Loyal employee celebrates 50th anniversary

Steve Handley, a workshop supervisor at Integrated Water Services M&E, describes himself as dependable, loyal and passionate, and certainly lives up to that description, clocking up fifty years of service with South Staffordshire Plc. This remarkable achievement was celebrated at a gathering last Friday, where colleagues and friends marked his contribution to the business.

Over the years, Steve has seen first-hand the evolution of the Group and has taken advantage of lots of opportunities that have been offered to him, although some came with challenges!

Steve, who grew up wanting to be an engineer, joined the South Staffs family in September 1974 and embarked upon a four-year apprenticeship with South Staffs Water. As part of his apprenticeship, Steve attended West Bromwich College for 12-months of basic training and day release, before spending a two-year period completing secondments in different areas of the business.

“I spent time in lots of departments, including the fitting and electrical departments, metering and welding shops and the stores, which gave me an understanding of how each area played its part as one team achieving one goal.”

Steve gained his qualification, and, in 1979, he got married and moved to Shrewsbury. Having been based at the old central workshops in Wednesbury, Steve enquired as to whether there were any roles at Hampton Loade water treatment works, which was closer to home, and was offered a mechanical fitter position, working on pump maintenance.

During his time at Hampton Loade, Steve became a father as, in 1980, he welcomed his first daughter, Emma, into the world. Four years later, his second daughter, Amy, arrived and completed the family.

Steve transferred back to the workshop in 1992, which had moved to its new location in Green Lane, Walsall, and took on an operations supervisor role. It was during this time that the workshop branched out, becoming South Staffs Water Pump Services and later OnSite Central. Steve’s role as an operations supervisor brought him new experiences including a project repairing three flood defence pumps in Dublin in 1999 for OnSite.

“I had the responsibility of overseeing the project and setting up the team, which was challenging as I had never done a job like that before. I don’t consider myself to take risks but, back in the day of the Dublin job, I suppose I considered that as a possible risk due to the nature of the work, having to plan the work from start to finish, and look after the team’s wellbeing.”

In 2002, the Walsall OnSite branch closed and not long after, in 2004, Integrated Water Services was formed, bringing about changes within the workshops and management, alongside fresh learning and development opportunities for Steve. He said: “I wanted to broaden my horizons, so I went for a mechanical technician position at Hampton Loade which helped me understand the fundamentals of water treatment works.”

In 2008, Steve was offered the opportunity to become assistant operations manager in the workshop and later, the operations manager. He reaped the benefits of the manager role but ultimately felt that the operations supervisor role suited him better, so he returned to that position after two years.

In April last year, Steve decided to take a step back and was granted a reduced hour working week leaving him more time to do the things he enjoys such as DIY, golf and spending time with his grown-up daughters and ten-year old grandson. He started a part-time workshop supervisor role working three days per week, which sees him supporting his colleagues, briefing management, organising the workload and liaising with customers.

So, what’s next for Steve?

“Over the last fifty years, I have been very lucky to stay within the same company and meet some wonderful people. I love the team I work with and the challenge and variety of what each day brings. I know retirement is on the horizon but, while I feel the company can use me, I am happy to stay on and I have not set any confirmed date to call it a day yet. Fifty years ago a family member told me to stay with my old job and not join South Staffs Water. How wrong it would have been to listen to them and that place closed not long after!”