Focus on Foster

FOCUS ON

FOSTER Special 50th anniversary edition | 4/7/18

Welcome to the GOLDEN anniversary edition of Focus on Foster.

Inside you’ll find… > Foster at Fifty > Our oldest Foster product competition > Stories from our longest serving employees > A trip down memory lane > Fun facts about Foster

FOCUS ON

FOSTER We’ve brought back our legendary news sheet in celebration of this special milestone.

Focus on Foster was a quarterly update on Foster, which launched in 1973 and ran for over twenty years.

The early days

For 50 years, Foster has been the market leader in commercial refrigeration. We have a rich history and we wanted to share our best bits with you.

Foster Refrigerator began its life in the UK in 1965, in a leaky old warehouse in Hayes, Middlesex. At this time, products were imported from sister company Foster Refrigerator of Canada. The company grew quickly and in 1967 it relocated to a new warehousing unit in Park Royal, North London. It didn’t stay there long and in 1968, Foster Refrigerator moved to the current site on the Hardwick Industrial Estate in King’s Lynn, Norfolk and became Foster Refrigerator (UK) Ltd. That winter was a particularly bitter one and the heating systems weren’t fully functional, meaning some of our office staff had to put their feet in cardboard boxes as insulation to keep warm. Thankfully that didn’t last long. The first Foster Larry Foster refrigerators were built in Britain for the European market and Foster set up its first overseas base, in Holland, giving us a foothold in the mainland.

The early years were tough. The market was receptive to new ideas for food handling, but they were slow to move.

Particularly due to the added cost for ocean freight and insurance, whilst there were numerous strikes in both Canada and Europe.

If we needed any more reason to celebrate, it’s our sister company Gamko’s 60th anniversary this year as well.

Focus on Foster | Issue 1 | 1973

We are delighted to have reached our golden anniversary. An anniversary is always cause for celebration, and our fiftieth is no exception. Our history is so important to us, and along with a strong sense of innovation, we have a great foundation for the years to come. I’d like to thank all of our loyal customers – without you, we wouldn’t be Foster.

The road hasn’t always run smoothly, but we have consistently risen to the challenge and come out stronger on the other side.

This is down to the strength of our people. Many of our staff have worked within the company for over 40 years. Their experience and knowledge is invaluable and they’re still so passionate about what they do, which is vital in teaching future generations as to what it means to be Foster. I’m very proud to work alongside such dedicated and talented people.

Foster Refrigerator Corporation was launched in 1946 in Hudson, New York by Larry H. Foster.

The decision to take over the small (20,000 sq. ft.) UK factory in early 1968 was based on a “marketing hunch” according to Mike Skerritt, then the UK Director, rather than on the volume of business that was being achieved at the time. This proved to be the platform for success, with the company going from strength to strength ever since.

I very much look forward to our shared journey in the years to come! Here’s to the next 50 years!

Paul Veried Managing Director of Foster Refrigerator and Gamko

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FOSTER A trip down memory lane

The main Foster Plants in King’s Lynn

Summer sports day

Mike Brannon being knighted with a trayslide

The ‘Tomorrow Line’ team

The ‘EcoPro G2’ team

An early President’s Cup 4

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FOSTER Some of our earliest product ranges

Advertising over the yearsy

For those of you familiar with our product literature, you can see just how far we’ve come!

FACT NOT FICTION The EcoPro G2 is less expensive to run than a traditional light bulb.

Featuring 50 new innovations designed to drive down running costs, deliver worldbeating energy efficiency and reliability.

Our products are independently tested FACT.

Test us and see the savings available with G2, book an energy test today > Call: 0843 216 4666 > Email: energy@foster-uk.com > Visit: www.fosterrefrigerator.co.uk/factnotfiction

A Generation of innovation 0842

As you can see, advertising has changed a lot over the years. From Michelin chefs to food safety, our adverts have always been topical.

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FOCUS ON

FOSTER Did you know Foster Refrigerator owned two race horses over the years?

Royal Visitors In 1982, HRH Duke of Kent, at the time, Vice Chairman of the British Overseas Trade Board, visited the Foster Refrigerator head office in King’s Lynn. His visit coincided with a record month for Foster Refrigerator. The Duke had ample opportunity to discuss Foster’s export activities with then Export Sales Directors Barry Wells and Jim Hall. In 1982, Foster exported to 45 different overseas markets!

