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  • Alpine Soft Drinks
    I joined Alpine in 1976 at the age of 20, working in the Cannock vehicle workshop under John Copeland, the mad Irishman! My first day was a baptism of fire as Monday’s were defect days for truck maintenance, where we would load a changeover truck with parts & tools and head off to our designated depot or depots to carry out repairs. The work was hard and the conditions were poor, but the opportunities, working atmosphere and camaraderie kept me working for Alpine until 1990. Having stumbled across this site by accident, it has been a joy reading the comments and bringing back memories of the people mentioned, understandably mostly sales related. I was lucky enough to progress through the ranks, moving to Beeston in 77 then to Cardiff in 79 as an area manager, looking after Swansea, Aberdare, Bristol and Chelmsley Wood, then added London eventually returning to Chemsley Wood in the early 80s when I covered the UK. I was lucky enough to know all of the managers and many of the supervisors including the directors during my employment I too wonder how they are or if they are still with us? Some of the names to jog the memory, Stan Crewe our ultimate leader who famously said plastic bottles will never catch on, he moved to Florida, Tony English who I used to see often in Stratford upon Avon who told me he was still in contact with him, but that was a few years ago. I worked with Alan Taylor on and off until around 2008. Fond memories of the Beech brothers, Cooper man, Pete Brooks, Brian Lucas, Alun Jenkins, Mick Collins, Malcolm Lees, John Middleton, Pete Murray, Wally Room, John Priest, Joe Brown, Kieth Price FD, John Dasent, John Boulton, Neil or Nigel Harvey. Geordie Johnson, Alun Davies. On the transport side, George Aspinall, Trevor Rushworth, Bob Marshall. Ray Surman, Chop Lawson, Brian Kettlewell, Keith Wakefield, Martin Butler, Bob Williams, Barry Hinks, John Orme, apprentice Lee. Production, Alf Hunt, Clem Lewis, Gordon Snelgrove, Billy from Liverpool, Pete Macadam, Robert Ross and the list goes on. I can truly say that there was never a day that I did not want to go to work, for the people, the fun and the sheer experience. It was only when Pedigree sold to a consortium headed by Andrew Greystokes then of City & Westminster and a change to the attitude of door to door selling along with a change of ethos by the new management saw its decline. As they say all good things come to an end.

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