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LOOKING BACK: ANDREW ILLINGWORTH
Memories Are Made of This Former Widdop & Co sales director Andrew Illingworth may have retired from the company this summer, but his love of the gift industry remains as strong and as enthusiastic ever. The good news is that he will be a familiar face at the upcoming Spring trade shows, meeting and greeting old industry friends and colleagues and doubtless sporting one of his stylish, colourful ties! Talking to PG&H, he reflects on his lengthy career at Widdop, spanning some 45 years.
B
y his own admission, Andrew Illingworth has always been a people person, loving nothing more than engaging on every level with the gift industry, but, most especially, meeting and greeting customers on the Widdop stand at trade shows, treating every visitor as a valued friend. He was born into a business that was founded by his great, great grandfather William Widdop 140 years ago in 1883, with Andrew (who describes himself as “driven, dependable and impatient”) working in the warehouse and helping at trade shows from an early age. Aged 17, he was driving the company’s vans and doing deliveries as well
Inset: Andrew in his home office. Below: Andrew and his brother Stuart on their first visit to Hong Kong. Bottom left: Andrew proudly holding The Greats Honorary Achievement award 2016.
as assembling grandfather clocks which, he remembers, included movements from the Black Forest and cases made in the UK. “My brothers and I went to boarding school, and as we had very long holidays, our dad, Robert, (known as Bob) would encourage us to spend time working in the business,” he points out. That ingrained work ethic meant that he was eager to start work, rather than continuing his education. So, after studying for a while at a college in Leeds, he took a job at Ratner’s the jewellers in Manchester’s Arndale Centre, before starting at George Makin in Shudehill – a wholesale jeweller that Widdop acquired in 1980. “On my first day at Makin, I was told by an old hand to remember two things - profit is sanity, turnover is vanity (in other words, to get your priorities right), as well as manners maketh the man, meaning that you should treat everyone as you wished to be treated yourself. He also told me that, as a salesman, I PROGRESSIVE
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should always listen, and to retain my humility at all times. I have followed his advice ever since, and it has served me well. The customer is always right.” While at Makin’s, Andrew worked through all the departments, keeping his ear close to the ground. “It was a very busy showroom at the time, serving the jewellery and gift trades in the North West, and I focused on customer requirements, listening to what they wanted,” he recalls. He always knew that his natural abilities were in sales, and the people side of business, which tapped into his love of networking. The business soon diversified into varied outlets and products, with many garden centres opening accounts with the company. “In the early years they were just experimenting with gifting but today, garden centres represent a