Every organisation should have an "Old Fart". I lay claim to this honour after serving in the Manchester Committee for nearly 30 years (although my original intention was to serve fro one electoral term).

I spent most of my 35 years in the Plastics Industry working for Shell in a range of Technical Service & Development roles. Whilst working for Shell, I presented a number of technical papers to Institute Conferences and in 1971 was awarded the Silver Medal. In 1977 I was elected to Fellowship.

In the period 1986-1988 I served two terms as Chairman of the Manchester Committee and became an "ex-officio" member of the Council. My "claim to fame" whilst on Council was to persuade this London oriented group to hold its AGM outside London for the first time, and then to convince them that Manchester was the most appropriate venue. Not only did we have a most successful gathering, nut it also coincided with a major campaign to combine the PRI with the Institute of Metals, albeit with opposition from "purists".

The rest is history and was the start of a succession of mergers. What is important to members is that we worked hard to retain our Polymer Industry identity and influence. We believe this task has been achieved.

In 1988 I was invited to take the Chairmanship of the PRI Membership Committee and in so doing became a member of the Institute Executive Management Committee. In 1991 I resigned my HQ commitments and concentrated on my "local" activities. In 1991 I was presented with the Institutes Meritorious Award for services to the Manchester Section.