The New NAS President
The National Association of Shopfitters is very pleased to announce that Richard Easton � Managing Director of Hadley Shopfitters of Portsmouth is the new NAS President.
He was elected at the 87th Annual General Meeting of the Association held in London on 7th February 2007. Richard joined Hadley�s on the 5th April 1965 as an apprentice and has, over the years, worked his way through the various departments including planning as a �setter out� and estimating. He became Estimating Manager of Hadley�s, based at Limberline Spur on Hilsea Industrial Estate in 1981. In 1988 Richard was appointed to the Board of Hadley�s a Company that had begun its trading activities in the early 1900�s. In the 1950�s Mr AE Hadley decided to separate the Shopfitting activities from the parent Company and re-named it AE Hadley Ltd. Richard�s long-standing relationship with Hadley�s reached its peak in 1998 when he bought the Company. Richard led the five strong Management Buy-Out in a desire to see the business and jobs remain in the area. �I feel very proud to be standing here as your 2007 President�, he said. �My Company, Hadley Shopfitters, has been a member of the NAS since 1946 and it is the ultimate accolade to be made President of our Association by my peers.� Richard has witnessed an industry that has changed a great deal in the past few decades, from the first time he became involved with it in the 1965. He has witnessed at first hand the structure of the industry that has changed and without doubt the degree of technological advance could scarcely have been predicted by anyone. Ever since the days of his apprenticeship with Hadley�s he feels passionately about the one thing that has endured is the special emphasis, which our industry places on the acquisition and practice of skills, some of which have been handed down over many generations. The tools may have changed he says, the ways of working have certainly moved on, but the dedication of expert practitioners has not. As an industry, we can still take a great pride in the quality of our craftsmanship. Richard has a passion that he wishes to share during his term as NAS President, and that is to have a first class and well-trained workforce, so that the Team will work in an integrated fashion, in that all have skills, which are essential to the project. He is positive in his quest that the shopfitting industry needs to demonstrate that it is serious about training and the qualification and certification systems that come with it. NAS are supporting the In-Store show, 12-14th June at Earls Court 2 , London.
