At the end of May, Tony Blencowe a valued member of our warehouse team retired after 48 years of service at Hunt’s Food Group. Tony was with the business when it was Hunt’s Dairies based at the Waitrose site in Sherborne and can remember when the groundworks were laid for the site being built in Ludbourne Road Sherborne our now head office in 1976.
Tony has seen the business transition from the dairy, to a public cold store site, selling frozen retail and ice cream and now the retail/foodservice and natural ranges we sell today. To celebrate Tony’s retirement friends and colleagues met for tea and cake at head office. Tony was joined by Alan Osment (Warehouse Manager) who has done 49 years of continuous service and Pat Douch who recently retired after 43 years of service (pictured). The three recalled stories about their time at Hunt’s, our founder Michael Hunt and some infamous Christmas parties at local pubs. Tony also recalled a forklift instructor’s course Alan sent him on over 15 years ago, that he has still never forgiven him for!
Thomas Hunt, Managing Director who worked for Tony in the Sherborne warehouse 14 years ago recalled a few stories.
“Tony used to manage the picking team alongside Gary Spicer (Hunt’s legend with 32 years continuous service and counting) and used to check all our work for errors. It was my fourth day when I heard Tony bellowing from outside the store, “Thomas get here you useless idiot!” I can remember nervously making my way through store one as a 16 year old with my fellow pickers grinning at me.
Tony presented me with a box and asked me what it was, I confidently respded Lumpy Bumpy cake which it was however I had picked the chocolate, not the toffee version. After a few expletives, Tony threw the box at me with disgust, pointed out my error and funnily enough I never made this mistake again! I have always had the utmost respect for Tony he is an incredibly hard-working and loyal team member who has worked long shifts into the early hours of the mornings many times and is very much an unsung hero at Hunt’s.
Tony was crucial to setting up our cross-dock operation, overseeing the loading of all the trailers and I don’t think the cross-dock would have been such as success without his influence. It will certainly seem strange not having Tony around and I wish him and his wife all the best in their retirement”.
To celebrate Tony’s longevity and commitment to Hunt’s he was presented with a card, iPad and a five-night stay in the Fowey Valley Hotel for him and his wife.
We would like to thank Tony for all of his hard work and contribution to the success of Hunt’s over the last 48 years and wish him a very happy retirement.