'I'm not ready to retire yet' says Neville, after 50 years with Boots

DEDICATED ENGINEER JOINS EXCLUSIVE CLUB

- By GEORGE PALMER-SOADY

IN January 1975, Neville Hopkinson was playing out with a friend in Elston when he got his first glimpse into what would be a proud 50-year career.

Neville, then 15, wasn’t far off finishing secondary school and wasn’t sure what he wanted to do next - until his friend’s mum waved a copy of the Nottingham Evening Post in front of them.

“She was saying ‘you two want to think about getting a job’ and there were all these listings by Boots for all these apprenticeships,” Neville said.

“There was every trade there - electricians, mechanics, plumbers, painters.

“I asked if I could borrow the paper and I wrote off and sent out my application.”

By April, Neville had been offered the position of a chemical technician apprentice at Boots’ headquarters in Beeston - for which he was paid £20.74 a week.

Now 66, Neville is part of the company’s 50 Year Club, which celebrates the dedication and hard work of employees who have worked for the health and beauty giant for half a century. An engineering manager at the Beeston site, he’s the first member to join the club from the company’s Support Office - known as the D90 building.

But engineering is far from the first department in the organisation Neville has worked at. #

When he started, at 16, he was offered the job of chemical technician because of ongoing strikes for better wages and working conditions for engineers.