DIAMONDS IN THE MAKING AS TWO MUIR MEMBERS AMASS ALMOST 60 YEARS OF SERVICE
DIAMOND-MAKING isn’t what housing associations are renowned for, but two sparkling members of Muir have completed almost 60-years of service between them.
As the Association celebrates its 50th year, Executive Director of Resources, Andrew Hunt, and Finance Officer, Alison Vaughan, have been reminiscing about times gone by after joining Muir within months of each other – so far amassing over 57 years.
Alison’s Muir career could potentially span five decades, having joined the Association in September 1989.
And Andrew recalled how Muir has grown since first stepping through the door in June 1990 – when Luciano Pavorotti’s inspiring rendition of ‘Nessun Dorma’ captured the imagination during the ‘Italia ‘90’ World Cup.
“I like working at Muir because many of my colleagues have become friends, it’s a place that’s fair to all and hard work is appreciated and rewarded,” Andrew said.
“When I joined I didn’t imagine I’d be here quite so long, and I’m sure Muir didn’t anticipate keeping me this long either.
“Muir was different in those days. We managed about 1,500 homes (compared to more than 5,500 today) - but our development programme was sizable at about 200 homes.
“Alison and I have been through several transformational changes at Muir.
“When we joined we had a mainframe computer with a few terminals. Software like Excel and Word were things we’d only heard about, and social media was the Radio Times.
“However, while many things have changed, our principles, values and ethical standards have remained constant.”
Despite an aversion to cooking, Alison almost trained as a chef before coming to Muir, but says there’s no cooking the books on the Association’s Finance Team.
“I enjoyed it at Muir from the start,” she said. “Everybody helped each other and there was a great family feel.
“I’ve had a lot of fun and Andrew and I have played a few tricks on each other over the years.
“But I enjoy problem solving and that’s also what motivates me.
“Things have changed from the days when we shared computers and I’ve had to embrace new ways of working, but if I wasn’t happy I wouldn’t have stayed,” Alison added.
