One of Radley’s longest serving members of staff, Diane arrived in 1995 to take up a temporary position in the Accounts department. Over 30 years later, she has worked for three Wardens and three Bursars and done just about every job within the Accounts team, all with her characteristic diligence and warmth. We asked Diane to share her memories of Radley in the 1990s…
Not long after I arrived, the Bursar Richard Beauchamp took me over to one of the Socials to show me the Shells’ accommodation – I couldn’t believe it was quite so basic! The College was very different then, particularly the operational side, with no HR department and staffing dealt with by the Bursar in the same way that admissions was run by the Warden and his secretary.
My daughter, youngest of two, was just starting school in September 1995 and having had a break from work I was trying to decide what to do next. It was pure fluke really – I registered with Champion Employment in Abingdon and the next day they phoned me to say there was something I might be interested in. I hadn’t even heard of Radley College and it put me on the spot!
I came for an interview and met the Accountant, David Bridgford – he was so new to the job he was still having a handover with the previous Accountant. The Office Manager at the time, Rebecca Thomas, interviewed me as well. The Bursary was where it is now but the Accounts team was made up of just five people. The job was temporary and I decided to accept it and see what happened – I don’t think I expected to still be here 30 years later!
Radley has been so accommodating, allowing me to increase my hours over the years as my children grew up and I have felt really well supported through the various ups and downs of my life.
How has your day-to-day role changed over the years?
Originally my main role was to record all the receipts and fees cheques and subsequently I got involved with the billing. In the nineties that was a huge job as every boy had several different bills to include in the envelope – whether they had milk, papers, their Shop account, music invoice – and then we would post the bills to 650 families.
I worked until lunchtime for years, until Jock Mullard and Tony Money, who looked after the Radley archives which were based in the Bursary at the time, asked me whether I would like to help in the afternoons with filing paperwork for Old Radleians. That was so interesting! The room was full of files and I did my best to create order from chaos. Jock was an OR himself and he knew everything there was to know about Radley.
You are well known as the Accounts team’s lynch-pin for the commercial aspects of the College’s endeavours.
I enjoy that part of my job – doing the accounts for the Golf Club, Sports Centre and Real Tennis Club. I’ve been working with the Golf Club for 20 years. It’s lovely to interact with the members and I enjoy working with Alan Dodds, the Club Secretary.
What about life before Radley?
I started off as a copy typist at Nuffield Press in Oxford, typing up the invoices for printing the Morris cars manuals. I worked on big NCR machines back then – they were a bit like a huge typewriter which printed onto big cards. I moved from the sales ledger to the computer department, dealing with timesheets, then to the purchasing department, buying ink and paper as well as supplies for entertaining clients, and working out how much stock was needed.
What makes Radley a special place to work?
I have loved my time here – what an environment to work in every day! Over the years I have brought family to Radley to show them the campus and they are always blown away by how beautiful it is. I will really miss the people here – my team especially but everyone I work with. I wish Radley the very best for the future, especially as we build closer relationships with our counterparts at Radley Schools Group – I am sad not to be involved in this as I met the Accounts team recently and I know we would have got on really well.
Can you pick some highlights from your time here?
There are a few! Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to the College to open Queen’s Court in 1997 is a really special memory. Another is the 150th anniversary when everyone was invited to Gaudy – it was a wonderful party atmosphere with bumper cars and fireworks over the lake and an orchestra in the evening. The team were invited to Henley one year which was a fabulous day. We had so much fun cheering on the Radley crews. I’ve always enjoyed coming to the plays and concerts and the art shows over the years and, more recently, being invited to Shop Lunch has been very special.
And now retirement beckons – what do you have planned?
I am looking forward to having more time! To meet up with friends and look after my father and my grandchildren. I love losing myself in a cross-stitch project and I’m excited to carry on with the piece I’m working on for my grandson. The fact that I had planned for this to be a present for when he was born tells you that I haven’t done my hobby for a long time – he’s a year old now!
