Longest-Serving Employee Retires After More Than Half A Century

Thursday 8th February 2018

Guest Truck and Van’s longest serving employee has officially retired after 52-and-a-half years in the

business. 

 

Pete Harvey joined the company in 1965 as a 15-year-old apprentice in the parts department and

has watched the business flourish from having just three sites in the West Midlands, to becoming

the largest IVECO commercial dealer in the UK and one of the largest in Europe. 

 

Now aged 68, the Aftersales Marketing Manager has decided to retire. 

 

“When I started out we had just two dealerships and a bodyshop,” recalls Pete. “Now we have 14

sites, three bodyshops, a vehicle lining operation and a tyre and auto centre.” 

 

Pete completed his apprenticeship at the original bodyshop site in Wednesbury before stepping up

to assistant parts manager there. After 13 years, he was relocated to the head office in West

Bromwich, where he was promoted to Parts Manager.

 

Pete was later promoted to General Manager before being appointed Aftersales Marketing Manager

in 2012.

 

“They took a chance on me so I took a chance on them and went for it,” he explained. “I’ve always

worked in the parts department, albeit in different jobs.

 

“I’ve seen a lot of change during my career - both in the industry and within the company too.

Technology has made a huge difference to the way in which we operate. In my earlier years

everything was done by hand and written down - we worked from parts catalogues, jotting down the

parts numbers, description, quality and price. It was a lengthy process, to say the least!

 

“Now all we have to do is search for a part number on the computer and all the information is there

in front of us.”

 

“I’m proud to have been a part of that expansion which involved training new staff and spreading

the Guest philosophy,” added Pete.

 

“First and foremost it's a family-owned business and that’s one of the reasons I chose to spend my

entire career at Guest. It’s been amazing to see the company develop over the years. The success of

any business is always down to the people who it employs and the fact that there are so many

long-term members of staff speaks volumes.”