A LIFETIME AT WEATHERITE – TECHNICAL DIRECTOR PAUL GRIFFITHS RETIRES AFTER 47 YEARS!

Weatherite’s longest serving employee, Technical Director, Paul Griffiths, has retired from Weatherite - and what a journey it has been.

Weatherite’s Technical Director Paul Griffiths has called time on an illustrious 47-year career as one of the leading technical engineers in the air conditioning industry.

Beginning in 1974 and after leaving school Paul started at the business as an apprentice – in an industry that wasn’t prevalent in the 70s. The company was then called Midlands Efficiency Services Ltd which was partnered by the company’s current Chairman, John Whitehouse. There were just three other employees at this stage, and they had all just moved from a sun lounge to a small factory unit in Lye, West Midlands.

At this time, the company were distributers for Daikin equipment and undertook small installations and product sales to contractors.

“Business in those days seemed to include more social interaction with the companies we dealt with – five-a-side games against other Daikin distributers in annual tournaments in Belgium and UK; cricket matches against suppliers and coach trips to skittle nights in Cheltenham with customers at Dowty Group to name but a few,” said Paul.

During the latter part of the 70’s, the company started to sell more equipment including chillers from a British manufacturer Hall Thermotank, fan coil units from Enviroheat and close control units from Deltaclima, so Paul was exposed to much broader technologies and on a fast-learning curve.

In 1978, the company moved to larger premises and began a small manufacturing facility for specialised A/C products including AHU’s and packaged units for BT.

In March 1980 the company changed name to Weatherite Ltd and Paul became Sales Supervisor – supervising internal application engineers in equipment selection, product application, quotations and client liaison. The BT involvement grew as Weatherite developed products for its digital telephone exchanges and both he and John Whitehouse started to go around the country promoting this product to what was then pretty independent regional BT planning departments.

In 1985, the company moved to larger manufacturing facilities in Corngreaves Road, Cradley Heath, West Midlands, and in July of that year, Paul was promoted to Product Manager, responsible for Telecommunications Products and managing associated teams including a drawing office, sales engineers, contract engineers, electrical and mechanical designers. This was a massive period of growth with BT and soon Weatherite had a pretty much dedicated factory at Newlyn Road for both staff and shopfloor operatives involved with BT products.

During the mid 80’s Weatherite also started to do work for Tesco and began to build large rooftop packaged units which was the start of a long journey with Tesco which the company is still on today.

In 1989 Paul became Technical Manager and was heavily involved with product design of all company products working with the electrical and mechanical engineering department. This also involved close liaison with the Sales team and end user engineering departments and its design consultants.

This was not only a period of business expansion but a time where other influences were dramatically changing the industry. Energy efficiency became paramount, rapid changeover from R22 refrigerant to more environmentally friendly alternatives and the pressures of legislation on equipment designs so Weatherite had to keep informed of these developments and spread the knowledge to their own people and clients.

In November 1993, Paul was promoted to Technical Director at Weatherite Air Conditioning Ltd. taking responsibility for all company product design and application. Working closely with the sales team and client base to design and develop bespoke products, providing technical solutions and advice for sales, contracts, manufacturing, and service sections of the company. He became a central point for this knowledge base and presenting numerous training seminars and CPD’s to a wide range of recipients. Paul was very involved with the company’s blue-chip retail customers including, Tesco, M&S, JLP and Waitrose, and helped design and develop notable products such as cold air retrieval, air source heat pumps, displacement ventilation and hydrocarbon products.

“Things continued to change in the industry, but these also opened opportunities and we managed to forge some great long-term relationships with clients as they became confident in using us for innovation and market leading solutions, said Paul.

“Innovative solutions and technology inevitably have teething problems and I spent many hours scratching my head and late-night thinking with some eureka moments!

“Finding solutions can be an achievement but the route to that can be time consuming and frustrating – times I won’t miss!”

In 2006, Weatherite moved from three different manufacturing premises in Cradley to our current facility at Credenda Road – since then Chairman, John Whitehouse, has been buying up more local properties as the business has expanded.

“I have to say it has been so much better working for a boss who is an engineer at heart than a pure accountant,” said Paul.

“John has always had a keen eye on new opportunities and hasn’t hesitated in backing new ideas and fully supporting our products through development stages.

“He has always invested in new technology and this has undoubtedly kept us ahead of the game.”

BT has been a long-term client and the last few years have seen other major innovation in adiabatic products and latterly new dual cool units for which Weatherite has designed and built a very impressive test facility.

“I’ve always been an advocate of passing on knowledge and have worked alongside numerous colleagues for many years now who have blossomed in their career paths and I’m confident they have the necessary skills to continue development of new products into the future,” he continued.

“As Technical Director, I have had some really great people around me in my department, who have all been dedicated and keen to provide the service required to other departments and clients alike – I will miss the interaction with them.”

Paul’s plans for retirement include helping his children with their new homes and he plans on playing a bit more golf, as well as seeing more of friends and family following the last year or so of Covid restrictions.

“My wife, Mel, and I plan to do more travelling – there are lots of places in the UK we would like to see for the first time and some to re-visit.

“Hopefully, we can go a bit further afield as restrictions are relaxed, Mel has got an extensive bucket list!”

“The thing I will miss most in retirement is the people! Over the years you develop relationships with your colleagues, many of whom I regard as friends outside of work. It will be strange to meet up with them in future and not talk about work, but I guess its something you get used to.”

Picture caption: Paul Griffiths who has retired from Weatherite after 47 years.