December 71 No 72 House Magazine of Rank Xerox Mitcheldean Plant
Centre of this line-up at our annual dance held on November 26 in the Social Centre is 17-Year-old
Janice Andrews, the newly-elected ‘Miss Flank Xerox, Mitcheldean’ for 1971/72, with guest of honour
David Allen, England and Gloucestershire off-spin bowler, on her left Janice, who joined us in
September and works in Goods Inwards—Stock Control, was married last August to progress clerk
Niall of 3600 Assembly, and he hopes to accompany her on a two-day trip to London, seeing a show
and hitting the high-spots — the Company’s customary prize to the Plant’s new ‘Queen’.
Others in this picture are (from the left) Linda Worsfold of Personnel who came second: Graham
Wiltshire, who coaches our county cricket team and who, together with David Allen and Michael Jarrett
(far right), Gloucestershire Cricket Club chairman, judged the 21 contestants for the title: our Divisional
Director Derek Portman: Linda Freeman of Pre-Production Control who was placed third: Mrs Portman
who kindly performed the crowning ceremony: and Mitcheldean’s General Manager Peter Salmon.
Over £40 for the cricket club’s funds was raised by raffling a bat autographed by some 30 Test cricketers
and the Gloucester, Worcester, Somerset and Essex county first eleven teams.
In the background is the Victor Silvester Ballroom Orchestra who delighted the dancers — Victor SilveSTer
Jnr told VISION he is an enthusiastic ‘Xerox fan’. (We hear they’ve got Joe Loss lined up for next
year’s dance.)
Message from Mr Mai Thomas
26th November 1971
I have just returned to London after attending, with Bob Pippitt,
on behalf of all Rank Xerox people throughout the world, the funeral
of the late Joseph C. Wilson. This is, therefore, the first opportunity
I have had to write to you about this great man and the debt that
all of us in the Xerox family owe him.
We have suffered an irreparable loss. Joseph C. Wilson was
not only Chairman of the Board and former Chief Executive Officer of
Xerox Corporation, he was essentially the founder of ‘the xerographic
dynasty’ and one of the main architects of Rank Xerox.
He was a man of great vision and intellectual gifts who, with
characteristic foresight, procured the technology of xerography,
stuck to it through difficult periods of development, and established
the business we know today.
Latterly, he was deeply engaged in social welfare and medical
work, subjects close to his heart. He was throughout his life
essentially a philanthropist and he recently expressed his philosophy
in these words: ‘The success of responsible corporate action in
contributing positive solutions to public problems is directly
proportionate to the spiritual commitment of its leadership.’
Joe Wilson certainly lived by that philosophy.
We are far richer for having lived and worked alongside a man
of such stature. He was by his example and character a man who
inspired love and respect, and those of us who had the great fortune
to know him well are proud to testify to this. We mourn his passing,
and extend our sincere sympathy to Mrs Wilson and her family.
Managing Director and Chief Executive
Rank Xerox Limited
A Time
for
Reflection
The Christmas period is traditionally one of
festivity and reflection.
1971 has been another exciting and interesting
year for the Production and Supply Operations
Division of Rank Xerox, and the people of
Mitcheldean have good reason to be proud of the
achievements of the last twelve months. We have
seen the start of the production of the 4000
Copier which, without doubt, will play a very
important part in the future prosperity of the
Company.
For twelve long months, we have watched with
interest and growing expectation the building of
the huge new International Distribution Centre on
what is now a 35 acre site, and, as such, the
largest industrial complex for many miles around.
The steelwork has started to go up for the new
office block on the gasometer site.
Never has so much building work been going on
at one time at Mitcheldean, although we must
regard these as being the last major extensions to
the Plant. The prosperity of the Forest of Dean is
such that it is unlikely that the Department of Trade
and Industry would grant us permission to make
further major extensions to our already existing
buildings.
1971 saw Mr Fred Wickstead leave Mitcheldean
and the Forest, to take up his present very
important appointment with Xerox Corporation at
Stamford, Connecticut. He looks back on his time
with us with pride and many happy memories. We
hope to have him with us at Christmas for a
well-earned holiday before he returns to renew his
efforts in the United States.
1971 ended for many of us on a solemn note. In
November, Joe Wilson, Chairman of the Board
and former Chief Executive Officer of Xerox
Corporation, died. On the facing page we
reproduce a commemorative letter from Managing
Director Mai Thomas. Joe Wilson was a great
and good man. His vision and determination in
the early days were largely responsible for the
Mitcheldean Plant we know today.
1972 shows all the signs of being another
challenging year, when the demands placed upon
us w i l l , as usual and apparently quite inevitably,
continue to increase. 1 972 will be the year when
the 4000 comes to fruition and begins to make
its impact in the market place. Its contribution, in
our judgement, will in its turn be as great as that of
the 914, 813 and 3600.
We look forward to the ongoing prosperity of the
Mitcheldean people. When one thinks of the
husbands, wives and children of those who work
here, there must be something like 10,000 of us in
this enterprise. I wish you all a most happy
Christmas and a satisfying New Year.
Good luck.
Director of
Production and Supply Operations
3
SP®RTS & SOCIAL
CLUB
Production Control Capture Chess Shield
The motto on the Wickstead Chess Shield,
roughly translated, says : ‘Sweeter the victory after
many difficulties’. Certainly Dennis Brain, captain
of the winning Production Control ‘A’ team, had
undergone a hard struggle before the moment of
sweet victory when Mr Derek Portman presented
him with the shield on November 10.
This was the culmination of the interdepartmental
KG competition which began early in July of this
year. An entry of 13 teams from departments
within the Mitcheldean Plant indicates the
interest and enthusiasm with which this event was
greeted.
Much of the credit for its success must go to
Harry Helms and Robin Berks who worked
extremely hard in order to bring about the revival of
chess within the Company.
The final night, arranged for Tuesday, November 2,
turned out to be not so conclusive as had been
anticipated — the struggle being so dour and
protracted as to result in one adjourned game after
four hours’ playing time.
Brian Crosby and John Ireland (Production
Ccntrol ‘A’) having respectively won and lost their
games with Charles Cunningham and Dennis
Wedley (Computer Services), the result hung on
the game between captains Dennis Brain and
Dave Payne.
An early advantage gained by Dave became
difficult to maintain as the game progressed
Dennis playing a brilliant rearguard action to fight
clear in a pawn play end game: he emerged as
victor after a further 90 minutes’ play on the
following Thursday.
Another close match result was the play-off for
third place between Production and Goods
Inwards Inspection ‘A’ team which resulted in a
win for the latter by 2 — 1.
It is to be hoped that those teams beaten in
earlier rounds of the competition will not be
discouraged by the fact, and will support the
efforts of those members who seek the
long-awaited re-establishment of a chess section.
F o o l ‘ s Mate
Above: The winning team (from the left)
Dennis Brain, John Ireland and Brian Crosby each
received from f\Ar Portman a handsome penholder
mounted on a wooden base with a medallion
bearing a knight’s head. The shield, made in 1961
for an earlier chess club, was carved by Stan
Cherry (PED); Ray Wright (Design D.O.) did the
chessboard veneer work. Below: Study in
concentration — the ches^ mm nn the final night.
HIGH WATER
Did you know we fiave acquired a lagoon on the
bank above the new IDC Building ? But before
your mind gets busy with visions of dusky dollies
in grass skirts, palm trees and soft Hawaiian
guitars, we’d better point out that this lagoon is
strictly for the serious business of fire-fighting.
For reasons of insurance, the IDC Building has to
be equipped with a sprinkler system (sprinkler
heads automatically release a shower of water
when fire raises the temperature inside a building
and an alarm bell is set off). The fish-pond being
too distant and other small tanks on site being of
insufficient capacity, we had to provide an
alternative water storage facility — hence the
lagoon.
