David Dow, Business Development Manager at longtime DACC member Caltech Lifts, has finally officially retired after 36 years in the stairlift industry.
David, who turned 67 on Wednesday and grew up in Kirkcaldy, moved into the field in 1979 after first training as a planning officer and working for Kirkcaldy Town Council because he liked the idea of helping people young and old stay in their homes.
The next 30 years saw him rise from stairlift surveyor to senior manager of a UK-based stairlift and stair climber manufacturer before moving to another firm based in Inverkeithing. Two years ago he delayed his planned retiral to help leading rival Caltech Lifts take their stairlift division to the same heights as their passenger lifts one.
Caltech managing director Andrew Renwick says David’s vast experience has proven invaluable in that role – driving its stairlift division sales to more than double and entering the business into new local authority areas across Scotland where he’d built good business relationships over many years with the occupational therapists.
“When David agreed to join us two years ago I knew we would get some impressive results to help grow our stairlift division but I was taken aback at what an immediate effect he had,” said Mr Renwick. “He is probably the most experienced stairlift surveyor in Scotland and is known up and down the country by teams of occupational therapists who’ve relied on on his vast knowledge over many years. Due to David’s efforts we have been able to invest further in our stairlift division by taking on more staff - from engineers, surveyors and office admin to continue with our expansion plans.”
As part of his final few months with Caltech, David has been training his successor, Graeme Scott, and says he’s a rising star to watch! He’s assisting another industry veteran at Caltech, Bill McKay, who’s also a well-known and respected figure.
While preparing for his retirement presentation, managing director Andrew Renwick asked David what his most memorable moment was. The answer surprised and impressed him as it didn’t involve a stairlift!
Seven years ago, when David was doing a survey at Kingholm Quay, near Dumfries, he stopped by the River Nith to have his lunch and spotted two elderly women trying to get their dog out of the fast-flowing river to no avail.
After a failed attempt to grab it by getting kneedeep in the river, David had a brainwave and grabbed the Twix bar from his lunch box, waded back into the river and waved it in front of the dog to entice it to the shallower waters. And it worked!
David reckons that’s a fine memory to retire on as well as the thousands of people he’s helped regain their mobility.
He says his plans for retirement consist of holidays around the world, viisiting relatives in Australia and spending more time with his grandchildren.
