Longest Serving Driver Hangs Up His Keys

Our longest serving driver has turned off the ignition and hung up his keys after 27 years behind the wheel.

Andy Barclay who lives near Warrington is taking a well-earned retirement after clocking up around 1,647,000 miles on the road since he joined us.

Over the years he’s driven the length and breadth of the country and travelled across Italy, Spain and France. He’s decided to call it a day to spend more time with his wife, three children and six grandchildren and as he says “spend time doing what his wife tells him to do!”

After serving 14 years with the Royal Marines, Andy joined us when our founder’s son Peter Lynch was at the helm and he was driving flour tanks. Andy says he was a taskmaster but great to work for and really looked after his staff.

The 68-year-old says he’s enjoyed his career and made some life-long friends with other drivers who have been at the company nearly as long as he has but says now is the right time to go.

He said: “I wanted to be an air-line pilot at school so although I didn’t quite get to that level, I’ve had an enjoyable career, first with the Royal Marines and then with James Lynch & Sons. 27 years is a long time and it’s time to put my feet up as I’ve stopped enjoying driving.  Being on the roads is very different to what it was when I started and now there are just too many idiots on the roads.”

“I think if I had any advice for anyone wanting to be a lorry driver, I’d say to think about safety. Safety is absolutely key and if you do everything you can to keep yourself and others safe, you won’t go far wrong.”