Biography of Malcolm Archbald SMITH
[Ref. S.1]
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Instacom | |
Overseas work | |
Social activities |
In seeking new employment, Malcolm was made aware of an advertisement that this company were seeking a Measuring Surveyor. They manufactured and erected prefabricated timber buildings and it seemed ideal as their premises were within one mile of his home. His interview was on a Saturday and he walked from home on a wet morning wearing a freshly cleaned white raincoat. As he neared the premises, a lady drove through a puddle next to him and drenched him. She was being followed by the village policeman on his motorbike so was driving cautiously, however, the policeman thought it was funny and laughed.
The interview was successful but it turned out that the post for the Surveyor had been taken so Malcolm accepted a job as a Contracts Executive on a salary of £1850 pa. The position also included a company car which was good inasmuch as Malcolm was on the verge of buying a new car. However, the benefits of working close to home would be offset by much travelling.
Malcolm started on 1 March 1971 and for the first few months worked in the company offices at JEL House in Staines Road, Hounslow. He and two other new colleagues were put up in a small hotel in Englefield Green near Egham during the week and shared a car for the travelling. Malcolm then started working from the offices in Verwood, Dorset. Dealing with prefabricated modular timber buildings was a bit strange for Malcolm but it was not long before he was encouraged to take a management position with a new product. That was the Instacom which was a series of box structures each 10' wide x 30' long that bolted together. The job title was Instacom Contracts Manager and Malcolm suspected that he got it as no-one else wanted it.
The office and manufacturing works were located on the site of the former railway station in Verwood. Malcolm's work entailed checking the sites for new buildings to ensure access was possible then scheduling delivery and arranging assembly. Malcolm personally assisted a technical Manager (John Chubb) to erect one of the very early buildings for Camborne Council in Cornwall as a technique had to be developed to get the segments into position.
The contracts came in steadily and Malcolm was kept busy organising the work and travelling all over the country. Driving to the Midlands and beyond and returning the same day was not unusual, and several trips were made each week. Specialist sub-contractors were engaged for the work, but as demand increased the company took on directly employed teams and also several supervisors. Because most contracts were of short duration, it was quite difficult to get the erection teams scheduled accordingly. Also, there were often problems which caused jobs to over-run or to be delayed. Malcolm often had to make arrangements over the telephone from home during evenings and weekends. He even got woken up at 1am one morning by one of his workers who was unhappy. Malcolm just suggested he should put in his notice then put th ephone down. In 1973 he was required to define his job description.
The company also supplied buildings abroad and sometime members of staff were required to provide technical supervision to the contractor. Malcolm was sent on six such trips in Africa during the mid 1970's and he took many photographs during his time there.
1973 was the silver jubilee year for the Lesser group of companies and the their progress was noted in an article in the Bournemouth Evening Echo in February that year.
The job was very stressful and one Friday evening after a bad week, Malcolm and the other team leaders were discussing the problems. One of them said that he would probably fall out of his chair with a heart attack long before he retired. That made Malcolm think and start considering changing his job. He found a place on a course but had to keep it a secret for six months before resigning. When he left the employ of Lesser's, he took with him the company pension that he had accumulated.
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