I’ve come out of retirement to help the company where I spent 48 years of my working life

Lenny Moulding, 69, has returned to Fairgrieve Compression Moulding, based in Washington, four years after he retired in an effort to help the business with an increase of orders.

Having spent 48 years at the 112-year-old company, Lenny has teamed up with this former apprentice, Johnathon Hutchinson, as the business shifts to 24-hour manufacturing to meet customer demand.

Lenny, who first joined the company on January 8, 1973, revealed that he missed working after deciding to retire and was offered the chance to go back by the managing director.

He said: “It’s great to be back and seeing the business doing so well.

“Fairgrieves has been a huge part of my life, and after retiring, although I got myself into a bit of gardening, I missed the place.

“I’d often come back to visit and see the team, and when I popped in late last year Barry Davidson, the managing director, told me about a number of new orders they had secured, and said that I’d be more than welcome to come back and do a couple of days a week.

“I didn’t really need to think twice.

“In the latter years that I was here, the business hadn’t been doing too well and it had been neglected really, but over the past three years or so it has been transformed into a really modern, well-run, efficient business under its new ownership and leadership.

“It’s great to have come back and be part of it now it is in such good health, with better processes now in place and such an impressive factory to work in. It’s an absolute joy.”

Before retiring, Lenny was the mould shop team leader and he now has returned as a part-time machine operator to work alongside Johnathon, who he trained as an apprentice around 15 years ago.

He added: “It’s great to see Johnathon leading the factory floor team so well today.

“He was always very keen to learn and very quick to pick things up, so I’ve not been surprised at how he has risen through the ranks.

“I always tried to instil in my team that it was always about quality.

“It was about doing the job right and focusing on quality first, as the quantity of orders will then follow.”

Johnathon has revealed that it is like working with Lenny again after he was first taken under his wing at the age of 19.

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He commented: “I feel lucky to have learned from Lenny because he really is a master of the trade and there is nothing about compression moulding that he doesn’t know.

“Every job is different and has many different variable end applications, and Lenny not only showed me how to do things, but he explained the thinking and the methodology behind why he would work in certain ways, and the benefits it would bring not only to the manufacturing process, but also the end product, which has been invaluable.

“He always led from the front and instilled a strong work ethic in his team, and a sense of pride in their work to produce the very best products.

“It’s only by having people like that in your team that you can succeed in business for more than 100 years, as Fairgrieves has.

“I’ve tried to follow in his footsteps, and it’s great to have him back.”

Managing director Barry has stated that he was “delighted” with Lenny’s enthusiasm to come back to the business after being away for four years.

He said: “We’ve always kept in touch and he’s popped in to see us regularly, and given the recent increase in business that we’ve secured our conversation changed to him possibly returning a couple of days a week.

“I was delighted when he showed such enthusiasm to come back.

“If we were to go out looking to recruit a new machinist, we simply couldn’t find anyone to match his compression moulding knowledge, experience and skill, and he’s just a great person to have around too.”