Hundreds flock to first major reunion for Beatties staff

But all still treasured the friendships forged during their years working at Wolverhampton's best known store.

Then the power of social media helped draw them closer together once more.

A Facebook page launched by Matt Rea soon had 600 members, triggering the first major reunion of former employees of Beatties.

And the memories came flooding back as around 230 of them packed Wombourne Civic Hall on Saturday night - and raised £2,000 for Compton Hospice.

People like former workmates 66-year-old Mike Baker and Eric Ponchery, aged 75, who, with the exception of a fleeting meeting at a funeral, had not seen each other since the older man left Beatties 40 years ago.

"I have gone bald and he has gone grey but we still recognised each other," said a delighted Mr Ponchery from Bridgnorth.

"This is just fantastic," declared Mr Baker who lives in Stafford and worked at Beatties for 40 years. "It is just great to see him. It was so sad that we lost touch but now we are making up for lost time."

The store was much more than just a work place for Joan Roberts from Codsall in the 1930s after she joined the staff as a 14-year-old fresh from school. She - like several of those employed at the time - even held her wedding reception there.

The 96-year-old only spent about four years there, leaving shortly before the Second World War broke out, but was able to talk about the good old days with 89-year-old Joyce Cooper from Wednesfield and Blanche Holden, 88, of Perton.

Great grandma Mrs Roberts, the oldest person at the reunion, said: "As soon as I heard about it I wanted to go because I had such a nice time there. I have been looking forward to it for weeks."

Kerry Lavender, age 59, began work at the store as a department manager and is still there 33 years later, although she recently went part time. The shop became part of the House of Fraser chain eight years ago.

She explained: "I always wanted to work there. It was like one big happy family from the shop floor right up to the management.

"People had been talking about a large scale reunion for years but nothing happened apart from small groups getting together. Then the Facebook page provided the little spark needed to get the project off the ground. Before that it was difficult to get the word out.

"The secret of Beatties was that they were very good to their staff as well as the customers. Everybody from the general manager to the cleaner was respected."

Mother and daughter Joyce Crow, 72, from Wombourne and 36-year-old Rachel Buckley of Lower Penn were both on the staff. Mrs Crow, who worked there for 22 years, 12 more than her daughter, remarked: "It was a wonderful time for us all. we all got on so well."

Former training manager Wendy Collins, who organised the get together with her former boss Ian Jones and friends Jo Dunn, Matt Rea and Kerry Lavender, concluded: "The response to the Facebook group showed there was a real interest in former workmates getting back together again.

"We expected to get around 100 people but it was wonderful to see so many former workmates happily walking down memory lane together. It was well worth the wait."