(L-R): Mike West, Alan Letford, Neil Jones and Chris Kingsland
Three members of the Bobst services team celebrated 25 years with the company, taking the total number of years of technical know-how between the 65 personnel in the UK to over 800.
Alan Letford, Chris Kingsland and Mike West all joined the company in the 1988, the year that its home country of Switzerland won the Eurovision Song Contest and Microsoft launched Windows 2.1.
Mike West will be known to many customers for his work as a field service technician, specialising in electrical and electronic issues, while Chris Kingsland provides specialist technical advice to users of folder-gluers. Alan Letford is part of the management team and is the company’s national service manager for the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia.
At a presentation to mark the anniversaries, Neil Jones, managing director Bobst UK & Ireland, said, ‘The fact that these three guys have racked up 75 years of service between them testifies to their commitment to our customers. In different fields they have spent their careers helping packaging makers get the most out of their Bobst equipment and hopefully they will continue to do so for many years to come. Alan Letford, in particular, has changed the service landscape here by developing new and innovative approaches and by his amazing attention to detail.’
Mr Jones himself recently celebrated 25 years with the company, as did John Ardern, a product specialist covering the company’s folding carton die-cutters and hot-foil stamping presses. Mr Jones said, ‘John, Mike, Chris and Alan are not entirely unusual in our company. We have several members of our technical staff with over 20 years’ service and we have over 800 years of industry experience among our 65 UK based staff, 75% of who have a technical background.’
