Lee’s work worthy of celebration
After 25 years of service for logistics firm Peter Baker Transport, Lee Willets is keen to keep on trucking in her little slice of paradise.
Although based in Nelson, Willets works remotely in the IT department for head office, dealing with customers from all around New Zealand and looks after some of the company’s core systems.
‘‘Every day there’s something different- they’ve been good to me throughout my time here.’’
While a morning tea shout last Thursday took Willets by surprise, official recognition from her superiors on April 6 was harder to keep under wraps.
‘‘Head office flew me up to Auckland and I had this huge presentation on the back of a truck with music and lunch, so that was pretty cool.’’
Her career, that began at Auckland in 1992, started in a manifest role which she said involved ‘‘mostly data entry’’.
‘‘When I first started there were only three main branches in the bigger centres of Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch, and now we’ve got 18 so it’s grown quite hugely,’’ she said.
Willets soon progressed to designing systems and products that go out to PBT clients.
Like many who make the move to the region, it was the Nelson lifestyle that prompted her to head south in 2004.
‘‘I came down here on holiday, went back home and me and my partner just thought ‘yep, that’s where we’d like to move’ - so they moved my job down here for me,’’ she said.
She was grateful for the acknowledgement as well as being able to develop her career over the years.
Willets was also presented with a framed certificate commemorating her long service to the company, which now took pride of place in her Nelson office.
While some travel and a few more rounds of golf at her beloved Nelson Golf Club are on the cards, Willets said she had no plans to wrap up her time with PBT just yet.
‘‘There’s so many chapters that you can do, so you never say never to anything.
‘‘I like it here, it gives me my challenges that I require out of work - life is pretty cool actually.’’