Barry tops the table of ISG Jackson’s longest serving staff, which features 40 current employees with over 10 years’ service, including current managing director, Bernard Clarke with 37 years’ experience at the business.
Joining the company’s forerunner, FJ Construction, in 1964 as a clerk – the business that was set up by celebrated construction magnate Frank Jackson just one year earlier, Barry intended this simply to be a temporary job. In a corporate policy that is very much reflected in today’s business, Frank Jackson was a great supporter of continuous professional development and Barry was soon enrolled on a day release course at Ipswich College, studying for a range of City & Guilds, ONC and HNC qualifications on his way to becoming a surveyor and then latterly a buyer.
Barry’s lengthy employment record with the ISG Jackson business has provided him with an unparalleled insight into a company that has helped shape much of Ipswich and East Anglia’s built environment over the course of the last half century. Barry remembers the company’s first £million contract in the mid-1970s.
“It was an incredibly exciting time within the company when we were awarded our first ever contract valued at £1 million. The project was for Paxman Diesels in Colchester and comprised a series of large workshops and industrial sheds. This was at a point when the annual turnover for the business was around £1 million a year, so represented a massive step forward in our capabilities.
“Despite many changes along the way, the reason that I have remained with ISG Jackson is down to the core fundamentals of the business, which really haven’t changed at all over nearly fifty years. The company is committed to supporting staff development and helping individuals achieve their true potential, and there is a great team spirit that I can trace all the way back to FJ Construction.”
Bernard Clarke, managing director of ISG Jackson, added: “Barry has been an outstanding asset to the business over his long career with us and is an excellent example of what can be achieved with hard work and the determination to succeed. Barry leaves us to spend more time enjoying his hobbies of gardening, photography and walking, although we hope to be tempting him back to play in the company cricket team that he has expertly managed for the last 25 years. On behalf of everyone at ISG Jackson, I wish Barry all the very best for a happy retirement.”
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