Meet Meg Sims, Ettinger's quality controller and factory manager. Just like Gary, our other factory manager, she joined the company at 16 and has been an incredible asset to the team for the past 43 years. She has kindly answered a few of our questions about her journey with Ettinger.
How did you start working at Ettinger?
Meg started working at Ettinger when she was only 16, at the time she had just finished school in July and was looking for a job. She had spent the summer working at some stables in her neighbourhood when she was introduced to the previous owner of the factory.
"One of the ladies was a neighbour of the old boss and he was looking for someone to help out with the Christmas rush, her dad dropped me at the factory and I’ve been here ever since."
What is your favourite thing about working in the company?
In her 43 years at Ettinger, Meg has been able to explore all the elements of the production processes before becoming quality controller.
"I’ve had a go at most operations and processes in the factory, I like to be hands on rather than sat behind a desk all the time. I understand how the products are made, and it’s nice to see how we start with a skin of leather and it passes through the talented hands of my work colleagues, who make these beautiful items."
Meg also enjoys the fact that the factory is local (avoiding a long commute!) and being able to bring her dog Phoebe to work with her. Phoebe has become somewhat of a mascot at Ettinger!
What are the changes you have seen in all your years working at Ettinger?
As mentioned in the last Ettinger Team Spotlight article about our factory manager Gary, the arrival of Robert Ettinger at the head of the company in the 1980s was a turning point regarding international businesses.
Japan became one of the new markets that we wished to explore and with it came a lot of new conditions and quality norms, which were stricter than anywhere else.
This was the main change that Meg observed in all her years at Ettinger: "The quality, the standards we have to respect for the Japanese market. All the quality control stages we’ve introduced to check the products as they move through the factory. Now, if we do see a blemish, we can change a piece of leather rather than rejecting a whole wallet."
What is your favourite product and why?
As Meg has been in the company for more than 4 decades, she has seen a lot of different products and collections over the years. However, she does have a soft spot for one of our older wallets: "I’ve always liked the 975BJ mini wallet 6 C/C. It’s slimmer and neater than our bigger wallets, I used to have one in the St Crispin Deep Sea and Dry Stone combination and it’s lovely how the leather burnishes with use, I’m now testing a Marine Blue Capra one."
To read the previous article about our factory manager Gary, click HERE.