Next year, Doorfit will be celebrating their diamond jubilee, marking their considerable achievements and contribution to the garage door, locksmith and ironmongery industries over the last 6 decades.
It’s a massive and important milestone for the whole company, and to kick start the celebrations, we’d like to highlight some of our longest serving employees. Following 25 years of service, each employee is presented with a gold watch to thank them for their knowledge, experience and commitment to helping us stay at the top of our game. We now have 11 members of our Gold Watch club (with many more due to join in the next few years), so you can see that our combined years of experience are what make us the best in the West Midlands and beyond.
During the next few months, we’ll be posting regularly about the Gold Watch members, starting with the Door Gear team, introducing them and talking about what makes them not only a great asset to the company and our customers, but also great people.
Name: Alan George
Length of service: 56 years
Alan’s one of our longest-serving employees. He set up the garage door and sliding door gear side of the business in 1956, following Henderson’s search for a West Midlands-based partner to support their expansion into the housing market, and he’s still very much a key member of the team, being in charge of purchasing and stock control in both garage doors and sliding door gear.
Thanks to his years in the industry, he is very well known, extremely knowledgeable and certainly very well respected! Once a company director, he regularly reminds us that he’s “forgotten more than you’ve learnt,” and that “there’s no substitute for experience!”
Outside of Doorfit, Alan relishes an active lifestyle, continues to play squash at a competitive level and enjoys riding his horses, and we’re delighted to have such an expert as part of our team.
Name: Sheila Kyte
Length of service: 26 years
When she first joined us, Sheila worked in the ironmongery side of business. She became part of the Door Gear team in 1997, injecting some much-needed glamour into the department!
During her time in the Door Gear team, Sheila’s role has changed and developed. Originally part of the admin team, she moved into the contracts department to concentrate on our activities with house builders, and now fills a more generic sales role as her calm and pleasant approach is a real hit with our customers!
Name: Tony Stokes
Length of service: 31 years
Tony became part of the Doorfit team in 1979, coming straight into the business after finishing school – although, as he always adds, “I went home first!” As such, he was part of the original Doorfit team when we were based at Vyse Street in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, and came with us through both moves to Icknield Street and Heaton Street.
He was head of our Garage Door Contracts department for a number of years, and is now back with us as Assistant General Manager following a short break. As part of his job role, Tony helps to look after our internal sales teams, and his calm demeanour is rarely tested (well, except when he’s watching his beloved Aston Villa, that is!).
We’re proud to work with such experts in the industry, and are delighted that they share their knowledge with the rest our team and our customers on a daily basis. We know that there’s no substitute for experience, and our Door Gear team have plenty!
Each member of our Gold Watch team has what it takes to ensure that you choose the most suitable product for your needs, and that you’re completely satisfied with the service we provide, so for the very best in garage doors and sliding door gears from a team with over one hundred years of combined experience, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.