We regret to announce that, after much thought over the Christmas period, Roger Crooke has decided to retire at the end of March 2010 at the age of 73.
A History
After leaving Hinckley Grammar School at the age of 15, Roger worked on two local farms before joining John Holdron Limited as a Parts Assistant in 1961 and, as the family business divided creating Hallmark Tractors in 1962, Roger joined the firm as a sales representative covering the Burton and Tamworth areas.
In 1978 he became a Director of the Company and took over responsibility for the Ashby sales force in the role of Sales Director in 1984.
So the mid 90's Roger identified the need for Hallmark to focus on the grain drying and handling market and has succeeded in building a national reputation for his depth of knowledge and passion for the subject, with weekly enquiries from within the UK for both buying and selling installations. He also in recent years took responsibility of re-establishing the Company's links with many local farmers, and doing what he enjoyed most..... sitting round a farmer's kitchen table and thrashing out a deal.
Whether he was putting an order on the desk for a bird scarer or a new combine harvester Roger was equally "fired up" and no matter how many times we told him the combine was more important he would always inform us that the "little things lead to the big things". I can say confidently that no one on the Company has worked more conscientiously to provide first class service for their customers and his efforts and his enthusiasm will be missed greatly by both the Company and his customers. We tried to talk Roger out of his decision but at this moment in time he remains resolute, although he does understand that if, in a month's time, he thinks he has made the wrong choice, all he has to do is park his car in the usual place and sit back down at his desk.
A Gift?
Obviously the Company would like to buy something for Roger as a thank you for all his efforts and Roger has very cleverly made sure he's got all the cheap things. We had a conversation with him that went along the lines of....
What about a watch?.... Got one
What about a decanter set?.... Got them
Holiday?.... Just been on one
And so it is with a tear in our eye that we announce the Company is going to replace Roger's car. If any customer feels they would like to make a nominal contribution to the fund we will make sure that Roger is aware.
In summary we would just like to extend on behalf of everyone at both Companies and Roger's many customers and friends our gratitude to him for his outstanding contribution within the Company and his efforts will be both missed and remembered for a very long time.