Being the fourth generation of Ratchford's, it was kind of expected that I would venture into the family business sometime or other; even after spending several years after college trying to evade the pull of the business, by dabbling in some other outlandish commercial activities and trying to live life a little. However being a 20 something year old, with little money traveling around Europe with friends was great fun whilst it lasted, but when the money did run out; I wasn't too surprised to receive a phone call from Mike Stopford; our then sales director asking me if I could “lend them a hand in the warehouse as they were short staffed. It was only for 2 weeks covering holidays” (I swear I never saw his crossed fingers.) Naively I agreed, hoping to earn enough money to complete part two of my Europe trip, and re join my friends in Athens. However somehow it didn’t quite work out that way. It has been 30 years now, from starting on the bottom rung, and when my father stepped aside in 1995, I became the Managing Director. One day I hope to continue the European trip with older friends.