At the age of 16, Malcolm came for a summer job at the tannery  where his mother worked and has been there for almost the entire time since then. He has had brief periods of working in other jobs but, when these turned out to be boring, he came back to the leather industry and plans to stay. As he says , the material is always changing so that, even within the same process, there is always variation which keeps the work interesting.

Malcolm is now factory foreman at  the tannery and responsible for keeping the site running in order to meet the requirements of the management team. He also works directly on the production and is involved in everything that is done around the factory. His biggest challenge is to keep people motivated and focussed on the work that needs to be done. Malcolm believes that to succeed in the industry you have to be ready for the challenge and have a positive attitude to work. He says ‘I take pride in manufacturing a product that is known around the world’ and believes a positive mindset will turn out a good product.

He would recommend working in the industry to anyone. He believes the industry offers the option to have a life-long career but success has to be worked for and this takes pride and drive. For Malcolm, the best thing about the job is making leather and the pride that comes of making something good.