On the 3rd of August, we celebrated a special milestone, another member of the 25-year club! Simon J Houston, our Systems/Network Engineer, is the 17th employee to reach this incredible milestone, something which we are very proud of at Springfield. 

Simon joined the company in 1997 as a trainee through a City & Guilds work placement scheme. He would spend four days a week at Springfield and one day at college, eventually leading to a City & Guilds qualification. 

Ironically, the course was art and design related, but it did involve computer work which was the part of the course that Simon enjoyed the most! 

Simon’s initial job role at Springfield was a ‘digital archiver’. This involved archiving completed job folders to CD-ROM for our reprographic customers.  

“At the time, this seemed like a very hi-tech process, and I distinctively remember the Kodak CD writer was about the size of a modern-day desktop PC!” Says Simon. “Pretty much coming straight out of school, a big draw for me was the relaxed social and grown-up workplace atmosphere at Springfield. I particularly enjoyed my first works Christmas do at the Kingston Arms!” 

Some months into his time as a trainee, Simon was allowed to work in the Systems department alongside the Systems Manager. Having a keen interest in computers from a young age, Simon jumped at the opportunity.  

In the systems department, Simon was trained in setting up and troubleshooting the Apple Mac computers used by the reprographics operators. 

Moving into the late 90’s and early 00’s, the new print department was established in what is now the main building of Springfield. The Systems team also expanded, and opportunities to learn about new hardware and software became available.  

“I think this was one of my most memorable times working at Springfield due to the team I worked with and the expansion.” Says Simon. 

During the mid-00s, the business moved 100 yards down the road to the old Printworks site. Simon and his colleagues were instrumental in getting the server, and network infrastructure set up ready for the office staff starting Monday morning. 

The print department was expanding, and it was at this time, Simon took the opportunity to learn how to operate a new HP Indigo 6800 press. This involved travelling to the HP training facility near Barcelona in Spain. 

Simon stayed within the print department for some months operating the Indigo presses and testing it as one of the first presses to be installed in line with an ABG finishing unit. 

Simon later moved back the IT department where his experience and knowledge was needed as part of the new IT team. At this time, some of the older Server systems were replaced and ‘virtualised’. 

“Since this time, I have been fortunate to see some of the latest IT technologies introduced to the business. Looking back over my 25 years, I am proud to have been involved and part of the team which has worked to make Springfield a world leader in brand management and digital print.” Says Simon. 

A huge thank you to Simon for all his hard work over the past 25 years, here’s to many more! 

To find out more about our company history, check out our story page!