Lenny Moulding returns to work at Fairgrieve Compression Moulding

Lenny Moulding has rejoined 112-year-old manufacturer Fairgrieve Compression Moulding, which operates 24-hour manufacturing to meet customer demand.

Mr Moulding first joined the company with a base in Washington, on January 8, 1973, and returned exactly 52 years later.

He said: “It’s great to be back and seeing the business doing so well.

“Fairgrieves has been a huge part of my life and after retiring, although I got myself into a bit of gardening, I missed the place.

“I’d often come back to visit and see the team, and when I popped in late last year, Barry Davidson, the managing director, told me about a number of new orders they had secured, and said that I’d be more than welcome to come back and do a couple of days a week.

“I didn’t really need to think twice.”

During his initial tenure with the company, Mr Moulding served as mould shop team leader.

He has now returned as a part-time machine operator.

Mr Moulding said: “In the latter years that I was here, the business hadn’t been doing too well and it had been neglected really, but over the past three years or so it has been transformed into a really modern, well-run, efficient business under its new ownership and leadership.

“It’s great to have come back and be part of it now it is in such good health, with better processes now in place and such an impressive factory to work in.

“It’s an absolute joy.”

Mr Moulding now works on the factory floor with Johnathon Hutchinson, his former apprentice who is now the firm’s production manager.

Mr Moulding said: “It’s great to see Johnathon leading the factory floor team so well today.

“He was always very keen to learn and very quick to pick things up, so I’ve not been surprised at how he has risen through the ranks.”

Mr Hutchinson, 33, said: “I feel lucky to have learned from Lenny because he really is a master of the trade and there is nothing about compression moulding that he doesn’t know.

“Every job is different and has many different variable end applications, and Lenny not only showed me how to do things, but he explained the thinking and the methodology behind why he would work in certain ways, and the benefits it would bring not only to the manufacturing process, but also the end product, which has been invaluable.

“It’s only by having people like that in your team that you can succeed in business for more than 100 years, as Fairgrieves has.”

Barry Davidson, managing director of Fairgrieve Compression Moulding, said: “When Lenny decided to retire a few years ago we lost a huge influence within the business given his knowledge and wealth of experience, and we were fortunate that he had invested so much time into training the next generation of our team, with Johnathon in particular being a protégé.

“We’ve always kept in touch and he’s popped in to see us regularly, and given the recent increase in business that we’ve secured our conversation changed to him possibly returning a couple of days a week.

“I was delighted when he showed such enthusiasm to come back.

“If we were to go out looking to recruit a new machinist, we simply couldn’t find anyone to match his compression moulding knowledge, experience and skill, and he’s just a great person to have around too.

“He lives for the job, and our business, and of course even has the perfect name for it too.”