Posted on 17-July-2013   by Eric Lanyon

Farewell to Frank Stevens – 35 years at Daniels

It is with some sadness that we say goodbye to a Daniels institution – Frank Stevens. After 35 years with us Frank has decided to focus his energies on living life to the full and retire.

Frank joined the company on the 20th May 1977, when a pint of beer was 30p; a Litre of petrol was 18p and Rod Stewart was No.1 in the charts with “I don’t want to talk about it/ First Cut is the Deepest” and the Queen was celebrating her Silver Jubilee. Frank was part of the acquisition of Smith Surgical Services and gave up his role in their sales force to come and integrate the Daniels and Smiths product range, in our then Tring Office, as the Distribution Manager. Once that project was rolled out, and with everyone trained on medical products, Frank returned to the sales team covering North Thames, Anglia and the Central region.

With Howard’s arrival in 1992 – Frank particularly focussed on developing business in North Thames. Many of our key customers today were originally brought on by Frank, and many still remember his “always one to help” attitude, his charm and of course as we know his regular stream of jokes! Frank originally retired from Daniels in 1999 to be with his wife, who sadly passed away later that year. Then in 2000, with our representative in the North West off on maternity leave, Frank answered the call and spent the next 9 months supporting our business whilst staying over in a B&B in Blackpool during the week. He has a real ‘extra mile’ attitude that we have come to recognise as Frank’s true spirit.

Since I joined the company in 2003, Frank has been a great resource and support when our sales team needed some help with an exhibition or an audit. We always knew that we’d be sending someone in to assist who the customer would like and connect with. This genuine charm, that was always known to keep the nurses happy, is the same today as it’s always been and he will be greatly missed.

Now, having turned 80 in January this year, Frank has finally decided to call it a day… in order to get some more time on the golf course, and spend time with his lovely partner, Cybil.   I am sure you’ll all join me in wishing Frank a long and happy retirement and to thank him for being such a great friend and colleague over so many years. All the best to you Frank!

Managing Director of Daniels Healthcare, part of the Mauser Group. He is responsible for the sales and distribution operation of Daniels SHARPSGUARD® Containers.