Island Life August/September 2018

Interview
Finland. It arrived at the wharf in Cowes
to be brought up to the Trafalgar Road
yard on a series of hired lorries .
The business was made up of the main
timber and building material supply
business with branches in Newport and
Sandown, and it also ran a commercial
joiners shop which made bespoke joinery
for several projects across the Island.
As well as the Moreys business the
directors also ran Alexandra Sharp and
Co which was just opening a DIY centre
on the site where Curry’s is today, as
well as having a small branch in Ryde.
Ron says he loved Moreys from day
one: “The directors were very hands-on
and the builders and other customers
we dealt with were all very friendly,
down-to-earth and honest, so it was
really a pleasure for me going to work
and dealing with them every day, and I
think I quickly gained their trust, too”.
When in 1997 Morey’s was bought
out by the national chain Jewsons,
Ron was the branch manager at
Sandown. He’d moved into sales and
general management and effectively
improved profitability at the branch.
The following year there was more
upheaval in the Island’s building supplies
market when Sydenham’s moved to
the Isle of Wight and took on almost
of 40 Jewson’s staff but Ron decided
to stay and was offered the General
Manager role, with responsibility
for the Island’s five branches.
It’s effectively the role he still has to
this day, although the title has since
Ron and Alana in Kenya
“ There were no lavish
overseas trips either -
our honeymoon was
a week in Torquay
and we saved our
pre-decimal silver
coinage in an old cider
flagon to pay for it.”
Ron and dog Ruby
been changed to Branch Director
for the Isle of Wight Cluster.
He says he loves his job as much as
he ever did – but will look forward to a
change of focus when he retires next year.
He and Alana – who have two sons,
Matthew, 34, and Gareth, 28 – plan to
celebrate their upcoming milestone Ruby
Wedding anniversary with a three-week
holiday in Canada in June next year,
and no doubt he’ll have more time for
dog walks with the Jack Russell pup
they’ve recently bought (and named
Ruby in honour of their anniversary).
But there’s no doubt that much of Ron’s
retirement will be spent giving time to
the causes closest to his heart – chief
among them being Walk the Wight,
but also doing additional volunteer
fundraising for Mountbatten, as well as
for his local Rotary Club and giving time
to his local Northwood Village Hall.
He’s also keen to promote the
work of Mountbatten, which he
says a lot of locals “still don’t get”.
“What it does is so much more than
providing the 16-bed facility – it’s also
there for several hundred carers out in
the community and supports countless
families who are facing end-of-life care
for loved ones with a range of illnesses.
“One thing’s for sure – I may be
retiring soon, but I’m not going
to be at home much!”
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