Beer technician celebrates 25th year with T&J Installations
Mick Horton began working for T&J in 1991 when founders Derek Jones and Ken Taylor headed up the business. Mick is celebrating his 25th year with an award from Managing Director, Ian Jones.
Ian said: “We form lasting relationships with our employees and Mick is an excellent example of this. The industry has changed so much in the past 25 years, and offers a progressive and dependable career path, with T&J offering great scope for development too.”
Many technological advancements have taken place since Mick began working with the company and the beverage dispense industry is now rooted firmly in the 21st century, with drink dispense innovations such as:
Mick has witnessed all these updates, and many more, and it’s the industry, constantly pushing forward, that ensures the job never gets old.
Of Mick, Ian Jones said: “For 25 years, Mick has been a credit to this company. A real character in the team, he has developed a reputation for being an outgoing, thoughtful and reliable engineer, who always puts the customer first. He’s made considerable contributions to our charity work as well, giving his time to the local youth football club which we sponsored.
“I had the pleasure of training Mick, when he began here at T&J and his dedication to the job, going the extra mile to ensure it’s on schedule and to specification has always impressed me.”
On his time with T&J, Mick commented: “Working for T&J continues to be a great experience. As a beer dispense technician for this amount of time I can say that T&J is a company that listens – not just to its clients, but to its staff as well.
“One of the stand-out memories of working with T&J was an installation we did in Shrewsbury on behalf of Marston’s. The installation, which was undertaken by four of us in an 8-hour period was filmed start-to-finish for a TV documentary on the brewery called ‘One Ale of a Job’ – it was a very different ‘day at the office’ and, by the end of our work, the pub was ready to accept visitors.
“When I started, the company was a 5/6-person strong team, and since then it has grown and grown to over 100 staff. I had been working in the building trade, and my father happened upon Derek Jones in a pub – of all places! He put me in contact with T&J for a trial period – that trial turned into 25 years of employment. T&J took me under their wing at that time and taught me all that I know about this business. It is great to now be passing that knowledge on to a new generation.”
T&J would like to encourage young people considering their career options in engineering, building, plumbing or electrics to get in touch – a career with T&J could be right for you. Working with T&J has never been a more exciting prospect, and the breadth of opportunities at the company has extended far beyond beer dispense – not only with their range of hi-tech beverage dispense and preservation equipment – but with contracts in new industries, such as Aquila Treventek’s dry ice equipment.
T&J also runs an apprenticeships programme – this allows new staff to quantify their achievements and develop all the skills for drink dispense engineering with an academic tie-in. Paul Cassells, Sales and Key Accounts Manager at T&J, said: “Through our apprenticeship programme, we are regenerating the skill sets required for the industry. We always strive to innovate, in all that we do, and our approach to training and apprenticeships is crucial to maintaining the talent pool of the sector – and growing our own workforce.”
For more information on how you can become part of the ever-expanding T&J team, please visit our website at www.tandjinstallations.com/about/recruitment or call 0121 783 8925.
