As a young lad of 12 I got my first job working in a fish and chip shop in Beverley frying the chips. As I got older I started serving the customers with their “one of each”. I worked there until I could afford my driving lessons. Once I had passed my test at 17, I then moved on to work for my Mother’s fruit and flowers business in Bransholme, Hull, helping to arrange flowers and fruit baskets to be delivered all over hull and surrounding areas.
During the years of working for the family business I had started to settle down with my children being born so I felt that I needed a more local and steady job in Beverley, so at the “still” young age of 23 I applied for a job at Beverley Veneers, which was just around the corner from where I was living. It was, therefore perfect for my new family life. When I started at BV I was working on the press on the main production line. Within a year or 2 I was made a charge-hand of the ‘Veneer shop’. Being in charge of 5 people in my department and also the quality control of our veneer products.
As the years went on and my children were getting older, demanding more modern and expensive things! With this in mind, I asked for a more responsibilities within my job role and was given the Factory Foreman role were I was put on a regular salary. During this time I was learning more and more about the machines we have and am now able to fix many of them myself. This is really important to be able to keep the factory running at its best. Once the Manager had retired and Ernie was promoted to General Manager, I was promoted to Production Manager in 2019, which is the job I continue and love doing today.