A cavity 5ft 6in deep, 123ft long and 83ft wide
was created by digging out the ground on the
higher side of the slope and banking it up on the
lower side; this was lined first with sand and
then with a black plastic rubber sheeting.
Gloucestershire Fire Service will shortly be filling
the cavity with water — half a million gallons of
i t ; until this is done we cannot commence
occupation of the IDC. Once full, the lagoon will
be kept topped up from the water mains on the
lines of the ordinary domestic cistern.
Water from the lagoon will be gravity-fed to two
large concrete water tanks being constructed at
the eastern corner of Building 32. Each of these
will hold a quarter of a million gallons, ready for
use in fire-fighting. An adjacent pump house will
supply water from the tanks into a ring main
encircling Buildings 32 and 38 (you will have
seen the trenches being dug up to accommodate
it) and this will serve the sprinkler system in the
IDC Building and future fire-fighting requirements.
It Is essential that the lagoon water be kept clean
to prevent blockage of pipes, and nothing should
be thrown into the water which might damage the
lining. But if the lagoon should spring a leak,
there won’t be a minor Niagara — land drains will
cope with such an emergency as well as with any
water draining off the sloping surrounding land.
The banks are being seeded and trees will be
planted around the lagoon — but don’t expect
any of those exotic palms!
Not a lunar landscape but the lagoon-to-be
WANTED
Walkers
A brisk walk daily, Mon.—Fri., depart M/cycle shed
near Buildings 23/24 at 1307 hrs, arrive back at
Plant 1342 hrs. Both sexes welcome, no stilletto
heels I Cancel if raining. Leader: L. J. Lane
(720 Remodelling).
Carollers
Singers please ring ext. 108, 571 or 198 to
contact Christian Fellowship members who want
to organise some carol-singing at the Plant.
This newly-formed group held their first
meeting on November 10 at 1.5 pm in the
Training School conference room when Bob
Farnham (File Control) explained their aims
and objectives. The future programme, open
to both works and staff, includes: Dec. 8 –
Roy Love, Bible study ‘Christians at Work’;
Dec. 1 5 – G u e s t Speaker J. T. Isherwood,
‘Industrial Christians?’; Dec. 22-Prayer meeting.
5
Trumpeters herald the proceedings with a fanfare of the regimental march of the Blues and Royals, of
which Sir Gerald Templer is Colonel-in-Chief.
on the trip. From early morning start to early
morning finish we hardly knew we were being
organised, things went so pleasantly and smoothly.
At the Royal Lancaster we found Works Manager
Don Elliott and Purchasing Controller Bernard
Smith and their wives waiting to join us for an
excellent lunch (highlighted by the fact that one
waitress thought we were from Somerset I).
The afternoon hours were our own. For the
HQ boys, however, it was a race against time to
prepare the Nine Kings Suite for the presentation —
installing the machines which were to be shown in
operation (a 400 Telecopier, an 840 printer and a
7000 reduction duplicator); hanging up banners
of countries in which we have operating
companies; trying out the mikes, the trumpeters
and the toastmaster.
The ‘most difficult thing to get in England today’
is currently on display in various parts of the
Plant. We’re talking about the Queen’s Award to
Industry, awarded to Rank Xerox for export
‘”achievement.
As Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer said when he
presented it to our Company, ‘it is obvious that a
success such as yours can only be the result of
team effort’, and it was a happy thought that
some 40 of that ‘team’ from Mitcheldean, plus
wives and husbands, should have been enabled to
witness the handing over of this symbol of our
success on October 25 at the Royal Lancaster
Hotel, London.
Sparing a sympathetic look for others clocking in
at work, we were ‘clocked in’ to two coaches by
Derek Wintle of Personnel who accompanied us
Mr Mai Thomas (second from left) with some of the Mitcheldean contingent after the presentation.
