What brought you to Robinsons in 1985?

Well, previously I had worked in a bank, I went on holiday, met a girl and moved up to Oldham. We had a holiday romance and ended up living here! As soon as I moved here, I applied to temp agencies to get some work; I applied to work at Robinsons and got the job! We were the second company in Stockport to have a computer which was really exciting. The first was Timpson’s; we were second with the same machine. It was massive and took up a huge room. We needed to have air conditioning  on at all times. I remember it had 256k of memory. I could see a great future ahead, so I stayed on and loved it!

How has the role of IT within the brewery evolved since you first started?

It has developed massively. Initially, there were no computers, just a mainframe (one central computer), and before I started, they had computers with punch card machines. After a few years, we started getting terminals which we could link to the main system. They were there for a few years, and we spread the network to various departments – they were green screens (a computer display that shows green text or images on a black background). Eventually, we got a couple of Zenith PCs, which were orange screens (displaying orange text or images). These were only used in IT. Eventually, we got rid of the mainframe, and that was the first implementation of proper PCs around. Since then, it has just grown and grown. I remember when we first issued a laptop; it was huge and cream, but now everyone has them, especially since Covid. In those days, it was all paper-based. When I was working in stats in production and planning, it was all card-based and spreadsheets on paper, even before email.

Can you share a memorable project or accomplishment during your time here that you're particularly proud of?

Well, I’ve been here for 38 and a half years, and there have been loads! I wrote a payday system for the property department, written in Cobol – it was a system to monitor and calculate the monthly spend for property because they had a strict budget to stick to. Or, the Dynamics Nav implementation (called Business Central now) – that is used for finance, sales order processing, stock control, all the things we need to run the brewery with. Everything from finished goods being stocked, placing orders for those, buying in stock, purchasing and sales – everything ends up in the financial system. I guess over the years, I’ve been heavily involved in reporting, customer dashboards, using technology, and replacing it with newer things like Power BI. The more data we have, the more we have to analyse it and make business decisions based on that data, which I’ve always found really interesting.

What changes have you witnessed in terms of technology adoption within the brewery over the years?

Everyone uses laptops now. We had the green dial-up phones when I first started. I was involved with a couple of system replacements. What we have now is the third phone system I’ve been involved with. I remember when we bought our first company mobile, we bought it for  one of our drivers who did a London run. Things were different in the company culture and ethos too; this has massively changed within this current generation of Robinsons.

Were there any challenges you faced in integrating new technologies into the brewery's operations? How did you overcome them?

Ha, well, the biggest challenges are people to be honest, bringing them up to speed with new technologies. Historically we were very traditional; everything was paper-based. We found that some of the tasks we streamlined were still being done even though they weren’t required anymore. The culture of "we’ve always done it this way" has shifted. Now we can question these things. If you go back to the source, it would be from ages ago!

What advice would you give to someone starting in this role?

You have to have a technical mind. The main thing I’d take away from working at Robinsons in IT is that it’s always changing; you’d never be bored. Systems change and have done up until recently, here we’re implementing new systems probably every five years. Integrations with other systems needs maintaining and building too. So, anyone with an open mind to take on as much or as little as they can manage. We’re big on training in our department, so you can get all the training you need to do the job - it’s quite an exciting role! I love the new challenges.

What will you miss the most about working at Robinsons?

It’s the people, the daily challenges; they keep your mind active. I won’t miss the drive into Stockport though! I remember my first day at work; I lived in Saddleworth. I was really late and came at 10:30 because I got lost. It was before the motorway or sat navs, so I didn’t have a map and was just finding my way. My boss wasn’t best pleased. But here I am, almost 39 years later!

Lastly, what are you looking forward to the most in retirement, and do you have any exciting plans or hobbies you're eager to pursue?

I want to get more into astrophotography and traveling in my motorhome - I am going to Portugal for four weeks. I’d like to go to Japan and I’d like to go to Utah with my daughter when she’s 25. I also want to go to more gigs; I really enjoy gigs and festivals!

Robinsons Brewery would like to extend its thanks to Simon Burchill for his dedicated service of 38 and a half years. Simon’s contributions to the brewery, especially in the realm of IT, have been invaluable and have played a significant role in shaping the technological landscape of our brewery. We wish Simon the very best in his well-deserved retirement. May this new chapter be filled with joy, adventure, and the pursuit of all his passions. Cheers to you, Simon, and thank you for everything!