A husband, wife and son working in widely different departments, Percy, Ada and David Robinson, are among the best known families employed by British Bata at East Tilbury.
Percy (right) does welt-stapling in Dept 473, an operation at which he has worked for five of his 15 years’ service in the leather factory. He helps to make boys’ rubber-soled shoes. He worked on Army boots before his service in the Army during the war.
A quick and reliable worker, he has helped to make several styles of leather footwear. A man of few words, he is always cheerful, but likes to give the absolute maximum time to his work.

Percy served for more than five years with the Army, and was in the invasions of North Africa, where his unit fought the famous Afrika Korps, and of Italy, where he landed at Otranto. Off the coast of that country, he was wounded by shellfire.
His work for British Bata does not end when he finishes in the leather factory. For five evenings a week he is attendant at Bata Cinema, where, for the past four years, he has, in his own words, cleared tickets and kept law and order, and where he is a general favourite with the patrons.
As if all this was not enough to do. He regularly attends drills as a member of Bata Fire Brigade, which he joined in 1948, and goes to meetings of East Tilbury branch of the British Legion.
But Percy still finds time to indulge now and then, in his favourite recreation - a nice game of darts - with, perhaps, a pint or two.

Ada (left) has been a Batawoman for eight years, first as a worker in the canteen, and lately as cleaner in one of the girls’ hostels.
She was in the canteen during the war, when she told Bata Record, the meals followed the same pattern as they do now. “Of course,” she said, “there was not so much variety - no one could get that in wartime - but they were good meals, and the workers appreciated them. We were kept busy, although fewer lunches were sold than today.
“I like my work at the hostel, too. We have a nice type of girl staying here, and no one gives us any trouble.

All the girls with whom I have been in contact at the hostel have been well behaved, although some were naturally a little tidier than others. Girls come and go, and I have seen may changes due mainly to girls getting married.”

Ada’s chief relaxation is old-time dancing, which she enjoys thoroughly. She is a member of Bata Old-Time Dance Club, and never misses a weekly session or a dance. She also attends classes for tailoring , and is becoming proficient in the making of women’s suits.
David (left) is the 15 years-old electrician’s assistant whose passion for railways was featured in Bata Record a fortnight ago. He came to British Bata on his father’s recommendation, and agrees that it is a happy place in which to work. He works mainly on installations, and frequently assists electrician Alf Horsey on a variety of jobs in various parts of the factory and hotel.
“He does very well,” says Foreman Don Wiggins.
There will soon be a Robinson quartet at East Tilbury, as David’s younger brother, Graham, is all set to start in the near future.