Career Case Study – Bob Carter

Bob Retires!

Everyone at Street Cranexpress is bidding a fond farewell to Bob Carter who is retiring after 36 years of working for the company in various roles. We would like to wish Bob a very happy retirement as his weekends begin to extend by an extra five days!


1976-1982

Bob (extreme left) as an apprentice on his first day during an induction with three other new starters.

  • Bob started his career as an apprentice in the steel industry at the young age of sixteen.
  • He was a Maintenance Fitter for Osborn Steels and his role covered everything from forging to finishing.
  • After six years of working at the steel firm, it closed down and in 1982, Bob had to look for another opportunity.
  • After a couple of years searching for a new venture, Bob’s career in the overhead crane industry began.

1984-1986

Bob’s first contract of employment at Cranexpress

  • It was the 30th of May 1984 when Bob started his career at Street Cranexpress, which was known as Cranexpress Ltd. at the time.
  • He was employed as a Mechanical Crane Engineer earning a whopping £2.59/hr!
  • Street Cranexpress have since grown to have a network of engineers countrywide, but at that time, all engineers were Sheffield-based, and Bob and his colleagues would have to travel to undertake jobs around the country.

1986-2001

Bob during his time as a crane engineer

  • After two years working as a Mechanical Crane Engineer, Bob was promoted to Service Engineer.
  • Bob worked in this role for 15 years carrying out maintenance services for all types of overhead cranes, hoists and lifting equipment.
  • As a service engineer, Bob worked on a variety of sites – from air bases to naval yards.

1986-2001

Bob in the office as Technical Estimator

  • After working as a Service Engineer, Bob was promoted and moved into an office role as Technical Estimator in our post-service estimating team.
  • He carried all the experience and knowledge that he had gathered as a Service Engineer into this role.
  • As our Technical Estimator, Bob has been responsible for delivering excellent customer service, responding to customer enquiries, and offering accurate proposals for any repair work after a routine service visit.

Last 60 seconds with Bob

What did you want to be when you were younger?

“I worked on a farm from the age of 12 to 16, nearly every weekend. I took to the outdoors way of life and wanted to go into farming. However, my dad had a garage and wanted me to become an engineer.”

What if your favourite thing about your career?

The variety of sites I was lucky to see, from air bases, navy yards, car factories, boat factories etc.”

What are the first 3 things you intend to do when you retire?

“Spend time repurposing ‘stuff’ (I am a magpie), visiting more areas of the country, more caravan site explorations. But I suspect I will be kept busy in my kids’ gardens and houses also.”

Final words to all at Street Cranexpress?

“I would like to wish ALL the people of Street Cranexpress a very long and happy working life (whatever they may do). I would also like to thank my friends and colleagues here for making my 36 years of employment interesting and enjoyable.”

“Congratulations on your retirement Bob!” – From all at Street Cranexpress