Professional Recovery 367
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OPERATORPROFILE<br />
RED HOUSE SERVICE STATION<br />
celebrating 60 years<br />
20 PROFESSIONAL RECOVERY MAGAZINE<br />
It was once a roadside filling station together with Jaguar<br />
Triumph car showroom built around the house that was<br />
covered in Virginia creeper which encouraged local people<br />
to call it the Red House. Today the site has been totally<br />
rebuilt and boasts a very modern filling station, a busy shop,<br />
repair workshop and the headquarters of a successful<br />
recovery company.<br />
It all began in October 1962 when Bob Bootyman and his wife<br />
Ellen bought a small roadside filling station and car showroom, at<br />
Heath, just outside Chesterfield. The recovery business began<br />
as a support service for the car sales and grew organically and then<br />
expanded externally by delivering services for the police and national<br />
motoring organisations. The rate of growth was greatly accelerated<br />
when the M1 motorway was built in 1967 and the reputation of the Red<br />
House Service Station ensured they received significant work in the<br />
area.<br />
Tragedy struck in 1979 when Bob, aged 55, suddenly passed away<br />
unexpectedly. At which point his son Robert, who was already a<br />
partner, found himself having to quickly get to grips with running the<br />
business. Margaret, his future wife, who was working in high class<br />
catering at the time, gave up her profession to help run the business<br />
with Robert. Starting from the bottom serving fuel, driving trucks etc<br />
and on becoming a partner she eventually took on a more officebased<br />
role, running the control room, doing the accounts and wages<br />
20, 21, 22, 23 Red House Anniversary.indd 1 22/09/2022 10:57
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