carolyn pictured here (bottom left) with some of the ipswich office team

A Remarkable 52-Year Career of Loyalty, Friendship and Dedication

From Birthday Beginnings to a Life’s Work

On 14th August 2025, we bid farewell to someone who has truly helped shape the heart of our business – the much-loved Carolyn Lawn, who is retiring after an extraordinary 52 years of continuous service. Fittingly, her final day with JCW Ipswich Office will also mark her 70th birthday – just as it was her 18th birthday when she first began her working life with us back in 1973.

Carolyn’s career started at B.A. Saunders, then a small plumbing business founded by a local tradesman who later expanded into electrical services. Carolyn, fresh out of secretarial college, joined the firm without an interview – her brother was already apprenticed there, and she happened to be dating the son of one of the managers as well!

“I turned up on my 18th birthday and just never left!”

The Early Days: Family, Friendship and Pushbikes

Living just a few miles from the office, Carolyn would cycle to work, come rain or shine, with a change of clothes packed, depending on the weather. The company felt like a family from the very beginning. She formed a close friendship with founder Basil Saunders, who remained a mentor and dear friend for many years, and describes the early team as incredibly close-knit.

“We socialised together, supported each other through life’s ups and downs, with lots of laughs along the way.”

Over the years, the business changed hands, from Basil to Rosewood, and eventually to JCW, but Carolyn remained a trusted and consistent presence throughout.

A Career That Evolved With the Times

Carolyn began as a secretary, but even while raising her children she continued to work part-time, taking on payroll and accounts. She recalls the days before technology with fondness (and a touch of humour), when all payroll and tax forms were done manually.

“I still remember the old Kalamazoo tax books we had to fill in by hand!”

Basil, ever forward-thinking, introduced a computerised accounts system in the 1980s, a significant shift for the business. For Carolyn, technology has made the biggest change overall.

“We had to page engineers, then wait for them to find a phone box to call in for their next job!”

She also managed contracts for local schools, including Suffolk County and Coastal swimming pools, and remembers Monday mornings when the yard would fill with engineers handing in their paper timesheets, a time when she “knew every single one of them by name.”

Still Laughing with the Team

While the team has grown significantly and day-to-day contact with the engineering staff is less due to technology and automation, Carolyn still feels that the core spirit of JCW has remained intact.

“The office team still look out for one another – and we still have a good laugh.”

For the last decade, she’s worked closely with the Ipswich Operations Director, Adam Moss, and speaks warmly of the early days under the new management and the evolution that followed.

A Well-Earned Retirement – With Cabbages and Grandchildren!

Now heading into retirement, Carolyn is looking forward to spending more time with her grandchildren who she has every Monday but fully expects additional ‘nanna duties’ now that she will have more free time. She will also be enjoying her lodge in Norfolk with her husband and their four dogs and tending to her allotment, where she’s already had success.

“I won a special cup at the village flower show last weekend – for my cabbages!”

Though she’s understandably emotional about leaving the team, she’s excited about the next chapter and the freedom to enjoy it fully.

With Gratitude and Affection

Carolyn leaves JCW on the same day she began – her birthday. After five decades of loyalty, warmth and unwavering dedication, she retires with the admiration and affection of everyone who has had the pleasure of working with her.

From all of us at JCW, thank you, Carolyn, for everything. You will be deeply missed – but we wish you all the joy you so richly deserve in your retirement.

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