By the time we arrived for the ceremony, the band
was playing Palm Court Orchestra stuff, the
toastmaster was resplendent in scarlet and a deep
brown voice, and Sir John Davis, Joint Chairman
of Rank Xerox, and Mr Mai Thomas, our
Managing Director, were waiting to greet us.
If we expected a stuffy oration from Her Majesty’s
Lieutenant of Greater London, we were agreeably
mistaken. Sir Gerald’s let’s-cut-out-the-pompand-
ceremony approach made him quite a hit. As
an incentive to action, the Queen’s Award to
Industry fell into the carrot rather than the stick
category, he said. It could only be held for five
years, and ‘that is intended to stop you from
sleeping on your laurels, or sitting on your
whatnots, and to drive you to further efforts.’
Sir Gerald pointed out that Britain exports
annually per head of the population one and a
half times more than the USA and twice as much
as Japan. These exports have shown an increase
since 1960 of 113 per cent to a total of well over
£8,000 million sterling in 1970 (something we
can take a bit of credit for ourselves).
Reviewing the Rank Xerox success story, he said :
‘You can be proud of yourselves. I hope you will
pass on what I have been saying to all those
concerned, the vast majority of whom cannot be
here today.’
The award, which can be won for export
achievement, for technological innovation, or for
a combination of these two, was far from easy to
obtain, said Sir Gerald. In fact, less than 8
per cent of the total applications were successful.
Sir Gerald then handed over to Mr Mai Thomas
the grant of the Deed of Appointment, a document
bearing the signatures of the Queen and the
Prime Minister, and the award symbol.
‘I know Her Majesty wants me not only to give
you her heartiest congratulations, but also to wish
each one of you all success and happiness, both
in your work in Rank Xerox and in your family
lives,’ he said.
Thanking Sir Gerald, Mr Thomas said that Rank
Xerox was delighted at this official recognition of
its efforts.
‘It may not be widely recognised,’ he pointed out,
‘that about 17,000 British exporting companies
make use of our machines to reproduce their
export documentation. Something like 150
million pages of export documentation are being
produced on our machines in this country each
year.’
Referring to the appointment of Mr F. Wickstead,
our former Director of Production & Supply
Operations, as Vice-President, Manufacturing &
Logistics, of Xerox Corporation in the USA,
Mr Thomas regretted that there was no heading
Sir Jo/in Davis sfiakes tiands with) Tony Harris of
Small Batch while Tony’s wife Janet is greeted by
Mr Thomas.
under which this particular export achievement
could be recorded on our next application for the
Queen’s Award for exports !
As great believers in the rental system, we
understood why the award was granted only for a
limited term. ‘We won the award in its first year
(1966). We have renewed our tenure this year
and I have no hesitation in revealing that it is our
ambition to seek its perpetual renewal.’
Speeches and ceremony over, the celebratory
champagne flowed. Round about the fifth ( ?)
glass it was time to tear ourselves away and
miraculously Derek Wintle got everyone into the
coaches. The evening was not quite over— there
was a stop for dinner at the Bellhouse Hotel,
Beaconsfield, before the last lap home to
Mitcheldean which we reached around 1 am.
‘I wouldn’t have missed it for worlds,’ someone
said. That goes for us too.
In celebratory mood at the Royal Lancaster. The
350 or so guests represented Production &
Supply Operations Division (headed by Mr
D. R. Portman). International Headquarters and
East European Operations.
Bruce is a Freeman
Freeminers don’t hit the headlines in our neck of
the woods but a freeman is news. We discovered
one in Bruce Hubbard, calibration engineer in
PED Electronics, who became a freeman of
Swansea on August 23, thus carrying on a
centuries-old tradition. It all started in 1634 when
a land-owner, Rosser Robinson, gave a big tract of
land to the borough of Swansea on one condition
— that all his direct descendants (including
sons-in-law) should become freemen of the
borough at the age of 21. Bruce is about the
283rd to claim his right and his sons Robert, six,
and Duncan, three, will doubtless do so in their
turn. Bruce didn’t know of any special privileges
conferred by the honour but hazarded a guess that
it might get him off the odd parking offence!