In 1986, Foster was honoured to host Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, at our exhibition stand at Hotelympia, where she spoke in length to Mike Skerritt, Mike Brannon and others from our sales team. The Queen Mother congratulated the company on its achievements and its job creation in King’s Lynn – just eight miles from the Royal residence of Sandringham. According to

HRH Princess Diana visiting our stand at Hotelympia

our team, she was delighted to learn a Foster Gastronorm ’90 cabinet had been delivered to Clarence House (her London residence) just the previous week.

HRH The Queen Mother visiting our stand at Hotelympia

In 1990, Foster Refrigerator welcomed Diana, Princess of Wales, to our exhibition stand at Hotelympia in London. Welcomed by Mike Brannon (then Group Managing Director) and Jim Swithenbank (then UK Managing Director), Princess Diana was shown some of the latest Foster innovations, including new bakery models.

To mark the occasion, Foster presented Princess Diana with a painting of her old childhood home Park House, on the Sandringham Estate, commissioned by Foster and painted by a local artist.

Duke of Kent 1982 … and a Prime Minister too In 1990, Foster was visited by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during the British Days event in Kiev, which was a major British export initiative targeted at ‘post-Perestroika’ Soviet Union. Our stand was also visited by HRH the Princess Royal, and BBC Television, who conducted an interview for the business section of national Breakfast T.V. Since then we’ve worked with celebrity chefs including Michel Roux and Tom Kerridge, and been visited by sporting legends Geoff Capes, Darren Gough, Steve Cram and Mark Foster!

Fosterfridge visiting the King’s Lynn offices Presented to the King’s Lynn Sports and Social Club in 1977, Fosterfridge was a gesture of thanks for 380 workers who helped achieve a record year for refrigerator exports. The horse was leased to the club for a nominal £1 a year, making the employees the owners – any winnings went to the social club and aided plans for a major sports and recreation complex.

Fosterfridge was trained by Mr Clive Brittain and the jockey was Willie Carson. Fosterfridge’s first two outings were at Newbury, where he had an unlucky start and finished 4th, and the York Races where he came second out of 23, earning the club £490. Sadly, Fosterfridge suffered a leg injury at Newmarket, shortening his first season, but after minor surgery and convalescence, he was well enough to race again. His first major race in 1978 was at the 2000 guineas race at Newmarket.

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Former champion jockey Edward Hide was retained as a stable jockey. After this, Fosterfridge was put out to stud.

A decade later, a second horse was acquired. In 1987, Focus on Foster (named after our news sheet) debuted and had run in seven novice hurdles and chases. Focus on Foster trained at Oliver Sherwood’s stable in Lambourn, Berkshire. The long-term aim for Focus was to race in the high-class hurdle races. After a change of trainer in 1989, to Chris Bell’s Ledstone Hall Stables in Castleford, and a change to steeplechasing, Focus came first at the Solmere Handicap Cup at Sedgefield, and came first again a week later at Southall. Focus narrowly missed out on a hattrick at the Warwick, placing second in his last outing of the season. In 1991, Focus won at the Nottingham meeting, at 25 to 1. Focus was sold in 1993.

Celebrity chef Tom Kerridge

Olympian Mark Foster

Focus on Foster | Special 50th anniversary edition | 4/7/18

Olympian Steve Cram

International cricketer Darren Gough

Strong Man and Olympian Geoff Capes 9

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FOSTER 2500m

We’re a proud supplier to Her Majesty, The

Our fridges appeared on Bake Off: The Professionals!

Foster

1 MILLION fridges in 50 years!

Laid in a line they could reach Africa from the UK...

...or fill over

football pitches!

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...and we've safely stored enough food to fill 136 Great Pyramids’ of Giza!

In Zambia, one of our fridges has been installed 1 mile underground

and our highest fridge can be found at 2500m high in Bhutan

have sold over

Foster was founded in 1968 the same year that...

famous chefs use our fridges, such as the Michelin-starred Tom Kerridge & Michel Roux The Beatles

...The Beatles, released "The White Album"...

...The first jumbo jet took to the skies

Our fridges can be found in we were the first to produce commercial refrigeration in the UK different countries (and counting)

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FOCUS ON

FOSTER The Knights of the Round Table

Robert said, “He drew out a football pitch and discussed ‘tactics’ to explain what had to happen. The salesmen were the strikers and the manufacturing plant were the defenders.

He rallied the troops and everyone left feeling highly motivated and ready to go.”

Paul agreed, “He was a great speaker.”

Mike Skerritt introduced pensions for the workers back in 1973.

You had to have worked at Foster for 5 years to be eligible.

“We really want to thank him for that,” Stuart said.

