Longest serving employees
Allan Jones tells us his Worcester story and 50 more of our longest serving employees are also listed below.
Allan Jones
"I started at Worcester in October 1972 at the age of 23. The company was called Worcester Engineering Company back then and was much smaller than it is today with less than one hundred employees.
"I was interviewed by Cecil Duckworth, who was the owner of the company at the time, before it became part of the Bosch Group.
"During my time at Worcester, I’ve done most jobs from the production floor through to parts. Back in 1972, I was a factory operative and started out on the spot welding, for around three or four months. I then moved onto other roles including guillotine operator, which involved cutting the boiler panels, press operator, folding the boiler panels. I then became a test operative, checking the finished boilers.
"I now work within the logistics department and do a bit of everything day-to-day. So throughout my 40 years of service I really have worked at every stage of the boiler manufacturing process, with my current responsibilities being to inspect and test products at the final stages of production.
"In the last few years, I’ve also been involved in our “Zero waste to landfill” recycling project, which has helped us to achieve 100% recyclability for all our products.
"When I joined Worcester all those years ago, it was like a family and despite how much the company has grown since then, there is still that feeling.
"Things have of course changed and moved on, when you look at the size of the company and the product innovations and developments. But the people here are certainly one of the main reasons why I have been at Worcester for as long as I have and why I will be here until I retire in two years time.
"I have so many fond memories through the years; the staff parties were always fun and the work we did with local schools was very rewarding. I was often called upon to entertain everyone and have taken on the roles of Frank Spencer, Father Christmas, Noddy and Superman through the years and have run, cycled, swam or canoed for various events to raise money for different causes; something that Worcester is very supportive of. In fact, some of the children I entertained back then now work here and that’s why I am proud to say I’ve been here for 40 out of the 50 years Worcester has been going.
"It doesn’t seem like I have been here that long but I’m looking forward to the celebrations and I hope Worcester continues to grow in the way that it has as it’s a great company to work for."
More long-serving employees
Allan Jones, Returns Operative, 40 years service
David Shaw, Scheduler, 37 years service
Robert Hays, Welder, 36 years service
Eric Lloyd, Payroll Manager, 36 years service
Harold Clissett, Driver, 36 years service
Paul Mulliss, Support Team Leader, 36 years service
Robert Starkey, Senior Team Leader, 35 years service
John Shacklock, Despatch & Returns Supervisor, 34 years service
Paul Warman, Senior Team Leader, 34 years service
Sarah Lawrence, Personal Assistant to the Director, 34 years service
John West, Field Service Engineer, 34 years service
Malcolm Cox, Technical Sales Manager, 34 years service
Colin Cartwright, Factory Operative, 33 years service
Mark Asher, Quality Technician, 32 years service
Kevan Mulliss, Welder, 32 years service
Mavis Price, Factory Operative, 32 years service
Trevor Martin, Material Flow Operative, 32 years service
David Scaysbrook, Quality Team Leader, 32 years service
Graham Mann, Production Leader, 32 years service
Christopher Slater, Quality Technician, 31 years service
Andrew Steeples, Welder, 31 years service
David Rossiter, Factory Operative, 30 years service
Keith Owens, Toolroom Team Leader, 29 years service
Terence Wallbank, Product Audit Technician, 29 years service
Kristian Arntzen, Distribution Manager, 29 years service
Jane Ormrod, Production Delivery Manager, 29 years service
Samantha Grundy, Rebate Claims Co-Ordinator, 29 years service
Simon Smith, Factory Operative, 29 years service
Mark Duckworth, Factory Operative, 29 years service
Mark Suthard, Packer, 29 years service
Martyn Lewis, Factory Operative, 28 years service
Johanna Malcolm, Office & Purchase Ledger Supervisor, 28 years service
Paul Fowler, Spares Operative, 27 years service
Shaun Clarke, Heating Design Engineer, 26 years service
Steven Brown, Factory Operative, 26 years service
Andrew Davies, Production Leader, 26 years service
Albert Taylor, Factory Operative, 26 years service
Anthony Hodnett, Stores Operative, 26 years service
Jack Ormrod, 5s Project Leader (Production Leader), 26 years service
Neil Golding, Senior Production & Project Engineer, 26 years service
Martyn Bridges, Director of Marketing & Technical Support, 26 years service
Peter Holt, Factory Operative, 26 years service
Melvyn Day, Factory Operative, 26 years service
David May, Product Audit Team Leader, 26 years service
Martyn Grubb, Factory Operative, 26 years service
Sean White, Group Leader, 26 years service
Neil Cox, Production Operative, 26 years service
John Baylis, Metrology Team Leader, 26 years service
Robert Kershaw, Quality Technician, 25 years service
Clive Thomas, Technical Support Team Leader, 25 years service