After leaving school and with the added benefit of my family working in this industry with a company that was known as ‘the empire’ (Bolton Gate Co) my dad suggested that I at least did an apprenticeship which I decided to start, I proceeded to work every day with only one thing in my sights and that was to start my own business, I started my apprenticeship at 16 and finished at 21. In 1983 I decided that this was the year, I hated working for Bolton Gate which had now been taken over by Tarmac so decided that at some point the time had come, this came much sooner than expected and with the help of my cousin who gave me £250 to paint their garage and a Datsun van I was up and running, things were tough, I remember my first Lloyds bank manager agreeing a £200 overdraft with a guarantee, which was my cousin once more. Once I had started to gather speed and get some regular work, I knew I would never be able to look back, only forward. RDS grew quickly, we then became a limited company and things really started to accelerate and now I am writing about achieving 40 successful years of trading. There are far too many names to mention but I do honestly thank you all truly for your loyalty and support shown to RDS throughout our 40 years of trading. We have some great suppliers & trade partners, who have been a constant source of support as we have grown and have also been there when times were tough, I appreciate everything anyone and everyone has done for RDS and me personally. I must now move on to my employees, as with all businesses people come and go but certain members of our current staff with a few in particular have been around through thick and thin and remained loyal employees, in an industry that let’s be honest loyalty and commitment can often be brought into question. A special thank you to all of the members of staff, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and long will you remain part of the RDS family & team, this thank you also goes to every single person who continues to play our part in RDS’s successes and also to people who have moved on, we are what we are today all because of our people and what they have put in. My intention was always to ensure the family name would continue and that it will, I am fortunate enough to have a great team heading up RDS and I know it’s in very safe hands here’s to the next 40 years. One of the hardest things for me is slowly letting go of the day-to-day activities, I loved being out there chatting with clients, taking orders, giving advice and just being there to support the brands and to provide our unrivalled support which has been our strength for many years. That personal hands-on attention to detail used to fire me up every day, guiding RDS through the murky waters certainly drained me of quality time with the family but the focus was always a priority to success. For me, the business has drawn together a family, each and every one in the business should feel the warmth of the whole team from top to bottom. Something which I thank you all for your continued loyalty, dedication and support to achieve this to the level RDS now stands, you should all be proud of your accomplishments and long may this continue” To mark this occasion, we will be participating in several fundraising events throughout 2023 in a bid to raise vital funds and awareness for a local charity ‘The B30 Foodbank’. A selection of our staff is currently in training for Birmingham Half Marathon that they will be participating in in May of this year and we also intend to undertake the 3 peaks challenge later in the year. We will also be running many other events including a summer charity golf day. We are currently looking for donations for our chosen charity, all donations can be made through our dedicated Just giving page, use the QR code for more information on our Just Giving page. 9 THE door industry journal spring 2023 Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk Industry News
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