The longest-serving employee at Ripon-based Econ Engineering has entered his 50th year of working for the firm, which recruited him as a teenager shortly after it launched.

Peter Thompson was just 16 when he was taken on by the company’s founder, W George Lupton, on a three-year apprenticeship scheme in December 1970.

The company (www.econ.uk.com) now supplies 85% of the winter maintenance vehicles used on Britain’s roads and has a workforce of more than 240. Peter was its eighth staff member; five decades on, he is the company’s production manager. He will retire on 11 December, exactly 50 years after he first walked through the door.

Mr Thompson said: “I have had a fantastic career with Econ Engineering. I could not have asked for a better company to work for; the people here are what makes it so special.

“I had been working as an apprentice for a small company, but was made redundant; I’m incredibly grateful to Mr Lupton Senior for taking me on.

“Since my first day at Econ, I have never looked back, and I am delighted to say that the company still operates an apprenticeship scheme, which has benefitted many young engineers over the decades.

“There have been many highlights over the past 50 years, but one of the proudest moments was moving from our original base, in the centre of Ripon, to our present location on Boroughbridge Road.

“While it is a very different company to the one I joined in 1970, it still holds true to its founding values.

“It is an industry leader and has always been ahead of the competition.”

Andrew Lupton, Econ Engineering’s sales director, said: “My father was a very good judge of character, and he certainly knew what he was doing when he employed Peter.

"He is our longest-serving employee and has devoted his working life to the company.

“What he doesn’t know about our production process isn’t worth knowing, and he can recall every machine we have made!”