Britain's oldest worker says he still has no plans to retire at the grand age of 96 - after a career spanning 82 YEARS.
Bill Parton is still clocking on five days a week at the sawmill business he founded himself 42 years ago - despite leaving school being unable to read or write.
The great-grandad started out as a plumber's apprentice in 1942 aged 14 during the Second World War before going on to forge the successful family-run company.
Bill, who turned 96 this week, is now mainly bound to the office but is no stranger to getting his hands dirty and fixing tools if required on the factory floor.
He still works 40 hours a week - having only dropped his sixth day 12 months ago - and has never missed a week's work in his life.
The sprightly pensioner says there's no real secret behind his long career beyond a good work ethic and he just wanted to do something to "keep his mind active".
Three of his grandchildren are now at the helm of Hales Sawmill in Market Drayton, Shrops., but that hasn't stopped the OAP grafting at the firm he set up in 1982.
As well as most likely being Britain's oldest worker, Bill is also one of the country's oldest bosses and says he is proud of the company he built from scratch.
And despite clocking up more than eight decades of work, the great-grandfather of six has no plans to settle down and has vowed to keep working until he dies.
Bill said: "You’ve got to keep your mind moving. The trick is to not stop. Keep working.
"I've never been down the dole office, I wouldn't know what to do if I went in.
"I used to be the gaffer, now I'm really the go-fer - you’ve got to let the kids have a go.
"My son and the grandchildren are running it quite efficiently. It's wonderful to see it pass through to the third generation.
“I normally come in around 9am and leave at 5pm. I walk around and see what the machines are doing.
"I can tell if something's wrong with a machine even from a squeak - I can hear it above all the noise. I can see everything that's going on.
“Until that bloke in the tall hat and screwdriver comes to screw the lid shut, I’ll keep going."
After becoming a plumber's apprentice, Bill was later employed as a steam engineer before he began working in sawmills in 1954.
During and after the war, he helped working on turning aerodromes into temporary accommodation for troops and displaced citizens returning home.
He founded Hales Sawmill in 1982 with his late wife Joan with just two employees but now he’s in charge of over 60 staff spanning across two sites.
Bill added: "I have never stopped since 1942, I’ve never missed a week's work in all my life. I did have a hip operation that laid me off for a couple of days though.
"After the war I was working on aerodromes on the airfields. I was putting baths and sinks into the buildings for people to live in.
"It was just after the war, there were buildings where we put the displaced persons.
"They built houses for them afterwards but we had to transform the buildings as temporary homes.
"It was a bit soul destroying seeing them all come over so thin, all coming out of prison camps. It was pretty awful.
"We had food rationed but we made them homely for them.
"I left school and couldn’t read and write. You have to be lucky in a way. I started this firm in 1982 after I was made redundant from another sawmill.
“You can’t sit back, you’ve got to keep going. You have to keep your mind active and doing something.
"I don't do as much these days but I'm always on hand if they need me."
Bill, and his late wife, Joan, had four sons during their 60-year marriage. The pair had met dancing aged 19. Joan died over Christmas in 2012.
Bill, who is also grandad to ten, added: "Me and the wife got married in 1952. She was the real boss.
"She had the brains, she always knew what we were doing.
"She built us a great name. It’s easy to get a bad name, it’s hard to get a good one and keep it for all these years."
Bill Parton is still clocking on five days a week at the sawmill business he founded himself 42 years ago - despite leaving school being unable to read or write.
The great-grandad started out as a plumber's apprentice in 1942 aged 14 during the Second World War before going on to forge the successful family-run company.
Bill, who turned 96 this week, is now mainly bound to the office but is no stranger to getting his hands dirty and fixing tools if required on the factory floor.
He still works 40 hours a week - having only dropped his sixth day 12 months ago - and has never missed a week's work in his life.
The sprightly pensioner says there's no real secret behind his long career beyond a good work ethic and he just wanted to do something to "keep his mind active".
Three of his grandchildren are now at the helm of Hales Sawmill in Market Drayton, Shrops., but that hasn't stopped the OAP grafting at the firm he set up in 1982.
As well as most likely being Britain's oldest worker, Bill is also one of the country's oldest bosses and says he is proud of the company he built from scratch.
And despite clocking up more than eight decades of work, the great-grandfather of six has no plans to settle down and has vowed to keep working until he dies.
Bill said: "You’ve got to keep your mind moving. The trick is to not stop. Keep working.
"I've never been down the dole office, I wouldn't know what to do if I went in.
