Shepcote stalwart Tina retires after 47 years

August 1976 – James Callaghan was the prime minister; England was in the middle of one of its hottest summers and Elton John and Kiki Dee were at the top of the charts with Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart.

It was also the month that Tina Croft started working at confectionary manufacturer Shepcote’s factory on Church Street in Driffield, and started a 47-year association with the company that only came to an end on Friday, 17th February.

Having decided to retire from her role at Shepcote, now based on Kelleythorpe Industrial Estate, Tina’s final day started with a presentation made by managing director Richard Shepherdson in front of dozens of her colleagues – many of whom had given up the start of their day off to say farewell to a much-loved co-worker.

When Tina started at Shepcote, all work on the factory floor was done by hand and she was able to show her skill – and lots of patience – creating delicate sugar piped roses.

Away from the factory, she also enjoyed going on outings organised by Shepcote, which took the staff to the set of Coronation Street and to the races, among other locations.

Paying tribute to his long-term employee, Richard described Tina’s talent in producing the confectionary as ‘incredible’.

And although she will be missed by everyone at Shepcote, he wished her all the best ahead of a well-deserved retirement.

“To employ someone who has worked at the same firm for so long is incredible and I don’t believe it will happen with the next generation of workers who will follow Tina,” said Richard.

“Tina started on Monday 9th August 1976 and in those days, Shepcote was based at the factory on Church Street.

“She started working under Audrey Hick, who was the factory manageress for many years, and was based at Church Street until 2007 when the company relocated to Kelleythorpe.

“It means she has worked around two-thirds of her career at Church Street and the other third at Kelleythorpe.

“Living in Driffield, Tina always used to walk to work and wondered how she was going to be able to travel up to Kelleythorpe.

“However, she bought a motorised bike, along with a helmet and a Hi-Viz and has used it ever since.

“Tina has an incredible talent. She made amazing sugar piped roses, small, medium or large, all by hand.

“She will have done them for 42 out of the 46-and-a-half years she has worked here and that only finished when we stopped producing them.

“On the marzipan side, she was also very skilful.

“Tina was always prompt, hardly off sick and a pleasure to work with. In a letter she wrote to me before she left, Tina mentioned how much she had loved the factory outings we ran.

“Everyone will really miss Tina and she leaves us with our love, affection and many thanks and best wishes for a healthy retirement.”

With lots of happy times to remember, and plenty of gifts from her colleagues to enjoy, Tina can now look forward to enjoying her retirement.

Top of her agenda is spending time in the garden, whilst she has already been able to book in lunch with friends in the first few weeks of leisure.

“I can’t believe I’m retiring and it is sad to be leaving,” said Tina. “It doesn’t feel like I’ve been here for this long, it has flown by.

“I’ve enjoyed it, especially doing my flowers and the sugar products. It requires patience, but I have lots of that.

“A lot has changed since I started at Shepcote. Everything is done by machines now, whereas when I started it was all done by hand.

“Relocating to Kelleythorpe was better for the firm and it wasn’t too bad for me either, only living in Driffield.

“I’ve had lots of memorable times and made many friends, some of whom have been and gone and others who have left.

“The staff outings were always good fun and were nice days out.

“I’ll be staying in touch with everyone and will pop up to the factory next week to see them.

“I’ll miss it and wouldn’t have retired had it not been for ill health. I’m planning to sort my garden out and I’ve already been asked out for lunch twice.”