FOCUSSING ON
our PEOPLE
IN MEMORIAM
John Sinnett - 1940 - 2012
It is with great sadness that we have to report the passing away of John Sinnett who died on 25th July, aged 72, following a fight against cancer. John joined the company as a Purchase Ledger Manager in Pennine Division in 1984 and quickly progressed through the ranks, becoming the Trent Division Credit Manager in 1986, the South West Divisional Accountant in 1989 and finally the Swansea & Worcester Divisional Accountant in 1994, where he remained until retiring in 2002.
In these roles, John was widely respected by all who worked with him for his commercialism and accounting knowledge and his belief in the company was further demonstrated by the introduction of three of his children to the realms of CEF: Lyndon is currently the Ipswich Group Manager, Russell is Stores Manager at Coleshill Branch and Sharon was a Purchase Ledger Manageress before emigrating to Australia with her husband Paul Harper, who is the Accountant for us out there; what you would describe as a ‘real CEF family’.
HAPPY RETIREMENT BOB!
John also leaves behind his wife Eileen and another son, Andy, who emigrated to Australia over 20 years ago. Outside of work, John loved his sport and in his early forties, ran three marathons. He was also a very keen rugby and cricket fan and after emigrating to Australia 3 years ago, started following ‘NRL’ over there. John always expressed how grateful he felt towards the company for providing the standard of living he came to enjoy but, likewise, we were very grateful to John for the passion and commitment that he showed to CEF. He will be sadly missed but not forgotten.
John Sinnett - 1940 - 2012
Bob Ray and his team at CEF Grays Branch.
PROBABLY THE LONGEST SERVING MANAGER IN THE WORLD... Congratulations to Robert Ray, who has retired from our Grays Branch serving from 4th August 1969 until May 2012. Bob has been an extremely loyal member of staff and a very important part of CEF’s growth over his amazing 43 year career. Bob always has wise words to pass on and is a “TRUE GENTLEMAN” in every sense of that description. Bob will be missed by staff members and customers alike but knowing Bob he will stay in touch and make sure Gary Dobbs (his successor) takes care of the Branch he cared so deeply about. We wish Bob all the best for his retirement!
30 FOR FOUR... AND DEFINITELY NOT OUT! Tamlite Lighting’s Keith Woodward, Steve Brook, Derek Harkin & Serena Lamley
Tamlite Lighting has literally dozens of personnel with 20+ years of service, but it is a special group that can claim 30! We are pleased to highlight a select four who between them have amassed this tenure starting (from left to right) in 1980 with Keith Woodward: Tamlite Hilux warehouse supervisor, then Steve ‘Joe’ Brook: Tamlite Modular steel section foreman, next Derek Harkin: Tamlite Hilux lorry driver and finally the ‘junior’ in this line-up with a mere 30 years Serena Lamley: payroll manager. Experience through continuity of employment is one of the key aspects of Tamlite Lighting’s strength when it comes to our focus on providing best customer service.
RUBY TUESDAY FOR JULIE... Tuesday, 31st July, 2012 was a big day for Julie Glover, Sheffield Group Office Manageress. It was exactly 40 years to the day that she joined CEF as a Junior Clerk in the Sheffield Group which had only been opened for 7 months. At that time there were only 2 people in the office looking after Branches such as York, Warrington and St. Helens as well as the local ones to Sheffield.
Julie stated on a salary of £7.50 per week (and it went a long way in those days) and decided to go to night school to learn to type etc, her first Group Manager was Mike Dean who went on to take over the Stoke Group but she has worked for 6 Group Managers over the 40 years. Sheffield was the first Group to go on to the IMS system in 2001, one of the many changes Julie has seen over the
years, she still loves her job, meeting people in the Company, and is still learning. Outside of work Julie loves going to concerts, enjoys the theatre and last but not least, visiting Italy (and very nice too). We thank Julie for her wealth of experience and loyalty to the Company and wish her very many more happy years with CEF. Julie Glover, Sheffield Group Office Manageress.
TheWIRE
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