Sweet celebration for long-serving customer

We would like to wish a very happy retirement to John and Maureen Hall, who founded one of the longest-serving businesses at our Fieldhouse Industrial Estate in Rochdale.

For 34 years the couple ran John Hall Schoolwear, a specialist school uniform manufacturing business. As two of the best-known faces on the site, business centre manager Damien Maddock asked his wife, a baker, to create a special cake to wish them well for the future.

Damien says: “John Hall Schoolwear is a really well-known firm in Rochdale and I used to wear their uniforms as a child. It is fantastic that the business will remain on-site with its new owners, but we will miss seeing John and Maureen around the centre.”

Impressive history

The business first moved to Fieldhouse in 1979, as a convenient location to house the 12 machinists who previously worked from home.

Company founder John recalls: “We started off in a small business unit for around 18 months, then as business increased we took a larger premises where we stayed for 28 years.

“We also had a premises in Manchester and in 2008 we decided to combine the two operations, so moved into our third business unit at Fieldhouse. We took a 10,000 sq ft unit and incorporated our Rochdale operation and the plant and machinery from Manchester into a single premises and never looked back. The business went from strength to strength.”

John continues: “The business unit looked great to customers and was on the main road with a car park. Customers could come into the offices and look down into the factory in the industrial space, which was on a lower level at the back.”

Happy memories

John says it feels strange to not be working after 50 years, but he and Maureen, who ran the business alongside him, plan to spend more time socialising and seeing their four grandchildren.

“I will miss seeing all the customers and the banter about football,” Manchester City fan John says.

Fieldhouse was a wonderful place to work and our relationship with Damien and the team was fantastic. I also must praise the security company, who were always so diligent and caring.

“The cake which Damien brought us was a wonderful surprise and we had it on display in our dining room as part of our Christmas celebrations.”

John Hall Schoolwear has been bought by Trutex and it will continue to operate from Fieldhouse Industrial Estate as an independent business within the group, from an expanded 20,000 sq ft premises.

Bizspace’s sales and marketing director, Emma Long, commented: “We always do our best to meet the needs of our customers and help with their changing business requirements. This is a perfect example of how a company has grown with us over the years and we are really proud to play a part in the history of John Hall Schoolwear.”

Fieldhouse Industrial Estate has more than 70 business units ranging from 600-53,000 square feet. For enquiries, please contact Damien Maddock on 01706 342 578.