End of an era: Longest-serving Power Gems employee retires
The longest-serving member of the Power Gems team is retiring.
At the end of July, John Collins will be leaving after nearly 23 years with Power Gems.
John, aged 70, joined in February 1995, and even though he has been with us for 23 years this is not his longest period of employment! He was with Baldwin & Francis in Broadheath, Manchester, for 25 years working on mining electrical equipment.
John had something of a baptism of fire on joining, as Power Gems was working on its most significant project to date, to supply many ballasts to illuminate the banks of the River Vltava in Prague, one of the locations for shooting the first Mission Impossible film. It may have seemed like mission impossible at the time (pause for laughs), but we successfully delivered the ballasts on time.
Shortly after, we introduced our original 18kW design and John went on to oversee almost every one of those made until they were superseded four years ago. He has always worked with great care and attention to detail, and with his characteristic reading glasses, visitors often comment on how he looks like a jeweller at work.
When the new 18kW EB1812P ballast came on stream, John handed over the baton but has continued supporting several product lines within the factory. Now he has decided to hang up the screwdriver and pursue his passions for fishing and steam trains.
It’ll be the end of an era when John leaves. We would like to say a massive thank you to John, as he prepares for retirement.
