Job Talk - Chris Scholey

8th June 2023 My Life and Times   Chris Scholey

Chris began, after a joke about his “overactive Knife and Fork”, by explaining that he was born in a little mining village between Selby and Doncaster, so naturally a Yorkshireman, through and through! His school career he would prefer to forget: failed 11+, but got to Grammar school following interview (he obviously had his persuasive delivery skills at a young age!) He only managed 3 ‘o’ levels, but needed English to be able to stay on in 6^th form.  After failing 3 times his headmaster suggested a different tack with 2 other University boards and he finished with 2 English ‘o’ levels! He was doing some part time work at Filey Butlins during his ‘A’ levels, so managed just an ‘E’ in Physics. Still confident in his own abilities he went to Sheffield and managed an HND in Applied Physics, then decided to move on to Liverpool to convert his HND into a Degree.  After much hard work (6 hours lectures every day) he produced a First-Class Honours Degree and so on to a successful working career, spending 75% in the private sector and the remaining 25% public sector.

His first job was at Steeltley, a refractory manufacturer in Worksop, but after a time there when asked to do a 45-minute presentation on ‘bricks for the cement industry’, he decided it was time to move on! So off to Dalton Industrial products in Stone, Staffs., where they produced complex ceramic cores for turbine blades that went into the RB211 engine (70% failure rate).  He described the fettling shop where many middle-aged women worked, who loved to embarrass him, which he hated, but he spent some time ‘on the tools’ there becoming quite competent with the moulding machine operations, resulting in regular unpaid call outs to trouble shoot on the shop floor.

We then had the story of his father-in-law, who regularly bet on the horses and passed on a strong ‘tip’  for “Royal Match” in the Spring Cup, in Liverpool.  As it happened one of his staff “Arnold” went home for his lunch each day and put a bet on at the bookies on his way back to work. He tried to explain to Arnold that gambling was a waste of time and money. More as a joke Chris passed on the tip (Royal Match) asking him to put £1.50 each way for him, however Chris hadn’t realised that Arnold took many other bets from the factory. In fact, Arnold had taken £450 in bets and suggested that this was only half the total riding on Royal Match (circa £10k in today’s money). The lucky outcome was that it won, so he was cheered through the Factory on the following day, strutting like Noel Coward did in the “Italian Job” film.

Next a move to Sales with British Oxygen, including a 3-month secondment to Zimbabwe; after 8 years he moved to BOC Manchester. Shortly afterwards he left BOC and joined Redfearn Plastics in Leeds, where he was involved in the first introduction of PET bottles. Once it looked like the technology was changing enabling the big bottlers to produce at the end of the filling line, he recommended that the business be sold. Chris then moved to the parent company Redfearn National Glass as General Sales Manager, 2 years later becoming Sales Director. A few years later the business was sold to PLM a Swedish packaging company, they made Chris UK Managing Director all ran well until Irish billionaire Shaun Quinn entered the glass market. Chris then regaled us with his fight to stop the UK government giving Quinn grants. Ultimately as the market become oversupplied Chris sold the business to one of his competitors and the left the private sector to start a new career in the public sector.

President Rob gave the vote of thanks congratulating Chris on his punditry & all the entertaining facts he had provided covering refractories, ceramics, plastic and glass, in an informative and interesting presentation. We all look forward to part 2 in the public sector.

The members joined Rob giving a prolonged applause, in the normal manner                                   AR