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Wren House Management (1982) |
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Meet the Team...
Photo: Left to right: An (unknown) ASR night, Fred Dowry (bearded), Chris James, Ray
Manson (UCW) in light blue, Malcolm Knight (unit manager)
and Vivian Topping. Bob Andrews in red.
UCW-Union of
Communication Workers.
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| EXIT | Wren House
Management | The Traffic Office |
Malcolm Knight | |
The Management Team (1982)
The team headed by Malcolm Knight (STS) was:
- Bob Andrews (TTS) Day, who left in 1984 to set up the
'new fangled' 0800 (freephone) numbers; the Senior Chief
Supervisor (SCSR) at the time was Doreen Scott.
- Chris James (TTS) Night, who worked
closely with Dennis Barratt, the night staff Senior Chief
Supervisor (SCSR). After Chris was promoted and became
manager of Mondial ICC his place was taken by Vivian
Topping.
- Fred Dowry (TTS) General, who
looked after all those functions that didn't fall neatly
into 'Day' or 'Night' and in particular was responsible for
all the statistical requirements. Fred was quite a character
with a special presence and he occupied a separate office at
the back of the building.
- Plus
Clerical Telephonist (CT)
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The Senior Chief Supervisors SCSR D and SCSR N were on an almost equal
grade to the TTSs, Day & Night. However there was no direct link up the
grade structure between SCSR and 'Traffic'. A SCSR could not get any
more promotions.
The Traffic Office
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See the scene in a typical 1980s style Traffic Office...
Photo: Vivian Topping is
being coached by Chris James.
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Malcolm Knight
Malcolm Knight took over the management of the Wren switchrooms from
Graham McCubbin in June 1981. Malcolm had previously managed
Faraday 2A (photo below)...
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...And thanks to his earlier responsibility for writing the
International Operating Instructions, testing that the
systems worked, and negotiating their application with the
unions, he was the only manager of an International Exchange
who was able to slip on a headset and operate the
switchboard. Such a background and a preference for the
'hands on' approach allowed him to quickly become familiar
with the workings of the exchange and introduce various
productivity improvements.
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Design, images and text compiled by ©
Light-Straw.
With thanks to Malcolm Knight.
Page last updated 19th September 2012. Checked May 2021.
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to the accuracy of the information contained therein. |