Speaking of Mike, he also orchestrated the Sports and Social Club We asked them what the factory was like when they first started with Foster In the early days, there were no drawings. Everything was measured with Wally Norman’s elastic tape measure. He could make anything fit! The first drawing office was a caravan!

The original canteen was opened by Paul’s mum. “There were no chairs, so we had to sit against the wall.”

Paul said, “I remember when we got a large order from Libya, Foster had to ask my parents’ permission for me to work overtime. We worked late, until about 8pm, and weekends to fulfil the order. The Cup Final was shown on a TV in the factory using a capillary as an aerial.”

Foster Stalwarts: Stuart Briston, Paul Smith and Robert West When we decided to create this special anniversary edition of Focus, we wanted to really get a picture of what Foster used to be like, so we invited some of our retired employees back for a lunchtime reminisce.

Stuart Briston

Stuart was poached from a car garage in April 1968. Stuart told Mrs Kipps, who at the time worked at his local garage with him, that he wanted to earn more money so he could buy a house.

She spoke to her husband who was the architect for the council at the time and had worked on the Hardwick Industrial Estate project, and he knew Mike Skerritt (then MD). Mr Kipps spoke to Skerritt about Stuart’s credentials and so he was invited in for an interview with Mike and Peter Bawland (Manufacturing Director then).

“They said you’re the man that we want to see!”

Stuart served for 2 days short of 40 years. He had a cup of tea at 8:10 every day!

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Robert West

Robert’s friend Peter worked as a sprayer at Foster and told him that there were jobs available. This was in May 1968 and Robert came down and had a quick chat with the manager. He started work straight away.

One year when the business was struggling, Mike Skerritt brought the company together and discussed a recovery strategy.

Larry Foster, the founder of Foster Refrigerator, visited often and we were curious what it was like to have him in the factory “I remember, Larry Foster liked to fly over on concord!

We would see him regularly. He always walked round the shop floor by himself when he visited. He liked to see everything and chat to the manufacturing teams. He was really interested in what we were doing.

We think he served in the US armed forces and played a part in the Second World War.” Said Stuart We asked if they ever got to travel Robert visited Singapore for 6 weeks to fix a broken cryogenic freezer. His visit spanned over the Easter weekend – instead of staying in Singapore by himself, he was invited to travel to Penang with the company he’d been sent there to help. He spent the weekend competing in sports and social activities against another business they were friendly with. The journey to Penang involved a 24-hour bus ride, travelling up the coast to Indonesia. They had a really great time there and he really enjoyed his trip. The locals planned a detour to Bangkok for the famous nightlife.

“In general, as long as you showed enthusiasm, they’d take you and train you up.”

Robert served for an incredible 47 years, the last 3 of which were as a contractor.

Paul Smith

Paul started at Foster at just 15 years old in 1971 and still works here today as Manager for Plant 4. The application form at the time asked for your name, address, age and the school you went to. On his first day, no one senior was in so he ended up not doing the job he supposed to be doing.

“I finished school on the Friday and started in the factory at Foster on the Monday.”

He had a vision that it would include football pitches, cricket, bowls, a running track and a swimming pool.

“I was a happily married man so I settled for another 24-hour bus ride back to Singapore!”

Paul said, “My first trip out of Norfolk was to London to rehang some doors in the Bank of England.”

Stuart Briston’s long service watch

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Paul also visited Italy, to help set up the Italian factory.

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FOCUS ON

FOSTER Stories from our longest serving employees Name: Jacky Winterton Job title: Sales Administrator Department: Regional Customer Action Team Years of service: 41 I started at Foster fresh out of college in 1976 (I think!). I was applying for every job on the planet at the point, and I am so glad that it was at Foster that I found employment. Every day here is a good day, and I love working with people that I’ve known for years. My highlight was receiving my 40-years of service award – my friends and colleagues made this such a special occasion.

Working at Foster is like being with your second family – what more can I say!

Paul and a selection of products from his plant

Technology has changed so much over the years. I remember when I first started, I was typing production job sheets, acknowledgements and delivery notes on carbon sheets! We even typed on the serial tags for each cabinet!

Every cabinet was logged in grey stock books that were passed between sales and accounts.

We asked what it was like in the factory The new Tomorrow line was manufactured at the ‘posh end’ of the factory. It was considered posh because the products had gold unit covers.

Diamond Shamrock (a brand owned by Foster that made the foam that we used) occupied plant 4 before we expanded our manufacturing line. We then used them to begin foaming walk ins in 1972 – before foam, we used fibre glass to insulate the panels. The foaming machine was a big horrible machine with a long tube; we put eyes on the side of it and called it a giraffe.

