Howard Renwick, the founder of Caltech Lifts, Dundee, today announces that, with effect from June 1 2013, he has officially retired, having handed over the reins to his sons Andrew and Fraser.
In recent months they became directors of the company and Andrew took over as Managing Director. Having seen that family succession completed successfully, Howard (66) now feels the time is right to officially retire from the business he started 35 years ago.
Almost — he plans to continue as a director of Caltech and have some continued input into its marketing, but working from home with more time for his wife Linda, his two Cocker Spaniels and his hobbies of metal detecting and photography.
Very fortunate
Why now? “No particular reason — the time was about right,” he says. “Why not? I consider myself very fortunate that two of my four children have followed me into the business. I have full faith in their ability to take it forward to new heights.”
Speaking about his father’s achievement since he found the firm in 1978, Andrew Renwick said: “My father’s decision to leave a full-time job to set up his own company at quite a young age would not have been an easy one to make, but he was determined to succeed and highly ambitious.
“This drive has been key to creating what is now a successful and well-known name in the UK lift industry. It’s important for us to continue with the same values and vision with which our father set out as we continually look to grow the business.”
Caltech Limited is one of the UK’s leading suppliers and maintainers of lifting equipment, including passenger lifts, goods lifts, disabled access lifts and stairlifts to the Public and Private Sectors, and has a turnover of £1.3m and growing. Last year it was accepted on to Business Gateway’s growth pipeline programme and plans to grow to sales of £2.2m in the next two years.
Background
Caltech was founded by Howard in 1978 as Instrument and Control Engineering, calibrating, repairing and testing items such as boiler pressure gauges for jute mills and other companies such as D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, Keillers (of marmalade and jam-making fame), Hydro-Electric and Occidental Petroleum. It only evolved into the lift firm it is today through happenstance — around 1985 Howard started working with a lift industry contact and realised his lifelong passion for precision engineering was ideally suited for this type of equipment. So he changed the name of his firm to Caltech Ltd — it stands for Calibration and Technology. “I thought it was very clever,” he confesses with a wry smile.
Howard’s passion for “tinkering” with things began in his childhood in Monifieth, where he would build model planes and trains with miniature diesel engines as well as tune car engines. After leaving Rannoch School, he studied at Dundee’s Commercial College before spending four years as a trainee manager at motor trade parts firm Gaedor in Trades Lane. Then a stint at the Department of Employment, working at Labour exchanges in Glasgow and Edinburgh, led to a job on a Government technology training scheme…which he left to take one of its courses in instrument calibration, testing and repair! “I was always interested in precision instruments — I’ve never regretted that,” Howard says.
That led to a job looking after the control systems at the Central Electricity Generating Board’s 2,000 Megawatt power station at Didcot, Oxfordshire. After three years Howard transferred to Dundee’s Carolina Port power plant, but seven years later, in 1978, he was faced with the options of a transfer to Peterhead or a redundancy package. He chose the latter, partly because it came with his set of high-quality calibration equipment with which he could start his own company. In fact, Howard has only recently stopped taking on calibration work using that same kit, which he would like to hand on to someone who could use it and appreciate its quality.
Wise choice
Making the decision to go it alone has proven to be a wise choice as the company which grew from that day is now one of Scotland’s leading passenger and stairlift suppliers and installers with a turnover of £1.3m and growing.
In recent years Howard brought two of his four sons into company — Fraser (28) joined in 2002, with Andrew (31) following in 2008. Both have learned about the business from the ground up — working on lifts as well as being taught about management by their father. Andrew took over as Managing Director in March this year.
Reflecting on his most memorable lift installations over the years, Howard reckons the most lucrative was the passenger and disabled lifts at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre in 2003 — a £200,000 contract — while the largest single one is the 40-person lift at the Johnstons of Elgin cashmere plant.
Hobby
Now he’s retiring, Howard will have more time for his main hobby — metal detecting. He actually made his first detector in 1970 using instructions in an electronics magazine, a broom handle and some foil and is a member of three clubs as this gives him access to different parts of country each Spring and Autumn. Why does he enjoy it? “The fresh air, exercise and the thrill of finding something interesting, if not valuable.”
His most interesting find was a Roman axe called a dolabrum, which he found on the top of a field in 2003 in Perthshire. Looking for confirmation of its authenticity, Howard took it to the Antiques Roadshow militaria expert when the TV show visited Dundee in 2008. He didn’t think it was Roman, or even iron, but photos sent by Howard to the Royal Museum of Scotland led to his identification being vindicated, a place for the axe in Perth Museum and a reward.
Howard’s other private passions are his Cocker Spaniels Ellie and Phoebe and photography, which he began with a box Brownie. Some of his initial retirement period will be spent sorting more than 2000 slides shot over that time!
Howard is married to Linda, a school teacher, with whom he plans to enjoy more holidays.
– See More At: Herald Scotland
