Glenda's cruise reward for 50 years service
A Halesowen company has rewarded one of its employees for half a century of service with an all-expenses paid cruise.
TotalKare, which supplies firms with heavy-duty vehicle lifting equipment, sent Glenda Barratt and her husband Lance on a 12-night Iberian cruise, around Spain and Portugal.
The company also gave the couple £500 towards clothes for the cruise and chauffeur-driven transfers from their home to the cruise liner and back so that they could have a completely worry-free experience.
TotalKare, which has been in its latest guise since 2004 after the current directors carried out a management buyout, has been Glenda's place of work since 1967 when, as a teenager, she joined Walter Somers Heavy Forging as an administrator.
At the time, Glenda said that she especially loved typing and still does to this day, although this skill is not called for as often as it used to be.
Glenda has seen a lot of changes over the years, especially in the development of technology – including the advent of e-mails which has seen paper copies of documents being virtually eliminated – and she was around to witness the first mobile column lift developments that TotalKare bases its work around today.
Over the past 50 years, Glenda has had many jobs – and a few bosses – including being a personal assistant in the sales department and working in purchasing and accounts.
A company spokesman said: "When she was given the award Glenda was rendered almost speechless, possibly for the first time in her career."
However, she did manage to say that TotalKare was a great company to work for, adding: "This is the most thoughtful gift and is totally unexpected. I could not be more grateful."
Handing over the award, TotalKare's managing director Tim Jackson said: "We pride ourselves on the longevity of our staff and have some of the longest serving workers in the entire industry.
"We value experience and commitment and loyalty and are happy to recognise and reward these traits in our staff. Well done Glenda and have a great cruise."
Based at Coombs Wharf in Chancel Way, TotalKare has been supplying heavy duty vehicle lifts to the UK market for over 30 years, providing workshops with more than 6,000 sets of mobile lifts.