Here he is receiving a ‘freeman of the city’ scroll
from the Mayor of Swansea; with him are his wife
Peggy, his two sons, and his parents-in-law,
freeman Albert Richards of Cheltenham and
Mrs Richards.
Challenge
from ^down under*
A letter wishing us all a Merry Xmas and a
Happy New Year arrived recently from the Rank
Xerox Sport & Social Club of Boronia Street,
Redfern, Sydney.
Like the weather, the cricket season in Australia
has hotted up by Christmas and the writer,
N. Keable of the Social Committee, enclosed the
following account of a match :
Due to circumstances beyond our control,
Dick Kay (National Workshops Manager) signed a
huge transfer fee on the morning of the match
giving Distribution a crippling advantage (DK is
known throughout the sport as ‘Crippling Dick’).
The match was played at Frazer Park,
Marrickville, Sydney, on Sunday, October 17, and
conducted according to the rules and regulations
of cricket (first in, first served).
^Bonanza* Prize Draw
On notice-boards around the factory our posters
will have brought to the attention of members the
imminence of the New Prize Draw, which will
include High Value Bonus Prizes, in addition to
increased weekly prizes.
The plan is to draw a bonus prize each month ; it
is hoped that during the space of a year two cars
and four colour TV sets, interspersed with £100
cheques, can be offered. Cash options will be
offered as an alternative to a prize but these may
not reflect the full retail value of the prize.
Bonus prizes could be more or could be less —
dependent on the support of the membership. It
must be stressed that the draw is open to
Sports & Social Club members only, but don’t tear
your hair if you’re not in the club — when the
application forms are distributed non-members can
complete the form and automatically join the
Social Club.
The New Prize Draw is a completely new
arrangement replacing the present draw and
therefore members of the existing draw will be
required to fill in an application form.
It is envisaged that the new draw will commence
the first week of the New Year, but administrative
problems may postpone commencement for a few
weeks.
Don’t delay completing and returning your
application form — and the target date could be
met. In the words of the song : ‘It all depends on
You !’
‘Both teams had practice prior to the game. One of
the boys, J. Jones, purchased a ball out of his
own pocket: on the way home each night he had
to cross the park and he spent hours bowling to
himself — bowl ball, run to other end of pitch,
hit the ball for a six, chase the ball, and catch
himself out. On the day of the match he was
bowled out by one of his friends (is that cricket?) !’
‘As it was a hot sunny day, all players left the
field every six overs (well, every two, or was it
every one ?) for refreshments — beer, grog, booze,
amber ale or a healthy drink of lemonade. As the
afternoon came to an end, so did certain players.’
A congratulatory message, purporting to come from
Lord J. Arthur Rank, was placed on the Social
Club notice-board after the match. This should
doubtless be regarded in the same vein as the
postcript to the letter stating that Boronia Street
are willing to challenge the UK in England next
season if guaranteed £1,000 sterling per man,
return fares and accommodation. How’s that ?
8
SP®RTS & SBCIAL
Party in Duplicate
It was a case of ‘Remember the 5th of November’
for more than one reason this year for employees
with children between the ages of five to 10 years
inclusive — no doubt there would have been
‘fireworks’ if they had forgotten to give in names
; by that date for the Children’s Christmas Party, or
rather Parties. For the increase in the number of
those attending has made it impossible to cope
with all the kids in one go.
The first party, on December 4, was for the five to
seven-year-olds; the second, on December 11,
for those aged eight to ten inclusive. Food and
fun constituted the programme for both, with a
Father Christmas or t w o thrown in I
Skittles Teaming
The Skittles Club have entered ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams
in the Ross & District Winter League Division 1 —
the former captained by John George and the
latter by Des Haines. The ‘B’ team, incidentally,
competed in the Forest League Division 2 during
the summer, and finished a satisfactory fourth.
