Tuesday 11th March 2014 – 9.15am – Chris Kowalik.
Two brothers have been reunited professionally, with the elder being the boss of his younger sibling at an ambulance mechanical workshop in Shropshire.
Darren Brunt, 47, is Charge Hand at the hub in Shrewsbury. His brother John, 43, is the new recruit, who, despite being just three days into his new job, was dragged into work on Boxing Day by his big brother to help him clear the workload.
It’s not the first time they’ve worked together; Darren has been John’s boss before when the pair worked at a Ford dealer in Shrewsbury in the 1980s. John joined the dealership in 1986 as an apprentice before both moved to Ford’s new venture “Rapid Fit” in 1993. Their branch was so successful it was presented with an award and visited by Barbara Windsor.
“She really is diddy,” said Darren, “She is as tiny as people say she is. She was nice.” John added: “She was bubbly, yes” as the pair recalled being photographed with her. They were later to part, working for a number of companies, including initially the same Renault dealer, where they did the same job but at different sites. The co-incidences meant it was perhaps inevitable they would be working together again in the future.
In 2005, Darren joined the ambulance service in Shropshire as a mechanic. With the retirement of his Charge Hand in December 2013, Darren was promoted, his brother was to become his new member of staff.
John said: “We are both very like-minded, very work orientated; the quality of work is very important.” Darren added: “We’ve always had a good working relationship. I’m not saying there isn’t the odd moment, but we have a better relationship than most. I’ve always said it – nobody’s going to support me as much as John and vice versa. Considering he was a new recruit and we were so busy over Christmas, he hit the ground running in December.”
Ends