25 year commendation for Stuart Rawlinson

Stuart Rawlinson – Sales Director is commended for his 25 years of service at Grenville Engineering

Date you started?

I started in Jan 1995 after seeing an advert in the Sentinel for an Apprentice Metalworker, I applied and got the job! I had always been interested in engineering as I was growing up, more electrical and design orientated but was really looking forward to this challenge and very much wanted to get in to the CAD side of things eventually.

My time at Grenville started very well with day release college every week and learning every day from a great group of people here. Its been a great journey.

Background  – industry experience and qualifications

I came to Grenville after a year at full time college which I did not enjoy at all – so qualification wise was all my GCSE’s passed in 1993, and the first year of an ONC Electrical Engineering course under my belt in 1994 but was keen to push on with my college work whilst in full time employment. I very quickly did my NVQ 3 at college to get more of the basics with welding etc, which really helped me to move quicker than expected. The next course was an ONC Mechanical Eng, and then HNC after. Things started to change rapidly after the first couple of years as I was heavily involved with the setup and running of a HD Plasma machine the company invested in and from there on things just snowballed.

Why did you choose Grenville?

Grenville chose me – I was one of several that attended that interview, and the works manager at the time John Bettany must have seen something in me to offer me the job. John, Stan, Steve all of the shopfloor management team at the time always helped me, always had time to pass on knowledge when needed and always made me feel like things were going in the right direction.

This enabled me to push on and my roles rapidly changed here which has always helped to keep things interesting, motivate me to push on more with things.

What is the best part of your job and any highlights over your 25 years at Grenville?

Where to start with this – so much has happened, so much positive change and so many things that have happened for me. My first highlight was to pass my HNC, that was a tough one and mixing work with evening classes and course work was a tough time but very rewarding. I would say the next big thing was to be made production manager in 2000 which I enjoyed for 15 years –  that has its ups and downs as I am sure every production manager would appreciate, but we are always working to become better, through processes, training and investments. Again this was a challenging time but one I thoroughly enjoyed and felt very positive about that whole time.

After my 15 years at manager level then the step up to Sales Director has really got to be my top personal achievement at Grenville, and great to be recognised by the shareholders to push me on to this position.

I really do enjoy working here and always have done – its great to see the investments made by a very good company. We really have a great group of people here all working together and always pushing to be better. We continue to grow and invest each year which enables us to be more competitive and take on more work from different sectors. I am not sure where the last 25 years has gone……. but look forward to the next 25 years of success working with everyone at Grenville.