A team drawn from ‘A’ and ‘B’ players has
entered the Gloucestershire Front Pin Skittle
Association, playing on Saturday nights
approximately every other week; eight clubs are
competing.
At the AGM held in October the club officers were
re-elected en bloc— Des Haines (chairman),
Dennis Cook (secretary) and Richard Cooke
(treasurer).
Teeming with Skittlers
Des Haines and John Mould have got themselves
quite a job organising the current Interdepartmental
Skittles KO; because of the heavy
number of entries, the New Year will be getting
into its stride before the first round is completed.
The identity of many teams has been disguised by
their intriguing titles and our imagination has been
boggling at the possible outcome of some
matches. Will Brew XI manage to confuse the
660 Scufflers? Will the Model Maniacs massacre
the New Productives ? At the time of writing we
didn’t know if the 660 Shifters had shifted the
Galloping Gourmets or whether Ernie’s Enigmas
had ‘got’ the Eebeegeebees !
It is probably just as well the Club House skittle
alley has been reconditioned in view of the
punishment it must be taking. The feeling is that
a second alley would come in handy — especially
since this would make it feasible to run a special
KO for the ladies.
CLUB
Come to the Ballroom
The Ballroom Dancing Club is now well and truly
established and members are enjoying the Friday
evening sessions between 8 and 10 pm. They
would like to see more members joining in the
fun so don’t let an inferiority complex keep you
away. Other members are only too willing to
help, says chairman Ira Griffin, ‘so come along
and once you have experienced the warm
welcome you will receive and the friendly
atmosphere of the club, we’re sure you’ll want to
keep on coming.’
Eileen Newman (4000 Dept) and her husband
Roland are a couple of competition dancers and
in the last 18 months of dancing, mostly in the
beginners’ section, have accumulated a grand
total of 56 medals and plaques after competing in
places such as Birmingham, Worcester, Pontypool
and Cheltenham. Asked what they consider their
best performance, they say a 6th placing in the
Cha-Cha-Cha at Stoke-on-Trent, against very
keen competition from Midland and Northern
dancers. Their latest result was a 2nd on October
10, taking a 1st in Beginners Modern and 2nd
Beginners Latin at Stroud. Incidentally, they are
pupils of the Barbara Pearce School of Dancing
at Stroud.
Another couple attending the same school are the
club’s chairman Ira (brushing up) and his wife
Esme (starting from scratch); on October 24 Esm6
passed with ‘Commended’ both bronze and silver
medal standard, while Ira added a second silver to
his collection, this time under the International
Dance Teachers Association.
Mary Meek of Central Records and her husband
Ken have become pupils of the Sylroy School of
Dancing and hope very shortly to take their
bronze medal.
Don’t assume from the foregoing that only the
expert and the dedicated are members — as we
said, the atmosphere is friendly and informal. ‘In
fact’, says Ira, ‘we will even teach you a party
dance to the off-beat music called ‘The Slosh’.
Anyone can do this enjoyable little dance, before
or after drinking I’
Darts Challenge
Three darts players from Raw Materials, RX
Cinderford, will challenge any departmental three
to 15 minutes’ continuous scoring game. Contact
R. Matthews, Steel Stores, RX Cinderford.
Tel. 9 — 2 9 .
9
THE LONG HAIR HAZARD
A Second World War problem has come to
Mitcheldean Machine Shop. Many will remember,
following the drafting of young women into the
war factories, the hazards created with the
possibility of their long tresses becoming
entangled in moving machinery.
The writer had the harrowing experience of seeing
the extraction of a young girl’s hair from a
capstan lathe and escorting the victim to the
First Aid station. Soon after this the snood was
introduced — a type of cap w i th hair net
attachment into which the hair had to be tucked
in order to be safe.
During the past few years young men have
decided to grow their hair long and this has
re-introduced the problem into industry and
particularly into the Machining Department. Here
there are drilling and milling machines and capstan
lathes — all potential ‘grabbers of hair’ and ready
to scalp the unprotected victim.
