Port of Blyth has said goodbye and good luck to a truly special colleague. After an incredible forty six years with the Port, Operations Manager Ian Walker has retired.
During a recent leaving presentation, Chief Executive Martin Lawlor hailed Ian as a one off, whose longevity as a one company man is unlikely to be repeated any time soon: “Ian has given incredible service to the business throughout his time with us, serving in various roles in operations, excelling at all of them.
“His commitment and drive to succeed has been a key feature of his department and indeed the whole team here throughout all of his incredible 46 years. We wish Ian and his wife Claire all the very best as he begins what we hope will be a very happy retirement”.
Happily, Ian has agreed to spend some of his time volunteering with the Blyth STEM Hub, an educational partnership between the Port and several partners with many of the town’s schools. Ian is hopeful that he will be able to inspire the next generation to engage with the Hub, the Port and the many engineering opportunities that now exist here.
By way of a tribute to Ian, we have dug out the following promotional film from 1986 which features Ian (at 3.08) hard at work… with more than 30 years of his Port of Blyth career ahead of him:
