Richard Seymour Retirement
Time flies when you are having fun and it is arguable that no one in the Toyota GB Press Office has more fun than Richard Seymour. He has been our designated LFA driver for public events, custodian of a fleet of old cars he doesn’t have to pay for and a formidable table tennis player (bringing in a table and challenging people in the office to raise money for Comic Relief). Richard is leaving the team after 30 years at Toyota – the last 12 of which have been in the PR team – to spend more time in his enormous home garage fettling classic pick-ups, friends’ runabouts and his own eclectic bicycle collection.
From his days as a Master Technician looking after the Press Fleet to more recent years as Press Officer Most Likely To Know The Answer Without Reading The Q&A, Richard has been the member of the team I’ve worked with for all of my 24 years here – even Erica can’t match that. I thank him very much for all the help and support he has given over those years.
Aside from his professional skills (in one technical clinic for his bemused colleagues he explained how an eCVT transmission worked using two broom handles), we’ll all miss Richard’s dry, deadpan sense of humour and his determination to be first on the dance floor at the Christmas party, annual glass of Baileys in hand.
He also has a genuine passion for our products (as anyone who has seen the gorgeous 2001 Hilux he rebuilt himself knows) which means we have one of the best kept heritage fleets in the business. Without Richard down the years, many of those treasures would have been lost.
We’re looking forward to throwing Rich a proper party when things get a little more normal, but we’ll be saying a heartfelt e-goodbye on Friday. If you feel like dropping him one last email or giving him a call I’m sure he’d be embarrassed but secretly delighted to receive it.
Scott Brownlee
