12 Dec Staff Spotlight: Colin Paul

On 20th December 2023, Gray & Adams will say goodbye to long-serving employee Colin Paul. Colin is based at Fraserburgh and has worked for Gray & Adams for 50 years. We have caught up with Colin before his retirement to find out more about what he will miss about working for us and what he is looking forward to as he enters this new chapter.

Tell me about your time with Gray & Adams

I left school in the summer of 1973 and I started here on January 7th 1974. Before I left school, one of the technical teachers came around the classes asking us if we had jobs, when I mentioned that I didn’t have a job he told me Gray & Adams were looking for apprentices. He phoned up Gray & Adams for me and let me know that I had an interview with them in November of 1973. I was accepted into the apprenticeship and given my start date of 7th January 1974. When I first came to Gray & Adams for my interview, one of the first people I saw was the warden who told me to have a walk around the building and the premises to get a feel for the company. It was so interesting to see the facilities and how they constructed the vans back then – everything is very different now!

I spent four years in my apprenticeship as a commercial vehicle body builder, becoming a journeyman. I worked in the door department for a number of years, working on the rear doors of the trailers. As the company progressed, so did I. They opened the repairs department and were looking for people who were skilled in each department to join this new team to ensure they knew what to do each time a new repair came in. I got called to work in this new department and have been here working as a Repairs Technician for over 20 years. I am grateful for the opportunity to move into the repairs department, I have loved coming to work every day and experiencing something different. It has been an exciting role for me, doing different jobs every day.

What have you enjoyed most about working for Gray & Adams?

For me, it’s been the people that I have got to know over the years. The people at Gray & Adams and on my team have always been able to have good banter together, going to work was always good fun. We would come in on a Monday after the weekend’s football matches and be able to have a laugh with each other over who’s team won or lost. The management team has always been nice and everybody has been so friendly over the years. It’s been a good place to work. When I fix a job, my boss Mike would tell me that he was proud of the work we had done and that always made me feel good knowing that I was producing excellent quality work.

Gray & Adams has been my life, when I first started here there were only two buildings and it has grown and progressed so much since, it has been fascinating to watch it change over the years. I am very proud to have worked for Gray & Adams over the last 50 years.

What are your plans for retirement?

I finish up at Gray & Adams on the 20th of December 2023. I don’t yet know my retirement plans, we haven’t made any decisions on what we will do, I just know I will be relaxing and enjoying the first few weeks. I look forward to visiting my daughter in Peebles and my son in St Cyrus, over the Christmas period.

Colin would like to thank everyone who has been part of his time at Gray & Adams and will think of his time there with fond memories. He would like to give a mention to Bill Sinclair, who passed away a few years ago but made a big impact on Colin’s time at Gray & Adams, being a fantastic mentor to Colin over the years.

James and Peter Gray would like to thank Colin for his commitment to the company and wish him all the best in his retirement going forward.