Stewart Strathdee Face to Face Thursday 27 September @ 18.00

Stewart Strathdee Face to Face Thursday 27 September @ 18.00

FACE TO FACE: STEWART STRATHDEE

On Thursday, it was Rotarian Stewart Strathdee’s turn to present his Face to Face to the Club.  The Face to Face is a tradition in Rotary when (relatively) new members give a short, informal talk in which they share information about their background and career.  

Stewart was born in Grangemouth. Following his school career at Grangemouth High School, Stewart gained entrance to Edinburgh University to study science.  After graduation, he decided to continue his studies, subsequently gaining a PhD in chemistry in 1978.  It was in the course of his studies for a doctorate that he met his wife-to-be, Janice, who was studying at the Domestic Science College.  They married in 1976; their daughter, Alison, was born in 1982.

Stewart entered employment with ICI at Grangemouth, but was soon singled out to work in a laboratory in Macclesfield.  Here, he was tasked with exploring the suitability of an antibiotic for mass-production.  However, it transpired that the economics of this were not favourable, and Stewart returned to Grangemouth. There, he joined the Process Technology Department, in which he examined means of moving laboratory processes to full-scale production. He was also involved in seeking to improve the efficiency of existing production processes.  At that point, in 1991, ICI Grangemouth employed 80 chemists, 40 chemical engineers, and had four main plants in operation.  In 1993, the site won the Queen’s Award for Industry.

Subsequently, the scope of ICI’s work on the site was progressively reduced as some plants were sold off, losing, as Stewart pointed out, the benefits of cross-fertilisation of ideas. As time moved on, businesses were then acquired by venture capitalists.  At that point, Stewart decided that a voluntary retirement scheme on offer in 2002 was attractive, and he left this phase of his life.

From then, Stewart declared, “the fun part of his life started”.  Having spent almost 20 year in Dunblane, he decided that it was a good place to set up as a self-employed gardener. His business blossomed, and, loving the work, he decided to become a volunteer with Dunblane in Bloom.  His involvement with gardening, he punned, “was just another day at the plant!”

Stewart and Janice are enthusiastic travellers, with a particular liking for cruises.  Stewart is also a keen skier, enjoying the challenges of off-piste skiing.

Speaker’s Host, George Morrison thanked Stewart for sharing his Face to Face.  It was always interesting, he said, to get to know more about fellow Rotarians’ backgrounds.