A Thanet view

Twenty years ago, as Bev and I were starting out on our journey together, we had very little going in our favour apart from each other and the unconditional support of our friends and families. I've no reason, nor desire, to dwell on the past but it is only by looking back at our lowly beginnings that Bev and I are able to survey our current situation with a sense of achievement and pride. We've come a very long way and it's something that we can both take with us as we continue to move forward with our relationship and lives. Our home, this little bungalow in downtown Dumpton, is now ours. Every brick, blade of grass and broken fence post all bought and paid for. We owe nothing, to no-one, and that's a very comforting place to find ourselves in 2020.

Recently I made mention of the role that Unilever had played in my relocation to Kent, from Hertfordshire, as my factory in Redbourn was being closed down. I feel sure that if Unilever were still involved with the Bachelors brand, I'd still be working over at the Ashford "soup mine" in some capacity or other. I'm perfectly happy to state that my time within that organisation, particularly the Ashford period, was the most rewarding of my working life and has stood me in great stead ever since. Work, not work avoidance, has been the underpinning, fundamental, piece in the Wrathall family ethos. If we want something we can have it, so long as we earn the money to pay for it. Not a particularly radical concept, except to those who have no morals, nor conscience, and are happy to steal instead of earn. My departure from the Ashford factory is a rather unpleasant chapter in my story, as I've so many things to be grateful for. The lessons I was taught and being part of a workforce who were the most talented and committed bunch I'd ever had the privilege to have been associated with made it a very difficult to walk away. It was the, enforced, Campbell's takeover of the brand, which subsequently ended up with Premier Foods now being brand owners, that resulted in the wheels falling off of my personal development journey as profit, once again, took over as the main business focus. To be fair, is there any other way in these modern times? Well yes, ask Dan Price at Gravity, but these thoughts are for another day.

So here we are, in our little bungalow in one of the quietest backwaters within Ramsgate, still CT 11 and not Broadstairs, CT 10,  you understand, and, yet, I have only to look out of my study window to see the Fujifilm factory, which is situated inside the Broadstairs post code and has been my place of employment since 2005. It's the other side of my Newlands Farm patch and can easily be walked within ten minutes! Sixty four, no mortgage, happy, healthy & fit (ish) why am I still working? There are times when I have to ask myself this question but know, that in my heart of hearts, I have to remain true to the ethics by which my family have conducted themselves over the generations. I've never had the courage to offer myself for military service, as so many of my forebears have done, nor have I the ambition to push the boundaries in order to plough new furrows of business exploration. No, not for me, I've been happy to earn my living within the comfort of a multi-national enterprise. It's a very safe existence! Might not fit the mould for everyone, yet it has allowed me to lead a wonderfully diverse life as time has passed.

If it were not for the inheritance from my late parents estate, we wouldn't be as comfortable as we presently are, make no bones about that. What hasn't changed, however, is that underlying work ethic, thus I will remain in employment until my age/health dictates otherwise. Until such time, if we want something, then we can have it and I'm prepared to do the graft involved. Work at Fuji remains off the scale, I'm on 54 hrs/week as the company attempt to fulfil their clients order requirement. Brexit, Covid-19, who gives a shit? The world will continue to rotate and, all the while there's an extra few quid to be earned, I'll have my slice of that pie. If Bev and I are able to provide the same support for our kids, as have my parents, then our efforts will not have been without merit?

The Covid-19 situation is taking the UK into unprecedented territory, during peace time, and I've set a ball in motion which might result in some interesting blogging during the coming days? Watch this, and other, space!