We are delighted to see Neil Perrins, Trade Team Manager, celebrating 20 years of service at Magna. Pictured raising a glass at a celebratory breakfast with his painting and decorating team, we caught up with him after the celebrations to hear more about his career over the years.

Neil started his painting and decorating career at the age of 16, working for various companies where he used to live in Shropshire before becoming self-employed and running his own business. When he moved to Dorset 20 years ago, he joined Magna as a painter and decorator for our response team and brought a wealth of knowledge and experience with him. After five years with that team, he moved over to the planned maintenance team where he still is today.

Neil said: “I can remember my first day as though it was yesterday. Coming in to collect my uniform, meeting my new manager, and being shown the ropes within the team. A lot has changed since then, but what has always remained is my enjoyment of the trade and the camaraderie in the team I work with.”

“I’ve spent the majority of my years within the planned maintenance team at Magna. First starting out as one of the decorators, and then progressing up to various supervisory roles after a few years before becoming their manager. I embraced the opportunity to move into management as although I love decorating (especially wallpapering), I didn’t want to still be going up ladders as I headed towards retirement!”

“When I decided to move into the management role, Magna supported me to learn new skills and to ease me into using technology. It can be hard to transition from manual roles to using office based systems and processes, so I was very grateful for the support I received to do this.”

Neil added: “I’ve had some great managers over the years at Magna who have helped me along the way. For anyone looking to start out their career in the trade, I would say to listen and learn from the people who have experience and can share their knowledge with you.”

Neil will be retiring in March 2024. We wish him a very happy retirement and thank him for being such a valued part of Magna for so many years. We’re honoured he has chosen to spend so much of his career with us, helping us in our goal of #creatinggreathomestogether.

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