"I used to be the gaffer, now I'm really the go-fer - you’ve got to let the kids have a go.
"My son and the grandchildren are running it quite efficiently. It's wonderful to see it pass through to the third generation.
“I normally come in around 9am and leave at 5pm. I walk around and see what the machines are doing.
"I can tell if something's wrong with a machine even from a squeak - I can hear it above all the noise. I can see everything that's going on.
“Until that bloke in the tall hat and screwdriver comes to screw the lid shut, I’ll keep going."
After becoming a plumber's apprentice, Bill was later employed as a steam engineer before he began working in sawmills in 1954.
During and after the war, he helped working on turning aerodromes into temporary accommodation for troops and displaced citizens returning home.
He founded Hales Sawmill in 1982 with his late wife Joan with just two employees but now he’s in charge of over 60 staff spanning across two sites.
Bill added: "I have never stopped since 1942, I’ve never missed a week's work in all my life. I did have a hip operation that laid me off for a couple of days though.
"After the war I was working on aerodromes on the airfields. I was putting baths and sinks into the buildings for people to live in.
"It was just after the war, there were buildings where we put the displaced persons.
"They built houses for them afterwards but we had to transform the buildings as temporary homes.
"It was a bit soul destroying seeing them all come over so thin, all coming out of prison camps. It was pretty awful.
"We had food rationed but we made them homely for them.
"I left school and couldn’t read and write. You have to be lucky in a way. I started this firm in 1982 after I was made redundant from another sawmill.
“You can’t sit back, you’ve got to keep going. You have to keep your mind active and doing something.
"I don't do as much these days but I'm always on hand if they need me."
Bill, and his late wife, Joan, had four sons during their 60-year marriage. The pair had met dancing aged 19. Joan died over Christmas in 2012.
Bill, who is also grandad to ten, added: "Me and the wife got married in 1952. She was the real boss.
"She had the brains, she always knew what we were doing.
"She built us a great name. It’s easy to get a bad name, it’s hard to get a good one and keep it for all these years."
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FunTranscript
00:00 So I'm with Bill here, the owner of Hales sawmills in Market Drayton. How long
00:06 you've been with the owner now? July 1982. Wow, superb. And today is your 96th
00:17 birthday? It is, yes. Superb. What's the secret of... Keep working. That's the only thing I can think of.
00:26 Really? Yeah. That's amazing. Keep at it. You know, keep this working and the rest of you will.
00:36 Fantastic. Tell me about the history of Hales and how you got here today.
00:40 Well, I was working at Chippenham Sawmill and doing quite well. I boosted that up from nothing to a massive...
00:54 And they went away, bought an estate down in Chippenham, in Woodshire. I bought the house off them and went to live there because they wanted me to be there and I wouldn't go in a tight cotton.
01:06 And then they said I could have the business, buy the business later on. But, so I decided to leave and set up...
01:18 And I knew that Hales Estate wanted somebody to take over the sawmill. Colonel Congreve was running it but he wanted to retire.
01:28 And there was two lads in the sawmill and they said if I would take them on at the same rates they were on at the estate, I could have it.
01:37 And buy the machinery and that. So that's what I did. I left Chippenham Sawmill and went to Hales.
01:45 And we started there and Richard asked me to go across to the office and he said that he wanted to ask you to join the gang of people on the estate.
02:03 And what work have you got? And I said nothing. I haven't got any work. But I said by the end of the week I will.
02:11 And he threw the pad at me and a pen and said write this down. He'd give me a week's worth.
02:17 And it all started from that. Went buying machinery and driving the lorry and yeah, it's just gone from that. One last step at a time.
02:32 And then the grandson wanted to come in and I said well we've spent enough money at Hales. We've built buildings, tarmac, concrete.
02:43 We'll do it for ourselves next time because you can't roll it up and take it with you. It's not like a bloody carpet.
02:50 And so we found this 8 acre and we came here and everybody said you're an idiot buying that. It's a swamp.
03:01 And we got to MacPhillip's there and they got a firm in that does runways on airfields.
03:10 And they took the topsoil off and then a metre of subsoil and put concrete, cement in and lined and rolled it and then put it back.
03:21 And it's here further. So it's moved rubbish around. The top quality once the people saw we'd done and even if you could run on it with an Arctic.
03:32 And then we did phase 2 which is this we're in now. And then phase 3 was Vanguard Wayshifting.
03:44 I stand back now. They won it. I'm running a passenger but I get pleasure out of seeing it.
03:52 Enjoy your 96th birthday. Well done. Thank you.