Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Builders merchant Travis Perkins has celebrated with one of its colleagues who has 60 years with the business under his belt.
Jim McCarty started working for the company in July 1966 as a 16-year-old and he still works full-time at Travis Perkins’ Trowbridge branch.
The company he joined was independent builders’ merchant James Ladd & Sons which was then acquired by Sharpe and Fisher in the late 1980s before it became Travis Perkins in 1999.
He says: “The business has just grown and grown throughout my time with the company, which has taken several different forms over the years. I love coming in every day. We have some great customers in this branch who have been using us for their building materials for years. Coming in and having banter with them every day is part of the reason I still enjoy coming to work. My branch colleagues are great too. I love speaking and interacting with people as much as anything, and that is something the merchanting sector has given me over the years. When I first started as a 16-year-old, I did a lot of the heavy lifting, but now I am older, the rest of the team makes sure they look after me. I have no plans to slow down just yet.”
Carine Jessamine, group marketing & digital director, adds: “To have worked for Travis Perkins for 60 years is an incredible achievement and everyone connected with the business sends their congratulations to Jim on what is a tremendous milestone. He is a great character and he is immensely popular with all his colleagues at our branch in Trowbridge.”
