Portland College

September 02 2011

Longest serving staff member retires after 39 years service

On Wednesday 31st August 2011 Portland College’s longest serving member of staff, David Brittain, took his well earned retirement after an impressive 39 years of continuous service.

David retires his duties as manager of Portland Print, after originally joining the College in 1972 as a sheltered employee of Portshel Industries, the original name for the workshop. During his four decades within the department, there has been a tremendous amount of change from producing hearing loops and bench electronics upon his commencement of employment, to the current Portland Print, a fully functional design and digital print workshop with a huge range of internal and external clients, and despite these changes in direction, David has been able to adapt and maintain the same quality of work and professionalism.

David’s dedication to customer service and embracing change has seen him progress through the ranks to Workshop Supervisor, Production Manager and ultimately Print Operations Manager, taking full responsibility for the department for over 10 years of his working career at Portland. Under his stewardship, Portland Print has grown into a large business; it is testament to David’s strong leadership that the team is able to satisfy and maintain a large client base despite remaining a small department.

Tracy Raybould, Assistant Principal says, “It has been a real pleasure to work with David and see the Portland Print business progress and flourish under his management. There are not many people that can show the amount of dedication and commitment that David demonstrates and to work alongside him has been a true privilege.”

Throughout his 39 years at Portland, David has remained passionate about his work and it is for this reason that he will be truly missed by all at the College. His retirement plans include spending time with his family together with making the most of his Sky Sports package (!) and continuing as an active member of the Newstead Abbey Angling Club.

Pictured above are (L-R): Mark Dale (College Principal), Brenda Brittain, David Brittain, Chris O’Brien (College Governor), Alan Earnshaw (College Governor), Tracy Raybould (College Assistant Principal)