Adrian's goal to make town nice place to live
ADRIAN Perry is the chairman of Scarborough and District Civic Society, which is a voluntary group of people interested in preserving the area's heritage. Reporter Paul Derrick spoke to the 62-year-old about the society's work and his career.
SEVEN years ago Adrian Perry and his wife Chris were on the lookout for somewhere to move to and there was one place that stuck out in their minds, Scarborough.
The couple had spent a holiday in the town almost every year and Mr Perry's dad Fred retired to East Ayton in the early 1960s.
They moved to Scarborough in 2002 and during a trip to the Stephen Joseph Theatre they were told about the Civic Society.
The pair soon became members and now Mr Perry is chairman of the society, which allows him to build on his enthusiasm for the town.
He said: "The Civic Society is a broad church and its motto is non aligned, no axe to grind. We all share one goal that we want Scarborough to be a more attractive, beautiful and nicer place to live."
One of the group's biggest projects has been the Bathing Belle and Diving Belle statues in the town centre and Vincent Pier respectively.
The project cost 40,000 and since their installation hundreds of residents and holidaymakers have enjoyed the public artwork.
Mr Perry said: "It was pretty hard work for the society to do that. These things take a lot of planning and work. Fundraising, for example, is quite an arduous task and to raise 40,000 was no mean feat."
They have also been involved in smaller projects such as replacing the gates in Valley Gardens and the society always tries to work in co-operation with Scarborough Council.
Mr Perry said: "That's very important so they see us as helping not opposing. We always hope that they see what we're trying to do as positive."
The society is also behind the blue plaques which mark notable places around the town as well as published guides about the heritage of Scarborough.
Mr Perry said: "We do guided walks and take people down a street and we ask 'have you seen that little feature?'. Some people walk down that street every day of their life and never notice them.
"We feel as though we're opening their eyes and giving them some enjoyment. Maybe next time they will walk down that street and smile."
They receive advice on their work from the Civic Trust and the society recently helped organise Scarbor-ough's heritage open days with other societies, which aimed to raise awareness of the town's architectural, historical and cultural roots.
Members of the society also look at planning applications and Adrian and his wife can often be seen at the council's planning and development committee meetings.
Mr Perry said: "You almost always see the pair of us together. I spent my working life kissing her on the cheek and saying goodbye. When I retired I thought 'we're going to do things together'."
Born in Sheffield, Mr Perry attended Marlcliffe School before starting work in the motor industry.
He said: "It was a case for opting for the first job I might be interested in and I like cars."
His first job was as a salesman for a company called Gaedor, which sold car parts such as batteries and electrical components.
Later he became manager of the company's Leeds and Bradford depots before joining Monroe Shock Absorbers, where he worked for more than 20 years.
He started as a salesman working in the North of England and was then appointed country manager with responsibility for the UK, Ireland and Scandinavian markets.
The company bought a shock absorber manufacturer in Australia, where Mr Perry became after-market sales and marketing director.
In Australia he was involved in the acquisition of an exhaust division of a company called Repco and took on another similar position.
Mr Perry said: "With my work permit though I was reaching the stage where either I became an Australian citizen or went home.
"We decided we would like to come home to Europe. Australia is a fantastic place but you do feel isolated."
When the couple left the country, Mr Perry became the sales and marketing director for Walker Europe, selling exhaust systems to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
After five years he landed his dream job with Monroe Europe as the European Vice President of after-market sales and marketing for Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
He said: "It was a much bigger job because it was a very profitable company in Belgium. With shock absorbers if you advertise and tell people about the safety implications and how important it is to replace them you can stimulate the market. It was tremendous and really exciting."
After three years, they returned to the UK and Mr Perry started to wind down his career and acted as a self-employed marketing consultant.
When asked what he has learnt from his career, Mr Perry said: "I look at how I've always taken work seriously. I never thought it was a game.
"I always tried to have a can-do attitude. When someone asked me to do something I thought was mission impossible I would try to see what could be achieved so at least we were part way to realising the goal.
"Once you actually start off on the journey you find another way to reach the destination."
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Weather for Scarborough
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -6 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South west
