Mary's final pay day

9/10/2009

Pay days will never be quite the same for staff at Magna Housing Group.

The Dorchester-based organisation has bid a fond farewell to one of its longest-serving employees, payroll supervisor, Mary Myers.

After a spell in teaching, Mary began her housing career more than 27 years ago working for West Dorset District Council. This then became West Dorset Housing Association before becoming Magna.

Not surprisingly, she has seen plenty of changes over the years………and plenty of bosses!

“There have been so many changes at Magna,” she revealed, “and I’ve had 10 different line managers in my time!

“It’s not always been easy in payroll but the past nine years have really seen things improve and settle down.

“In the bad old days, I used to plan my resignation letter starting with the words ‘it gives me great pleasure’. However, that’s certainly not how I began my retirement letter.”

Mary’s retirement was marked by staff during a presentation ceremony at Magna’s Hollands House headquarters, where she received gifts including a painting of Dartmoor,  a bouquet of flowers and a few bottles of her favorite tipple, cider.

She added: “I would like to say a big thank you to my colleagues - I feel very cherished by you all.

“I would also like to say a special thank you to  my assistant Carolynne Clark for her help and support sorting out problems and devising procedures. I shall miss you all.”

Magna Housing Group finance director, Ray Ardrey, thanked Mary for her ‘years of consistently great service’ and wished her well in her retirement.

“I have been at Magna for 10 years,” he said, “and there have never been any errors or mistakes with Magna’s payroll.

“Reading through the comments from staff in Mary’s retirement  card, the top three were ‘we are grateful for being paid each month’, ‘what a fantastic service you provide’ and ‘CIDER!!’ – I think that says it all.

“On behalf of everyone at Magna, I would like to thank Mary and wish her a long and enjoyable retirement.”
Despite giving up work, Mary intends to stay busy and will be soon be jetting off for a holiday in Canada, armed  with some spending money donated by her colleagues.