John Connolly

Street Services Officer, Sefton MBC

John has been a loyal and reliable servant of Sefton Council in the Cleansing Service since joining the then Bootle Corporation in 1962, aged 19. He started as a road sweeper and worked his way up to become the Area Cleansing Officer after passing through rank of refuse officer, charge-hand and senior bin collection driver. In the 1980s, John was actively involved in the discussions for Voluntary Competitive Tendering (VCT) and Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT). During the early 1990s John undertook the basic ILM equivalent of first line management and obtained a qualification in 1992. In 1996, he was again involved in the successful in-house tendering process for the renewal of the contract. John was promoted to Area Cleansing Officer in 1997 and has managed teams in every area of the borough. He continues to provide an important link between senior management and frontline staff and retires on May 1 - just short of 47 years loyal service.