With the formation of the new Safety Committee in
July, it was decided to tackle the ‘hair hazard’.
Unsafe—hair hanging down close to revolving
drill, guard not in position and vice not bolted to
the machine.
HOME MARKET
For Sale
Two gent’s suits 36—38 in. chest, tailor-made by
John Collier. One as new, one good condition,
reasonable price. Reason for sale — too small.
Contact Dave Britton, 351 int. or Coleford 3078.
Three heaters, all good condition : Valor
radiant-type paraffin, £ 8 ; Morphy-Richards
convector and radiant-type (RCV 20) 2Kw, £ 8 ;
bathroom wall-type fan model, 1 Kw, £10.
Contact R. W. Farnham, ext. 108 int.
1963 Simca 1000 G.L. £80 o.n.o. Contact K. Rea
(Pre-Production Control), tel. 387 int.
The first minutes published by the Committee
mentioned the long hair problem and talked of
hair nets being provided. Following this initial
‘shock treatment’, efforts were made to find a
suitable manly cap, capable of expanding in order
to accept the large volume of hair of some of our
more virile young men.
A satisfactory type was found and some 1 5 caps
were issued during September. A further 20 have
been issued to the apprentices in our Apprentice
School. All the young men were interviewed and
asked to wear them for their own safety sake.
Their agreement to do this has not been the
success one would wish — some wear them
continuously, some intermittently, and others not
at all.
All young persons working in a department with
the hazards of moving machinery are expected to
work safely. Safety is everyone’s concern.
R E M E M B E R ,
BE T O P P E R E D — NOT T O P P E D.
WEAR A P R O T E C T I O N CAP.
Result—this happens to be a wig caught up in a
revolving drill—it could have been an operator’s
scalp.
Contents of home (couple emigrating); also
electric sewing machine, wedding dresses,
sports car boot rack. Enquiries to Mrs T. Hopson,
3 Orchard Road, Coombs Park, Coleford, or
tel. 370 int.
Wanted
Child’s Triang-type tractor or tractor-and-trailer.
Contact M. Hirst, 387 int.
Good homes for corgi bitch, t w o Jack Russell
terriers and other breeds, most of them housetrained
— no charge. For more information
‘phone 387 int.
10
Putting lYOUl in the picture
Weddings
Hilary White (Press Section, 3600 Dept.) to
Brian Organ (Machine Shop) at St Peter’s
Church, Clearwell, on October 2.
Dennis Hamlen (Cost Office, Accounts) to
Lynn Meek (Data Processing Punch Room) at
Lydney on November 1.
New Arrivals
Jane Marie, a daughter for Trevor Baxter
(Chargehand, Goods Inwards Inspection) and his
wife Marlene (she used to work in Design Print
Room), on September 25.
Claire Louise, a daughter for Barrie Hall (Purchase)
and his wife Pat (formerly secretary to
Mr W. Beech, Chief Buyer), on October 6.
Andrew, a son for Brenda Baldwin (formerly
Design Punch Room), on October 6.
Jane Emily, a daughter for Shirley Hoare (formerly
secretary to Senior Buyer John Wilks, Purchase)
on October 13.
Darren, a son for Ashley Saunders (Carpenters
Shop) and his wife Ann (formerly Accounts), on
October 13.
Richard, a son for Andrew Tate (Production
Control) and his wife Susan (formerly
switchboard operator), on October 19.
Natalie Jane, a daughter for Mrs Sue Gardiner
(formerly Export/Import, Gloucester IDC) on
October 25.
Catherine Mary, a daughter for Mervyn Yemm
(Machine Shop), on October 28.
Nicola, a daughter for John Spratley (Insurance,
Accounts) and his wife Sheila (formerly secretary
to Mr A. Bryson, Productivity Services Manager),
on November 1.
Richard Andrew, a son for Dick Frazier (PED), on
November 6.
