What of the job prospects for our youth after this crisis is over?
IAM pretty sure I am not the only old codger who is finding this third lockdown is getting to be a tad monotonous. Way back in 2019 I did not have the most energetic lifestyle, but I seemed to get out at least two or three times a week.
Last weekend we filled the car up with petrol and found this was only the third trip to the petrol station since the start of the first lockdown last March.
We both enjoyed the short respite in the summer when we were encouraged to eat out to help out the local hostelries, yet we only managed around three or four trips before we were shut in again.
The four of us ex-railwaymen who have formed our luncheon club to chew over old times with our food did manage to get together once. I suspect we should not have done that, but we kept away from the virus and I guess gave the pub more help than harm.
Now we must get on the phone and check how we are coping with the restrictions. It does not take too long to check on the current health of each other, and make sure that our mental state is bearing up under the current strains.
I never thought any of my friends would suffer such problems, yet we are all now trying to cope with unusual times.
I am sure our little group is not alone in keenly wanting to get back to this lunchtime socialising, yet I fear we have some months to go before our release from purgatory.
I guess I am lucky in that of our small group I started my career in London as a trainee civil engineer. Whilst the others are all from around Derbyshire, they found themselves post school training to be mechanical engineers.
I have thus the added bonus of using the phone to make contact with those I first trained with and then worked with in the exciting times of the 60s and 70s.
For years we have had reunions in York each April and at Kings Cross in November. Both were cancelled last year. This year we have already accepted we will not be meeting in York, and we have even come to accept that the November function may not go ahead either.
All this reflection of those fascinating early days of our nowconcluded careers have left me trying to work out what is going to happen to the youngsters seeking similar careers today.
When I was at secondary school, one either got lucky and went to grammar school where you would take GCE O-levels and then maybe A-levels before moving on to either university or industrial studentships instead.
The majority of all school pupils at that time went to secondary modern schools where they were expected to leave in the July after their 15th birthday. Most of the boys would start apprenticeships while many of the girls were either off to the local college to become typists or maybe even started in the hairdressers to learn that skill.
In this 21st century, I cannot see any similar apprenticeships that after five years gave the lads what was known as a trade. As far as typing is concerned, both lads and lasses are already competent with a keyboard and do not need the college course. In most offices just about everyone has a computer and few in any businesses have secretaries.
As I see all the shop closures and the risk of the collapse of the hospitality industry, I just wonder where the jobs will be found for the youngsters in a couple of years’ time. I do remember the 1980s when we had only the disliked YTS for our youngsters. Is the conclusion of the current crisis going to create a permanent lack of worthwhile youth employment?
As I see all the shop closures and the risk of the collapse of the hospitality industry, I wonder where the jobs will be found...
TIED up in knots about what to buy your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day? Then we just might be able to inspire you. It’s unlikely you’re thinking of buying a loved one a knot - but what about a Victorian Etruscan revival gold love knot brooch?
It should come as no surprise to learn that a lavish knot of entwined gold is a symbol of love, matrimony, happiness and togetherness, and we have a particularly stunning example coming up for auction soon.
A jewellery design featuring a knot represents two people joined by love and loyalty and provides an example of the importance of jewellery as a symbol of everlasting love.
A ring, a never-ending circle, is another celebration of love whether in a simple gold wedding band, diamond engagement ring or lavish dress ring given as a gift to a sweetheart.
Jewellery and love will be together forever and a woman who amplified that in so many ways is Queen Victoria, who lived from 1819 to 1901. She was deeply in love with her husband Prince Albert, who died aged only 42, breaking her heart.
She famously wore black for the rest of her life and helped to inspire the popularity of mourning jewellery. We see many examples at Hansons including bracelets made out of a loved one’s hair. Our jewellery department is currently assessing a Victorian mourning ring which contains a strand of hair in a central compartment within a seed pearl and garnet surround.
Mourning jewellery offered the Victorians a way of keeping a loved one’s memory alive and close at hand. Securing a strand of hair in a locket or ring became popular among those who could afford it.
Victorian love knot offered a way to honour burgeoning passions, a romantic gift to celebrate love. Our jewellery expert Helen Smith is smitten with the Victorian Etruscan revival gold love knot brooch and points out that, yet again, we have Queen Victoria to thank for its popularity at that time.
Victoria’s enduring love for Prince Albert was translated through jewellery and a variety of love knot jewellery designs emerged in the Victorian era. A true lover’s knot features two interlocking knots which are movable but not breakable, as seen in this Victorian knot set with turquoise. Turquoise has been used throughout the ages in jewellery and Queen Victorian was a fan. She presented members of her bridal party with brooches set with turquoise.
However, the history of love knots in jewellery dates back centuries. The love-knot pattern usually has no discernible beginning or end to symbolise the constancy of the lovers’ bond. Love knots have been found in ancient Egyptian carved sculptures, ancient Greek jewellery and Celtic artwork.
The Victorian Etruscan love knot brooch, coming up for sale in our February 24 Derbyshire Winter Fine Art Auction, features interlocking loops set with round-cut turquoise and gold loops wand extravagant cannetille decoration to link swags and drops.
Cannetille is a type of metal decoration in the form of thin wires making a coarse filigree pattern, sometimes enhanced with a gemstone or enamelling.
It is named after the type of embroidery made with very twisted gold or silver thread.
