Celebrating 70 plus years of Traka: ‘It’s a family affair
Dad Steve and sons Craig and Lee share their most memorable moments
This year, the Newell’s celebrate 73 years of working at Traka.
Dad Steve and sons Craig and Lee share their most memorable moments, and how chance and family persuasion brought them all into the world of Traka.
Summer of 1999
In the summer of 1999 Steve Newell found himself out of a job. The shoe factory in Northamptonshire, UK, at which he was employed as a Warehouse Manager, closed its gates. Having never been out of work before Steve needed a job, and that was fast.
"A friend mentioned John Kent that was running a company called Traka. At that time, there were only three employees and John needed additional help to fulfill a cabinet order from British Airways. It was a risk for me since the future of the business really depended on that deal. Despite having another job offer from a larger corporate company, I chose Traka because of the positive impression John made on me. I started in June 1999. We fulfilled the British Airways order, and by Christmas, the business began to flourish," says Steve.
“Being Traka’s fourth employee, more people were needed as the business started to grow. A month later Steve’s son Craig joined. At 16 years old he was looking for a summer job, to earn some money during his school breaks. He was employee number five.”
Fun fact:
“In 2004 and 2008, Traka won the ‘Queen’s Award for Enterprise’ for international business. It was a great recognition and a proud moment for the whole company. Traka founder John Kent and I got invited to Buckingham Palace and accept the prize directly from the Queen. It was back in the days when I still had hair”, says Steve.
