air quality and mechanical and electrical services. But that’s just the surface. What we actually do is make buildings safer, healthier, and compliant for the people who live, work, and learn inside them.
Since 2002, we’ve worked across every sector and every kind of place, from a shed to The Shard. Domestic, commercial, or industrial, if it moves air or manages energy, we’ve been there. Our work spans everything from home ventilation systems to large scale HVAC plant and full M and E infrastructure.
We refurbish air handling units (AHUs), flat pack and rebuild them on site, keeping manufacturer warranties intact and giving systems a second life. We integrate smart technology and IoT controls to bring older plant into the modern age, improving performance, monitoring energy, and keeping systems running at their best.
When things go wrong, we problem solve. When systems fall behind, we upgrade. And when clients want long term assurance, our service and maintenance contracts make sure performance, safety and compliance never slip.
We’re proud to be service partners to almost all of the major UK ventilation and HVAC manufacturers. That trust has been built through years of competence, reliability, and delivering quality workmanship that protects their reputation as much as our own.
We invest heavily in our teams and technology, from digital reporting and commissioning tools to advanced diagnostic equipment that helps us find and fix the root cause, not just the symptoms.
And the team itself, they’re the heart of Farmwood. Every single person here understands our mission, to be the best of the best and to own it 100 percent every single day. They bring not just skill, but the right morals, the integrity, pride and commitment that make us who we are. Our competence isn’t claimed, it’s evidenced through SKEB, Skills, Knowledge, Experience, and Behaviour, the foundation that keeps us compliant, capable, and consistent in everything we deliver.
Over the years, that commitment to doing things properly has earned us multiple national awards. From winning BESA’s National Contractor of the Year to receiving recognition for Health and Safety excellence and compliance leadership, we’ve consistently set the benchmark for professional standards. Our work in indoor air quality has also been recognised with several industry awards, celebrating both our innovative initiatives and the products we’ve helped bring to life.
We’re also active beyond the job site. We support initiatives such as GO AQS (Global Open Air Quality Standards) and the UK Centre for Mould Safety, because cleaner, safer air starts with awareness, education, and action.
We’re members of Future Homes groups, involved in regulation reform, and lobbying for stronger skills pathways and apprenticeships to secure the next generation of engineers. Competence must be built, not assumed, and we’re helping shape how that’s done.
Farmwood is part of several leading associations across the built environment, more recently joining the Environmental Industries Association (EIA). These collaborations keep us at the table when it matters most, influencing standards, improving guidance, and ensuring real world experience feeds into national policy. 
We also work closely with All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) and give our time freely through advocacy and expert support to many brilliant people and charities who share our mission to make homes healthier, safer, and fit for future generations. This is the part of the work that matters most. Not because it wins contracts, but because it changes lives.
Alongside this, we proudly lead World Ventil8 Day (WV8D), which has grown into a global movement promoting the importance of good ventilation for health and wellbeing. What started as an idea led by a small UK SME now reaches across continents, with support from universities, professional bodies, and experts around the world. For a company of our size, being recognised globally for leadership in indoor air quality and awareness shows just how far purpose and passion can reach.
That commitment to wider impact is also why I took on the role of Deputy Chairman of the EIA’s Indoor Air Quality Working Group. It’s not a title, it’s a responsibility. The EIA brings together people who understand that clean air is not a luxury, it’s essential to public health, safety, and sustainability. My aim is to make sure practical, competent voices like ours are heard. To push for joined up thinking between government, regulators, and industry. And to show that SMEs can lead when it comes to integrity and innovation.
We’re always open to collaboration with policymakers, health professionals, and other industry leaders because improving indoor air quality isn’t just about buildings, it’s about people. Every improvement we make to a home, school or hospital reduces preventable illness, supports wellbeing, and ultimately helps ease the strain on the NHS. The societal impact of healthy buildings is real, and it’s time that became part of the national conversation.
We can’t reach net zero or improve health outcomes without tackling the air inside our walls. It’s that simple. And at Farmwood, we’re proving that competence, compliance, and care can coexist, and that when they do, everyone breathes easier.
“Because good ventilation isn’t just good engineering. It’s good humanity”
For more information visit: Home – Farmwood – Ventilation Systems Servicing and Support
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