Alexandra Ruth, a daughter for Ken Butt (Design
D.O.), on November 9.
Steven, a son for Clive Wilce (Inspection, RX
Cinderford) on November 13.
Mr and Mrs Brian Organ.
Retirements
The following retired in November and we wish
them all the best for the future : Harry Byett
(Goods Inwards); Fred Harper (Cleaning
Services); Frank Hope (Press Shop, Cinderford).
Dorothy Howells (Education & Training).
21st Birthday
Sally Ann Cannon (Export/Import, Gloucester
IDC) on October 22.
Linda Freeman (Pre-Production Control) on
November 3.
Sue Grosvenor (newly appointed secretary to
Mr H. Berry, Manager, IDC) on November 22.
Silver Wedding
Congratulations to Arthur Cooper (660 & 720
Assembly Supervisor) and his wife Madge who
celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on
December 6.
George Stacey
We regret to have to record the death on
October 28 of George Stacey (labourer.
Reconditioning) at the age of 60.
IDC Appointments
Geoff Gray, formerly Senior Supervisor, Stock –
Control at Gloucester IDC, has been promoted to
Manager, Warehouse Systems, as from last month.
In this capacity Geoff, who has been with the
Company since 1959, will act as deputy to IDC
Manager Henry Berry. Another recent
appointment is that of Paul Adcock as Manager,
Warehouse Operations.
Big Draw
Another raffle record by Kate Matthews !
Throughout the Plant and at the LSA social held
in November she collected £62.60 towards the
retired members’ annual summer outing.
Mr and Mrs Mil reported in our November issue.
11
Participation Party
It was not so much a wake, more a kind of
christening when an informal get-together was
held at the Red Lion, Huntley, on November 12
with members of the former Manual
Communications Meeting and past members of the
Joint Participation Working Party.
For, as announced in the previous issue of
VISION, these bodies have now been superseded
by the new Joint Works Committee to which are
attached Area Efficiency Committees, and
Mr Peter Salmon, chairman of the JWC, took the
opportunity to offer his personal thanks to those
who had helped in forming the new structure.
Looking back to the initial Productivity Campaign,
of which the communications and efficiency
structure was a result, Mr Lionel Lyes, Personnel
Controller, recalled that there had been both
frustrating and exhilarating moments. While
recognising that people’s attitudes could not be
changed overnight, they had tried to lay
foundations on which they could build. The first
phase had now ended and a new one was
beginning in which many of the original group of
people were once more involved, and Mr Lyes
thanked them for their work in the past.
Some of the participants at the get-together.
After a brief review of general developments at
Mitcheldean, Mr Derek Portman, Director of
PSOD, took a look at what might be expected in
the next two years ‘on the participation front’.
The Productivity Campaign had done much to
contribute towards a better atmosphere in the
Plant and they were now starting to discuss what
the next stage could be. The aim will be to move
further forward, using as a base the work done in
the last Productivity Campaign, said Mr Portman,,
and he hoped that an agreement satisfactory to all
could be reached. ‘It is an exciting time and
provides an opportunity for a bit of idealism to work
through.’
Change was the subject of one of three Xerox
films shown during the evening. Entitled ‘The Age
of Transience’, it showed how science is forcing
the pace of our lives, what effect this is having on
the nature of the Company’s products, and how
these products can help people cope by making
information more readily accessible. Two other
films, one on the Company’s products and the
other showing the world-wide ramifications of the
Xerox complex of companies, were shown. But
the evening was essentially an informal one and in
its seasonable spirit of goodwill was a model of
participation I
ANY NEWS F O R V I S I O N?
If you have, then please —
• let your departmental correspondent know,
• or leave it at either Gate House for collection by me,
• or post it to me at Tree Tops, Plump Hill, Mitcheldean,
• or ring me — it’s Drybrook 41 5.
f\/lyrtle Fowler, Editor
12
Printed in England by Taylor. Young (Printers) Ltd.
