Mark Reynard celebrates 40 years with Johnsons

When Mark Reynard started work as an apprentice with Registered Affiliate Johnsons of Whixley just days after his 16th birthday, little did he know that 40 years later he would still be with the business, heading up the company’s retail sales operations.

Mark joined North-Yorkshire based Johnsons in June 1980 on an apprenticeship that was due to run for three years, with a mixture of college and work-based learning. His only previous job had been a paper round.

After successfully completing his apprenticeship, Mark took on a variety of roles, including growing plants then loading and delivering them to customers. After around 10 years, he switched to the sales team where he worked his way up to the post of retail sales manager, overseeing the supply of plants to independent garden centres across the country.

Across the decades, Mark has seen the company grow considerably – while remaining a true family business.

It’s changed beyond belief

he said.

We’ve gone from 20 or 30 staff to around 160 – that’s an incredible change and a tribute to all the hard work people have put in over the years. The nice thing we have maintained is the friendly family business feeling as the company has grown.  People are treated as individuals and not just numbers on a payroll – those of us that haven’t worked anywhere else probably don’t appreciate this enough.

Running the garden centre sales side of Johnsons is a bit like running a separate business within the main company. I set different goals each year to keep driving me forward and we have made some good progress recently but still feel there are a few things to achieve before I hang up my order pad.

Group MD Graham Richardson added:

Mark has been a valued member of the team since June 1980, I can’t believe how fast the years have gone by. Mark joined Johnsons as a 16-year-old apprentice and over the years, with hard work and dedication, has progressed throughout the business. He is a valued member of the team and is a key part of our business and history.

To mark his four-decade milestone, Mark will receive a certificate of honour and. as is customary, the company will formally recognise this extraordinary achievement at Christmas shutdown.