The brooch was made by A.B Savory & Sons London, jewellery makers and silversmiths with roots dating back to mid-1800s. The brooch comes in its original fitted presentation case, something else we love to see.
Jewellery has adorned the body for 25,000 years for a variety of reasons. As well as celebrating love, it depicts wealth and power and has been worn as amulets to protect from evil or to bring good luck. Ancient tribal hunters wore jewellery made from the bones and teeth of animals they had hunted in the belief it would bring them future good yields.
Jewellery given as a token of love dates back to Egyptian times when people exchanged braided rings fashioned from hemp or reeds. These fragile materials were later replaced with leather, bone or ivory.
Iron was used by Romans to fashion rings for loved ones to be worn of the fourth finger of the left hand. They believed this finger contained the vena amoris, or vein of love. They were also the first to engrave rings with romantic phrases and this tradition continued. Hansons’ Historica auctions often feature medieval ‘posey’ rings which symbolise love and are engraved with a poem or saying. Elaborate ring designs became popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. An interlocking gimel ring, usually made with two or three interlocking bands, became popular. One would be worn by each partner then, when they married, all the bands were worn by the wife as one ring.
The art of romance is so beautiful captured by jewellery, it gives us great pleasure to see and assess your collections. If you are considering selling jewellery, watches or silver at auction, free valuations are always available. Email hsmith@hansonsauctioneers.co.uk.
THE BURTON-BASED Edwin James Group is launching a programme to expand its apprenticeship scheme from 10 to 15 per cent of the total workforce over the next two years.
The move marks National Apprenticeship Week and forms part of the company’s growth plans.
Chief executive Derek Smith started his career as an apprentice and believes the scheme is vital to the future of the business, and to developing the next generation of management talent.
Mr Smith said: “We are very proud of the continued success and growth of our apprenticeship scheme. It continues to go from strength-tostrength with talented people now developing their careers in all parts of the business.
“At a time when the engineering sector is facing a skills shortage, apprenticeship schemes are more important than ever to help young people forge a career in a challenging market.
“For Edwin James, developing talent from within is vital to the future growth of our Group.
“We have a strong track record of supporting young people into the sector, and with the expansion of our apprenticeship scheme, this is set to continue. But not all our apprentices follow the traditional path, joining at 16 or 18. We have many success stories of colleagues that join the Group and move into an apprenticeship or training and qualifications later in their careers.” According to figures from the Institution of Engineering and Technology, demand for engineers continues to rise, but 53 per cent of firms are concerned that a shortage of engineers in the
UK is a threat to their business.
Companies are reporting internal skills gaps that are widening disparities across the board from apprentices and trainees through to fullyqualified professionals.
The Edwin James Group is a national facilities, technical and process services group which operates throughout the UK with offices and service centres in Burton, Swadlincote, Louth, Newcastle, Peterborough, Daresbury, Tapton, Reading and Mildenhall, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness,.
The group offers a complete range of services including mechanical, electrical, energy and process engineering capabilities that are delivered by a highly-skilled workforce.
We have a strong track record of supporting young people into the sector
Derek Smith
ONE of Swadlincote’s top firms has been bought out by a major Irish industrial machinery company.
Mainline Hire Group - based in George Holmes Way, off Hearthcote Road - has been bought by AER Rents.
The tool and plant hire specialist is now under the ownership of AER, which is part of Dublin-based O’flaherty Holdings Group.
The Irish group bought Mainline from owners Keith Williams and Carole Poynton, who founded it in 1982, for an undisclosed fee.
But all its 34 workers - including Mr Williams and Ms Poynton - will keep their jobs.
And they say the takeover will help fuel their ambitious growth plans for the firm, which hires out tools, plant, cherry pickers and generators.
It will continue to function as a standalone brand within AER Rents. In a joint statement Mr Williams and
Mrs Poynton said: “We have always had a good working relationship with Mr Plant Hire (another Aerowned
brand) and are pleased to have the opportunity to become part of the AER Rents family.
“Mainline has always invested in class-leading assets and AER Rents’ investment will give the business and its customers access to expertise and resources to support our growth plans.
“As a thriving access equipment hirer in Derbyshire, we intend to grow our fleet to include electric scissors up to 33m and super booms up to 50m. With the growth in internet shopping new larger sheds are popping up everywhere and Mainline kit is helping those contractors deliver those buildings and the infrastructure within, on time and on budget.”
O’flaherty Holdings dates back to the 1940s, and its subsidiaries include Motor Distributors Limited, an Irish company specialising in Mercedes-benz cars and commercial vehicles, and MSL – a network of independent motor dealerships providing sale and after-sales services for Mercedes-benz, Mazda and Skoda.
The group first invested in plant hire in 2014, with the acquisition of London-based Mr Plant Hire. In 2019, it acquired Ireland-based Drogheda Hire & Sales. Each business retains its identity, but has grown under their new collective.
AER Rents group now offers a combined fleet of almost 1,500 modern-powered access machines, making it the 12th biggest UK access supplier by fleet size.
Corporate partner Alice Rees, of law firm Nelsons, acted for Mr Williams and Mrs Poynton in the sale.
She said: “The transaction started towards the end of 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
“Once the government-ordered lockdowns and restrictions were introduced in March, all subsequent meetings had to take place virtually, which was very much an unknown during the early days of Covid.
“To have been able to get the acquisition over the line in the midst of multiple lockdowns was a real achievement for everyone involved.”