MSP HELPS LOCAL MAN CELEBRATE 47 YEARS LONG SERVICE AWARD
Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee West is attending his local Remploy factory on Dunsinane Avenue to help Robert Brown, Bobby to his friends and colleagues, celebrate an outstanding achievement of 47 years service - making him the longest serving employee in the organisation's history.
Bobby joined Remploy, which supports people with disabilities and health conditions, straight from school in 1962 at the tender age of 16. He has always lived close to the factory and is proud to have walked to work every day.
Remploy, established in 1946 to provide employment for injured service personnel returning from war, has 54 factories from Aberdeen to Penzance. Since Bobby joined the company has grown dramatically and now operates 34 recruitment branches and 12 offices offering specialist employment support to help disabled people find work in mainstream companies like ASDA, Poundland and BT.
To honour nearly five decades of commitment and dedication Joe Fitzpatrick MSP presented Bobby with a glass plaque and a guestbook signed by colleagues past and present. Remploy operations director Colin Scott and regional director Austin Hardie also attended to mark this very special day.
Bobby, 64, has enjoyed a varied career. He started as a sewing machinist in the old factory on Kinnoull Road and has worked on industrial gloves, bottle carriers, ammunition covers, GPO and jackets for the army.
The factory is part of Remploy's Frontline business which offers a full range of bespoke and off-the-shelf marine products - including all-weather coveralls, anti-hypothermia suits, life jackets and stealth flotation devices - which are made to order in the UK. Customers include HM Royal Navy.
Bobby is a fanatic for anything to do with the forces and gets his enthusiasm from his Dad who was a Royal Navy Leading Torpedo Man during the war. Bobby also worked as a cleaner at the factory, managing a team of 12 where he enjoyed "keeping the staff in line" earning him the moniker Major Dundee.
Bobby is looking forward to his retirement where he will focus on his many hobbies which include walking, camping, fishing, building model ships and holidaying in France with his sister and two nieces. He'll be spending more time with his girlfriend Eleanor Thompson - who he met at the Remploy factory. They have been together six years and Eleanor still works on site as a sewing machinist.
Over the years he has formed strong bonds with his colleagues including Maureen Maxwell, the current factory manager. Bobby also thanked former manager Margaret Harris and administrator Sarah Salinger.