Old friendship
Those of you who read by recent blog “Jantar com o Brian” may be wondering how a gentleman from the Azores and an older gentleman from the North of England came to be good friends. In this blog I will tell you how.
In 50’s years ICI initiated plans to produce Terylene at Wilton Works near Middlesbrough (Yorkshire). At this point in time Brian was at school in Bradford, then the home of the UK woolen industry, prior to going to University to study chemistry. In 1957 it is not surprising, therefore, that Brian, whose father owned a woolen weaving mill, should decide to take up an offer to join ICI Fibres at Wilton. By 1966 he was managing the plant which produced all the Terylene polymer in the UK.
Years later, in Portugal, was decided that Finicisa in Portalegre should make its own polymer rather than importing it from Wilton. Then an enthusiastic young chemical engineer, name Jose Macedo was recruited as part of the team to commission and run the new Finicisa polymer plant.
So, there we have the first link, both Jose and Brian ran Polyester polymer plants. However, up to this point they had not met.
All this changed when Brian became the link between Engineering In Harrogate and Finicisa. In this period I imagine they were both sizing each other up. Some years later, ICI sold technology to an Indian company near Madras( nor Chennai). Brian invited Jose to join the commissioning team where he (Jose) ensured that the Indian operatives moved around as if on roller skates. They had never worked so fast in all their lives! Brian was well satisfied with Jose’s contribution
When Brian retired in 1991, Jose confessed that his aim had been to emulate him. There was clearly much mutual respect.
Brian's collaboration
