August NewsTime

September 5, 2019 News

Whilst children across the country have been enjoying their summer holiday, the Smith of Derby team have been busy working on clocks across the world. This month has seen two new team members join, some wonderful customer feedback and three long service awards!

Spotlight on the team…

As we build our design capability to design, fabricate and install some of the world’s best clocks, we welcome two graduates from the University of Derby; Daniel Greenhalgh and Oliver Beetlestone.

Left: Daniel Greenhalgh. Right: Oliver Beetlestone.

Long service awards…

At a recent Group Board meeting we took the opportunity to thank team members for their long service with the company. Clockmakers Tony Davies and Tim Barlow, along with Production Manager Paul Litchfield, were all celebrating twenty years with Smith of Derby. Well done to the three of them!

Left to right: Tim, Paul and Tony receiving their awards.

Welcoming our latest apprentice…

At the same event where members of the team were presented with long service awards our latest apprentice, Ethan Burnett, was welcomed into the Smith of Derby family. Ethan, who starts his apprenticeship in September, was introduced to the team by Joe Smith. Ethan’s family joined him at the presentation before they were given their first tour of the works, all very excited!

Ethan and his family being introduced to the Smith of Derby team.

Smith of Derby ‘out and about’…

Members of the team were at Headingly Stadium last week watching one of the most famous cricket matches in England history. The team even found time to grab a picture of the Smith of Derby cap under the famous Dickie Bird clock which we installed and now maintain!

The Smith of Derby cap at Headingly Stadium.

Customer Feedback…

August was a particularly busy month of customer testimonials, commenting on the work our team do and their dedication to the job. Here are a few:

“Many thanks for the excellent service that your company recently undertook for us on the Church Clock. I learnt such a lot about clocks on the day and it was a pleasure to observe a craftsman with a true passion for his work in action. Many thanks again and please pass on my thanks to Kevin.” We received this from St Johns Church in Newton upon Rawcliffe, North Yorkshire, following a project clockmaker Kevin Ireland recently completed.

“May I record our appreciation of the professional expertise shown by your installation engineer, when he visited us on Tuesday and Wednesday, this last week, to install the new AW11 autowind and PAR100 pendulum adjuster/regulator for our turret clock. I spent some time with him in the bell tower and was most impressed by his dedication to the tasks in hand. 

Our lovely Smith of Derby flatbed turret clock, installed in 1907, but silent since early January this year, is now ringing the bells again and we held a well-attended ceremony at 12 noon today, after our morning service, to celebrate the occasion.” This was received following a visit from Richard Cox to St Peter & St Paul Church in Northleach.

Along with some wonderful testimonials we were sent some photos by a private client in Cheshire following a restoration of his turret. Please see below ‘before and after’ images:

The ‘before and after’ images of the clock turret.

About the author

Sam Welton: