50 years of service for Whitworths pair as Wellingborough millers celebrate a century at company

Denise Kruger has been with the company for 50 years, having started at a firm in 1975 in Cotterstock just two days after her 16th birthday.

That mill would later be taken over by Whitworths in 1984, and in 1991, Denise made the move to the Wellingborough site, where she has remained ever since.

Denise, who is originally from Oundle, said: “I’ve only been unemployed for two days in my whole life, I had a long weekend, and that was it.

“In those days going to university was a big thing and we didn’t have the money for it, so we all went out to work.

“The first day I didn’t want to go back, it was a company that was near where I lived so I used to cycle to work every day. I went home at lunchtime on the first day and told mum ‘I’m not going back, I don’t like it’ and she said ‘you’ll be fine when you get there.’

“Those words resonate every day of my life, because even if I don’t want to go, I’ll always hear my mum saying ‘you’ll be alright when you get there.’

“It’s carried me through my life.”

Since starting in the trade, big changes and recent acquisitions have had a big impact on Denise’s job, however she has been in her role as it exists today for around 20 years as the supply chain manager.

Denise added: “I’ve seen so many changes. I’ve been through from the lab when I was 16 to now being supply chain manager, and through that time I’ve worked in every department at some point.

“It’s been an ever-changing landscape, and now we do what we do best, which is flour-milling.”

Whitworths was founded in 1886, and since then has become the UK’s largest miller, and a household name with its products including flour, dried fruits, and healthy snacks.

While Denise is marking her 50th year with the company this month, fellow employee, Marvin Rodwell will enjoy the same celebrations in September, having started at Whitworths half a century ago next month.

A machine operator by trade, Marvin has a machine named after him, with another arriving in a few months, which will be named ‘Rodwell.’

Marvin joined the company on September 22 1975 at the age of 16 as a general cleaner, and was introduced to the machines, and today works as a machine operator.

Marvin said: “I had a good team behind me who showed me what to do as they went on.

"I met my wife and got married in 1981 and got married they had a collection for me, which was nice.

"We used to do the job by hand years ago.

“The job progression is good, you learn different ways of doing things. I’ve gone through seven managers in my time and good team leaders.

“There is pride, 50 years you look back and it goes by so fast.”