Time to Chill: Robert Strudwick retires after 29 years at Williams Refrigeration
Time to Chill: Robert Strudwick retires after 29 years at Williams Refrigeration
Popular staff member looks back at the highlights of his long career.
Robert Strudwick, Quality Control Engineer at Williams Refrigeration, retired on Friday March 22nd 2013 after 29 years working for the company. Since joining he has seen the business expand, change locations and, in recent years, place significant focus on energy efficiency and sustainable refrigeration.
“Other than the Victoria sponge cake my colleague made last week, I would say an overall highlight of working here was joining at such an early stage in the company’s history,” says Robert. “It really felt like we were pioneers, commercial refrigeration was only beginning to take off.”
With a background in mechanical engineering, Robert started working for Williams as a production supervisor. After 10 years working “hands on” with both the general engineering and welding departments of the company, Robert moved to quality control.
“One of the major changes in the last seven to eight years has been the commitment to energy efficient refrigeration,” says Robert. “When I first started working for Williams in the eighties, it was all about performance. While, naturally, this is still crucial, buyers are now focused on the green factor.”
Robert’s family is closely connected to Williams. Both his daughters have worked there and his son-in-law, Carl works for the company as a foreman welder. Carl joined over 20 years ago, which is how he met Robert’s daughter, the secretary at the time.
As for future plans, Robert looks forward to making use of the archery-vouchers his colleagues have given him. His first day of retirement coincided with the christening of his goddaughter Sarah’s son. Sarah was born the day Robert started working for Williams 29 years ago.