Born in Hayes, Middlesex an industrial town to the west of London in 1951, Chris was relocated to Cheltenham in Gloucestershire as a six-year old when the family moved to accommodate his father’s job. Engineering being in the family, it was only natural that at 16 he started work as a Mechanical Engineering apprentice gaining experience manufacturing parts for Commercial Aircraft Undercarriages and fuel system components for the RAF Harrier jump jet.
Not content to stay on the factory floor, Chris was given his chance designing heat exchangers and later roller bearings. He also had spells as a Project Engineer at Ina Bearing Company’s plant in South Wales and later as Bearing Line Supervisor. It was in South Wales that he formed Llanelli Athletic Club with a good friend Paul Oram.
Money was tight in South Wales as Margaret Thatcher came to power and the effect of the dreaded three day week left many people out of work but the family were lucky. They moved away from South Wales back to England when Chris got the job he coveted, selling a technical product to engineers and buyers. He joined SNFA Bearings, who, at the time, were a French owned high quality bearing manufacturer for aerospace and machine tool applications.
He was not there for long before a move to the company where he would spend the next 35 years came along and a move that had a great influence on his life. His time at HepcoMotion took him all over the world making presentations and negotiating contracts for automation products plus running a 70 strong salesforce. He retired as Sales Director September 2015 and not long after applied with his wife Lin to come to Australia, as by now all their children and grandchildren were here.
A keen runner and swimmer, athletics had been a wonderful experience even if it was all consuming at times. Today he just runs for fun.
His wife Lin has supported him at every twist and turn, she is not surprised that he is involved in Rotary, “Chris is not one for sitting around, he has to be involved and Rotary suits him just fine” says Lin.