A MANAGING director, who started his career selling Christmas tree lights, has waved goodbye to the company he managed for 31 years.
John Blackall retired as head of Herbert Parkinson, Monton Road, Darwen, last Friday.
He started work in 1958 as a 16-year-old in London's Oxford Street John Lewis store, selling the festive lights before moving up the company ladder.
On November 1, 1971, he was appointed general manager of Herbert Parkinson, a branch of the John Lewis Partnership, and one of Darwen's largest employers with a 300-strong workforce.
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