A builder has hung up his tools after completing his last shift for a Dunmow firm, 50 years after he first started.
Brian Smith, 65, walked straight into his job at Pickford Builders after leaving school in 1965. He has stayed with the company throughout his working life and his final shift was on Friday.
Mr Smith, who lived in Great Dunmow for 32 years before moving to Rayne, said: “Even though I have worked for the same company I am always going to different jobs and meeting different customers. Each day is different.
“What I like about it is at the end of the day you have something to show for it. You can go back years later and say I built that.”
Mr Smith, who has three children and five grandchildren, also spent 28 years as a retained firefighter in Great Dunmow and had a spell working in security at Stansted Airport.
Pickford’s will be holding a retirement party for Brian today (Friday).
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