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Fond farewell to Steelite International’s longest serving member of staff

21 August 2013

One of the city’s biggest ceramic employers, Steelite International said a fond farewell to a very familiar face this week.

Biscuitware placer in the kilns department, Paul Hackney retired from the Middleport-based tableware manufacturer, after an astounding 50 years with the company.

Paul, 65, of Porthill, joined Steelite International’s predecessor Dunn Bennett in August 1963 in the glost warehouse after leaving school and has quite simply never looked back.

Said Paul: “When I joined we were one of the small guys with just 90 employees, but now we’re one of the big players and I’m really proud to have been a part of it.

“Steelite has become a brilliant success and I’ve always been happy here – which is why I never wanted to work anywhere else. I’ve seen many changes over the years and the industry is much more automated these days, but I am still blown away by the skills and dedication of the people who work here.

“It’s the people I work with that I’ll miss the most when I retire because we have worked together for such a long time, but I am looking forward to my retirement. I have a couple of holidays booked and I’ll be taking my grandson to watch Port Vale.”

On his retirement day (Tuesday) Paul’s family and grandchildren were treated to a tour of the factory, before Paul was presented with flowers, a cake and a £750 cheque by Chief Executive, Kevin Oakes.

Commenting on Paul’s outstanding service Kevin said: “Paul is an absolute credit to Steelite International. His work ethic and commitment have been faultless and it is undoubtedly people like Paul who have made the company the global success that we see today.

“It is a fantastic endorsement of the company’s ethos that we have almost a hundred employees who were presented with long service awards at our recent Stepping Up To The Plate awards – however, they have a few years to go before they match Paul’s record.”