Star Refrigeration's Astrid Prado awarded Chartered Institute of Marketing Fellowship

GLASGOW, Scotland, Oct. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Star Refrigeration's Head of Marketing, Astrid Prado, has been elected a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), following more than two decades working in marketing within the refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump sector.

Fellowship (FCIM) is the CIM's highest grade of membership and recognises senior marketers with significant strategic experience, leadership and a long-standing contribution to the profession.

Astrid joined Star Refrigeration in 2005 through a Scottish Enterprise programme, initially to investigate the viability of eLearning within the refrigeration and heating industry. That research led to Star Learning Solutions, a new business unit which she went on to develop and commercialise at a time when dedicated online technical training was largely unknown in the sector.

The platform grew to more than 15,000 registered users, delivered over 20,000 CPD certificates and certified approximately 1,500 engineers under the F-Gas Regulations. Star also worked with the United Nations Environment Programme to provide free and subsidised training to refrigeration engineers in developing countries, supporting national refrigerant phase-out programmes and the move towards more environmentally responsible technologies.

This early focus on education has continued throughout Astrid's career, with an emphasis on turning complex engineering knowledge into information, evidence and practical tools that customers and the wider industry can use.

After moving into the wider Star Refrigeration business, Astrid established and developed the company's marketing function and today leads its marketing strategy as Head of Marketing. Her work spans brand strategy, thought leadership, employer branding and industry engagement, while research and customer insight have also supported the business in winning major new customers and developing long-term relationships with existing ones.

Her work has also included the development of a cold-store Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) benchmarking app, giving operators an easy tool to understand and compare the energy performance of their facilities against industry best practice.

Astrid has also worked with Star's engineers to bring technical research and customer results to wider audiences, with coverage in national media including BBC News and the Financial Times on subjects such as refrigeration energy efficiency, natural refrigerants, industrial heat pumps and decarbonisation.

Outside Star, Astrid led and authored the first industry research into the experiences of women working across the UK RACHP sector through the Institute of Refrigeration's Women in RACHP Network. The research provided data and recommendations on recruitment, retention, career progression and workplace practices. This report has become an important resource, helping organisations better understand the challenges and opportunities of improving diversity across the profession.

Commenting on her Fellowship, Astrid said: "I'm honoured to be named a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Marketing. It means a great deal to me personally, but I also see it as recognition of what strategic marketing can contribute within a technical, engineering-led business.

"I share this recognition with our talented marketing team and colleagues across Star who have supported our work over the years.

"Much of what we have achieved comes from that collaboration and from finding ways to make the extraordinary technical knowledge within the business useful and visible, whether through training and educational resources, sharing our engineers' research, developing tools that help customers make better decisions or encouraging the next generation to consider careers in cooling."

Astrid holds an MSc in Marketing, following an Honours degree in Journalism and further studies in Advertising and Public Relations. A Chartered Marketer, she is Co-Chair of the Institute of Refrigeration's Women in RACHP Network and a Board Member of the International Network of Women in Cooling (INWIC). She is also a STEM Ambassador, an INWIC mentor and a guest lecturer in marketing to MBA students at the University of Glasgow.

Her Fellowship follows other industry recognition, including being named one of CITB's Top 100 Most Influential Women in Construction in 2025 and being Highly Commended as RACHP Woman of the Year in 2026.