Memorable stories about their co-workers Robert said, “Ron Burton who also worked on the new Tomorrow line with me, used to do all the speeches on behalf of the shop floor at the President’s Cups”. His background was as a County Councillor and speaker from the RAF. “He was always the last to speak because he was the best one!

Everyone thought he was witty and would get up and clap whenever he spoke.”

Paul remembers, “When Charlie Taylor left they found out he should have retired 2 years before. He just didn’t want to leave!”.

As far as I’m concerned, Foster have always been the leader in refrigeration – I am a total Fosterite!

Paul and Robert look through some old photographs “There was a quarter century club started by Terry Hutchison, the personnel manager,” Stuart said. “The first one held by Terry – I got to lead the first response. We used to have a meal every year to celebrate new people joining the club!”

It was fantastic to hear the stories from times gone by, most of which are probably safer not to print! We learnt a lot about life in the factory from talking to Robert, Stuart and Paul and want to thank them for giving up their time to come and see us!

Last year, Jacky won the Unsung Hero award at the ACR awards in recognition of the outstanding dedication and passion she has shown both her customers and colleagues during her time with us. The category was designed for people who had gone over and above the call of duty in their working lives and was open to anyone in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry.

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FOSTER Name: Chris Thompson Job title: Modular Packing Department: Plant 4 Years of service: 44

Name: Maria Pearson Job title: Sales Administrator Department: Regional Customer Action Team Years of service: 40 years in July

I joined Foster in November 1973, working in plant 1, in the crating bay and building pallets. I’ve worked across most of the plants over the years, as a forklift driver and packing and wrapping cabinets. Foster has always been seen as a good place to work, it’s what attracted me to the company in the first place and it’s still true today.

I started at Foster in July 1978 – so I have been here for almost exactly 40 years now! I’d just finished studying at the Tech in King’s Lynn, when I saw Foster advertising for an administrator with secretarial qualifications. I remember my interview with Peter Abel, the Personnel Manager - when he found out I was half-Italian we ended up talking about Italy and the best way to make Spaghetti Bolognese.

I’ve had a lot of good times at Foster and I remember the social club was great! Foster has become a lot more streamlined on the shop floor, which is all for the best, but there is still a sense of family.

People at Foster are like a family, we all look after each other. For me, it goes further, I met my husband Malcolm here at Foster, and also my best friend Jacky, who I’ve worked with for 40 years now.

I think people stay at Foster because it’s a stable place to work and the hours are very good! The people I work alongside are a good group to be with!

I remember the first time we hit one million pounds in a month – the sales team celebrated with a meal at the Glendevon Hotel in King’s Lynn.

Everything is computerised now and the company has progressed to being the number one in commercial refrigeration, and I believe that other companies look at us for future innovations and developments.

Name: Ray Broughton Job title: Factory Operative Department: FSL Line Years of service: 42 I was originally attracted by the wages and bonuses at Foster, they were a go-getting company and I quickly found that the working atmosphere was brilliant!

I have lots of very good memories of my time here, and I always loved the inter-departmental 5-a-side football.

My role hasn’t changed all that much, I’ve always been involved with the crating side. I think the company as a whole has changed a lot in some respects, but that’s progress!

I still enjoy working here and as my old colleague used to say, “there are a lot worse places to work, but not many that would be better than here!” – which I think is true.

Name: Nigel Richards Job title: Works Operative Department: 150 Line Years of service: 41 I had just gotten married when I joined Foster in November 1976, and the prospect of earning more money was offered to me – hard to turn down after a wedding! Sport was a big part of working at Foster and I played on the work team.

For over 35 years I was employed in the ‘rework’ area, but with the investment in new techniques and machinery, I’ve moved to another area, though I still do some rework from time to time.

Foster has changed in so many ways, as have a lot of firms over the years. I’m of the opinion that if you don’t change, we all would have sunk a long time ago, but change is hard for some!

I have worked with a lot of good people, too many to mention, my time working alongside Stuart Briston in the 1980s was one big laugh, but we still got the work done.

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FOSTER Name: Malcolm Rix aka Reggie Job title: Line Leader Department: 150 Line Years of service: 45

Foster personalities

I was looking for a new challenge when I started working at Foster back in May 1973. There were only two plants when I first came here. What is now plant 1 was reach-in cabinets and plant 2 was walk-ins. Foster has grown to meet demand and stay competitive.

