Retired:

This is what I said on my last working day - 30th October 2015

It was 1969 when I decided I was going to go into IT.

I was at Upholland Priest Training College doing detention in the library for arguing with the Religious Education Tutor. I found a teach-yourself book on basic programming and it was such a logical step to take. The priesthood wasn’t for me! Some years later a ah-em necessary marriage finished my schooling and I got a job as a book-keeper using a Comptometer. Then in 1972 I got a job operating a PDP-8 mini-computer at the University of Liverpool, Department of Mechanical Engineering. No-one in the world knows that I got the sack. We’d moved from Kirkby to Skelmersdale. I couldn’t afford the bus fare, so used to cycle the 16 miles each way. But I was often late.

I got the sack from my next job operating an ICL 1901. I’d devised a way of reducing the start of day computer operations from 3 hours to 1 hour, so didn’t need to get to work at 6am. An 8am start was early enough. For some reason, they didn’t like that idea.

It took me two years to blag my way back into IT as a programmer after a spell as a weaver. I got made redundant from that job. Worse than that, I was now living in Bury. But soon after moved back to Kirkby. 4 years later I got divorced (it’s like getting the sack but hurts a lot more). So I decided to move, possibly abroad, but starting down South to see if I could stand being away from Liverpool. Then I met Row and married her in 1985. And stayed down South, working for Tesco, then Argos from where I was made redundant, then Woolworth, before moving to the RSPB after a brief spell in the money-grabbing world of banks and card settlement solutions.

 

For the first half of my life I wasn’t a birdwatcher. It was Row, who knew what a jay looked like, that got me into it. I started keeping records in 1985: When I joined the RSPB in 1998 I’d clocked up 300+ species in 6 foreign countries. Since then I’ve added more than 400 species in 12 foreign countries. The highlight being the 8 days sailing around the Galapagos Islands after my first sabbatical in Ecuador. Other trips spent in the company of Keith, Dave, Terry, Tony and Peter include Spain, France, Greece and Estonia. I hope to keep up that tradition.

In my first week at the RSPB (17 years ago) I met with Steve, Melanie, Julie Wale, Mandy Clarke, Tim Pons, Chris White, Peter Hurn, George Smithson, Mike Pearson, Linda Brittain and Ludo Scaletta. I also visited St. Martins and attended presentations from KenyaNature, from the Griffin project and how the RSPB was going to maintain a million members.

In my second week I set to work on replacing the Stock Control system, the Library management system and upgrading the Estate Management system. I also got stuck in to the provision of Mapinfo.

In my third week I set to work on upgrading the Legacy system and providing a media-contacts system.

In my fourth week I started on the Volunteers database, Wildsquare and the Recorder 2000 project.

By that time I knew that I loved working for the RSPB and that I was going to keep busy until I retired.

In this book are a variety of plans showing all of the things I’ve been involved with. And in these books are 17 years worth of notes. A kind of social history.

 

Mostly when there’s a leaving speech, the person says they’ll miss the people. There are people that I will miss. There are many people throughout the society with passion.

I went to the Isle of Lewis for my second sabbatical. The RSPB staff there have passion and do whatever it takes to get their job done. Their working hours have no boundaries. Having spent 7 hours delivering roofing material to the Shiant Islands, Robin then spent 8 hours doing a golden eagle survey. Having spent 5 hours showing visitors the Red-necked Phalaropes, Vicky went to the library in order to get IT connectivity for 4 hours before spending a further 5 hours doing a night-time survey of Corncrakes.

Their customers (the birds) are valued. They are your customers. Please value them. When I managed people and set objectives, the first one was always. Keep your customers happy.

Look through the plans. You’ll see that the teams were high performing. You’re not high performing when you're following the rules. You’re high performing when you’re caring about your customers.

Rowena and I are embarking on a new stage of our life together. She is retiring too.

Next week is a week of anniversaries. It is exactly 17 years since I began work at The RSPB. It is 30 years since we moved to our now fantastic house in Dunton. And it is exactly 31 years since she first made me a Sausage Meat and Baked-beans pie.

We share our love of nature and travel and have many friends together. Luckily we’ve also got separate friends and interests. Horses and golf don’t mix. So we won’t have to spend every minute together. In two weeks time we’ll be in Cairo for a few days before taking a 7 night cruise on the River Nile. I’ll be hoping to add another dozen species to my bird list. And I’ll be taking my new video camera, which I’ve bought using the RSPB’s generous retirement fund and Mike Clarke’s timely salary bonus. And I’ll be using the gifts that you’ve kindly bought. And I hope to produce a video that comes somewhere near Keith’s standard in his Blomers productions movies.

Thank you all, look after your customers.

Cheers