Paul R

00:00:01 My name’s Paul R and I’m a Production Team Leader. My job involves the supervision of production operatives within a production environment. My role at shop floor level is to ensure that the products we make meet the set standard, and we meet the set targets. What I enjoy about my work most, is being able to give to people what I had given to me before I took on the role. So it’s nice to invest in people yourself and give them the opportunity to gain a few recognised qualifications, and perhaps move on to be a Production Team Leader or whatever they want really.

00:00:38 The company started sending me to college, it would be four years ago, to gain recognised qualifications in Team Leading. Going to college I found very strange initially, because I was in my late thirties when I embarked on this, and it’s a long time from leaving school. Absolutely more focused than I ever was a school. There was a real reason to get through this. Whether you call it pride as much as anything else, I think it was a realisation that it was perhaps my last chance to do something other than be on the shop floor.

00:01:15 What I was like at school? No real idea where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do. More interested in sports than other subjects, shall we say. I hoped to get a trade, perhaps be an electrician following in the footsteps of me father. Left school with only basic CSE qualifications, and never really achieved that goal. I think it was an age thing, and it was immaturity and not realising that you needed to put the work in at that time. If I could go back, I’d go back and I’d do things differently. But – that’s hindsight for you.

00:01:50 When I left school there was no real ambition – just to go out and start earning money. I started work – at that time it was the Youth Opportunities Scheme – so it was a basic wage working for a local company. It was part of a yard maintenance crew for a local factory. It wasn’t an interesting or exciting job, but it was a job nevertheless at that time.

00:02:17 I then moved on to a refractory business, which was in the quarrying side of things. I started work as a production operative. And then I went working in the lab as a lab technician for five years. The reason I left a job I enjoyed as a lab technician was purely financial. It was at a time in our lives where we were trying for a family, and the money I was earning at that time wasn’t great, although I enjoyed the job. Aggregate Industries at that time were renowned for paying really well. Coming to Aggregates in terms of the work I did seemed like a step back at that time, it was more manual work. I can’t say that I enjoyed it too much initially, I was doing it for a specific reason, and that was for the family.

00:03:05 Not long after my daughter had been born, I was told I was going to be made redundant. That was quite trying at the time. But things fortunately worked out. The redundancy didn’t happen. I was two days from leaving when I was told that I had had a reprieve and I could now stop. Where we’d be now if that hadn’t happened I don’t know.

00:03:27 Outside of work – many interests, particularly in DIY. I’ve restored a car recently, which is something I’ve always wanted to do from a young age. So – a challenge. I’m easily bored, and I like to be doing something. Just over two years ago I bought one of these as a non-runner. It was bad. It was beaten, battered, it didn’t run, and really it was fit for scrapping and nothing else. So it was a challenge. And eighteen months later I’ve brought it back to its original state.

00:04:00 I’ve actually got the job now I’ve wanted for quite a few years. I’ve put the time in at college to get this job, and I don’t see any reason now why we can’t move on perhaps further up the ladder.

ENDS