My role changed when I was promoted to line leader, running the crating bays for many years – some days we had over 100 cabinets to pack! Now, I run the 150 line.

One of my favourite memories is getting the pay packet on a Thursday with real money in it and buying a box of chips for 20p.

In my opinion, Foster is the best place to work in King’s Lynn.

And not forgetting...

John Savage We invited Foster legend John Savage to have a chat with us. He opened the conversation by saying “All my life has been luck!”

John joined the company in June 1969, not long after it first began operations in King’s Lynn. Prior to this, John worked as a shipping agent at King’s Lynn docks, shipping a lot of Foster products. When Foster decided to open its own shipping department, John didn’t hesitate to apply.

From there he joined the sales office in an admin role - at this time John sold toys on the side and when Mike Skerritt found out, he called him up and offered him a job as a salesman for East Anglia. At the time, it was a new territory, and he dealt with the offshore companies based in Great Yarmouth, selling coldrooms for the oil platforms. John won the Presidents’ Cup in 1975, the top sales award at Foster.

Speaking of Mike Skerritt…

Mike was the best salesman he has ever met – and he’s met a lot. Skerritt was the force which made Foster what is was.

Fosterfridge (the race horse) was bought when Foster couldn’t give its employees pay increases. It was at the time of 3-day weeks and wage freezes. So, Mike came up with the idea of buying a race horse and leasing it to the social club as a good way to reward the factory guys.

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“There have been some great characters who have had great impact on Foster,” John said. “Maurice Rowe must be mentioned (former director of engineering) – he was responsible for a lot of technological developments and innovation. Sadly, we lost him too early in to his life.”

John also talked about Terry Hutchison, the former marketing director. “He was such a loyal character and you’d never see him without a pipe!”

And of course, we had to mention Larry “He was very charismatic. He used to come to sales meetings and sit at the back, you would think he was asleep but when certain topics would come up, he would stand up and talk for half an hour at a time. He would always be listening intently.”

John revealed the secret of selling “People buy from people they like! It is all about building relationships. When we hired sales guys we tested their social skills. Technical knowledge you can learn, but charisma is inbuilt.”

Was there one standout event during your time at Foster?

John with his colleagues on his last day at Foster And the best project you worked on?

I sold the largest ever coldroom – I think it was 150m by 60m. It could still be the largest now. It was in Baghdad for meat storage. I got to visit once and I had to travel all over Europe to meet with the client, to Paris and other cities – it was tough!”

John travelled all over the place – “The Falklands stands out. It was just after the conflict and Foster were fitting refrigeration in the new commissary in a new military base.”

We asked him about Foster in more recent years “Paul Veried [the MD] is the best thing that has happened to Foster. He is, and always has been, so professional. He always listens to others. He’s a great leader with a great vision.”

“Without ITW we would now be a small fish in a big pond, but their ways of business Exhibitions used to be really long events – have helped us no end.” he remembered one in particular, in Earls Court that lasted 8 days and Foster took orders on the stand, which happens less now. He remembers that the roof blew off – not far from the Foster stand. They all had to evacuate!

At another event, Hotelympia, John remembers Princess Diana visiting the Foster stand. “She was charming and quite funny. She came over to one of our fridges – a bakery cabinet and jokingly asked what we had in there, with a smile on her face!”

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FOSTER

Competition We’re looking for the UK’s oldest working Foster fridge We pride ourselves on the quality and reliability of our products and, when maintained correctly, they just keep on working!

As we are celebrating our fiftieth anniversary, we want to find the oldest working Foster fridge in a commercial kitchen in the UK.

Do you own a foodservice establishment and have the UK’s oldest working Foster product?

The prize for the oldest working Foster fridge will be a brand new EcoPro G2 EP700H worth £2500 (list price) or an equivalent Foster cabinet of the same value.

To qualify, your Foster product must be fully functional and being used in a commercial kitchen.

To enter, you will need to find your Foster product’s serial code and visit fosterrefrigerator.com/competition

Are you a dealer that knows where the UK’s oldest fridge is?

If you know someone with an old product and refer them to us, and they win, you will receive £250 off your next Foster order and you will be featured in any and all literature announcing the winner.

Competition closes 1st October 2018.

Full terms and conditions can be found on our website.

Foster Refrigerator and Gamko UK Oldmedow Road King’s Lynn Norfolk PE30 4JU UK Tel: 0843 216 8800 | Fax: 0843 216 4700 E-mail: sales@foster-uk.com | sales@gamko.com Literature Code | 1826 20