IAN KERR REACHES 35 YEARS SERVICE ON THE ESTATE MANAGEMENT TEAM

One such person is our colleague Ian Kerr who will soon notch up his 35th anniversary working on the estate. He’s a well-known face around Hillington Park and as a popular member of the busy maintenance team he’s at the heart of keeping the estate safe and tidy.

With three and a half decades of Hillington Park under his belt Ian knows more about the estate than most and over that time he’s seen a lot of change. We met up with him to look back on his time and to hear about the positive changes he’s witnessed over the years.

You started working at Hillington Park 35 years ago this May. Do you remember your first day?

I remember it very well. I was dropped off on the estate with a wheelbarrow, a brush and a hessian sack and told to get on with it!  There also seemed to be hardly anyone about during the day but that’s because the estate was very different in those days because it was virtually all factories.  At clocking off time it was a very different story with thousands of people pouring out of their work and heading to the former bus depot on Stephenson Street and the train stations.

Nowadays there are so many different types of businesses on the estate and I see thousands of people coming and going every day.

So what’s changed in those 35 years?

Well, I’ve changed my equipment for one!  I stuck with the wheelbarrow, brush and hessian sack for four years despite folk encouraging me to change. Eventually I was persuaded to start using litter grabbers and other tools and I never looked back.  I have lots of other modern equipment now such as an electric van, pressure washer and proper health and safety kit.

The estate is almost unrecognisable to the place I started working at 35 years ago. Back then it was pretty much all industrial and a bit run down in a lot of places.  There has been lots of new development and most of the old buildings have been upgraded too.  The retail centre was built a few years after I came here with more food outlets added since so there are now plenty of places for people to go at lunchtime.

Are there many other people or businesses also still here after 35 years?

Yes, there are quite a lot of them and I know them all. Companies like APH Hydraulic Engineering, Caledonian Industries, Prescott Engineering and Gulf Coast Seal have been here since before I started in 1990.  Hillington is a great place to work and it has a real sense of community where you know all your neighbours.

You must have so many stories to tell from your time?

You’re right. There are quite a few but a couple stand out. One from many years ago and one more recent.  Many years ago I got stuck in a snow blizzard! There was heavy snow  forecast and everyone was encouraged to stay at home. I was determined though to get to my work and help get the roads cleared on the estate.  Even though it was starting to lay pretty deep, I made it to work and set to work digging through even bigger piles of snow but after a while I realised that I was the only person around and no-one else was coming to their work.  I finally realised I was effectively snowed in and my car was stuck so had to walk home!

More recently, I found myself up a tree rescuing a budgie that had escaped from a house nearby. I got a call from the office saying it had been spotted in a tree on the estate and asking if I could help the owners to get their beloved budgie down from the branch it was happily perched on. I headed round with my ladders and after a bit of persuasion with a cup of its favourite seeds it was back in its cage and heading home.

Is there a such a thing as a typical day for you?

Not really, one day is never the same as the last but I do have specific tasks that I do every day which, as part of the maintenance team, keeps the estate tidy and looking well.  As well as street cleaning I will also clear the odd bit of graffiti and fly-tipping, wash signage, and occasionally undertake minor jobs like tiling or slabbing.

I start work at 7 but I like to get here earlier, often about 5, and check everything is ok on the estate. I work closely with Lisa, the estate manager, and every day we’ll spot things that need attention.  Because I’m out and about all day, I act as the eyes and ears for the whole estate team and can alert them to things that are out of the ordinary.

Not many people will stay in a job for 35 years so what has made you do it?

It sounds like a long time but I don’t think of it as 35 years. It’s flown past and it feels like I’ve just started.  It’s a mixture of lots of things. Most of all I enjoy it and that’s because I like the many people I’ve worked with over the years, I like hard work, and I take a lot of pride in what I do.  The folk I speak to that work on the estate tell me they appreciate how tidy and looked-after the place is and that’s great to hear.