The Retirement

Of

Terry O’Brien (Pafra Adhesives, 1969-2008)

Terry joined Pafra Ltd on 1 July 1969 and starts retirement on 1 August 2008, after a career spanning more than 39 years with the Company. It is very unlikely that PAL, or many other companies today, will see such an occasion.

Terry joined after previous experience in the Chemical Industry in Essex, which he served whilst gaining his HNC in Chemistry and then study for graduate Associates of the Plastics Institute. It was soon spotted on joining Pafra, that Terry was a keen ‘experimenter’ and his career has then followed this path right up until the day he finally put away his spatula and hung up his lab coat for the last time, on 31 July 2008.

During this illustrious career with the Company, he was responsible for and became the lynch-pin of Pafra’s development of new products for use in the paper and converting industry, which the Company serves. Our reputation today, is in no small way the result of Terry’s assiduous attention to detail and understanding of how customers’ machines operate and how the adhesive needs to behave in order to get the optimum performance at affordable cost. Many in the industry will rue his leaving and have hailed his retirement with compliments for their good fortune to have worked with him. He was a familiar sight at companies across the UK and near Europe for his skills in adhesives and operating packing machines and laminators.

But his influence will not disappear as he sets off into retirement as he leaves behind him a ‘Laboratory System’ which he has perfected over the years and trained a number of followers who take over his mantle in the Laboratory, when he has gone! In his time, he trained and became a recognised Rheologist and set much of the ‘work standards’ now employed in our Laboratory along with the Quality Standards first used on the automated manufacturing plant as early as the 1970’s.

Unfortunately, Terry has chosen to retire rather than to ‘withdraw’ from development in a graceful way but it is probably better to quit at the top and make sure the phone only rings by family, friends and well-wishers rather than “We have a difficult problem sticking x to y; how would you solve it, Terry?”

His successor, who also becomes Technical Manager following the recent Acquisition of Adhesives International Ltd, is Dr Andy Steward. Andy joined the Company on 1 July and is an accomplished polymer chemist, which he brings to the future development of the Company. A fully trained Laboratory team is in place to continue the work that Terry leaves behind.

From a grateful Company and colleagues old and new, Pafra Adhesives Ltd says farewell and a happy and healthy retirement, to a person who will not be forgotten quickly, on a number of personal and professional levels, during a very long and distinguished career in our industry.