After a
couple of years in the Drawing Office I
was put in charge of a small four-man
workshop at Abbey Road factory to design
and manufacture new prototype equipment
for the Teashops. I had to attend meetings
at the Teashop Head Office at Orchard
House to be given and discus the
specification of what I was to make and
later supervise installation of the item
in a particular Teashop. I would still
work from my desk at 139 Hammersmith Road,
opposite Cadby Hall, but I would need to
travel two or three times a week to Abbey
Road and maybe once a fortnight to Orchard
House, where I would work with Harry
Morris in Head Office Develoment and later
with Mr. E Pottinger and then Jean
Metcalfe. I held this position for seven
years.
Like most engineering supervisory jobs I
had to master the paperwork system and not
be restrained by it. For example, I had a
quarterly budget for labour and material
and I could not exceed these without
condemnation. If I went under budget -
because material costs were light that
quarter - I would have my budget reduced
the following quarter. I found that I
needed to keep a close watch on the
material cost as the end of the quarter
approached. I hit on the idea (as I'm sure
most engineers have) that when I was under
budget, of requisitioning major pieces of
plant in the last week, which would come
off my budget, then return it to stores
once we were in the new quarter and get
credit. Of course it meant physically
moving the plant and spending money to do
so, but after a few times even this was
dispensed with and only a paper
transaction was made. I was 22 and the men
I supervised were craftsmen in their 50s
and 60s. They could have rung rings around
me but to their credit they didn't and I
was learning fast.
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