Celestion’s longest serving employee Dee Potter reflects on 50 years at Celestion: "I was there from the beginning"

While Celestion celebrates 100 years in business this year, the manufacturer’s longest-serving staff member also celebrates a milestone anniversary at the company. The embodiment of the brand’s perseverance in a dynamic industry, Dee Potter reflects on 50 years at Celestion.

In 1974, Potter left school at 16 to join her mother on Celestion’s production line. What began as a job turned into a passion, especially as Celestion continued its transition from home hi-fi to transducers for guitar cabinets and pro audio PA systems – what Potter lovingly refers to as “big power.”

Tell us how you got started at Celestion…

In those days, you could leave school early if you had a job. You didn't have to sit your exams and could go out into the big wide world. On the first day, they put me in hi-fi and public address systems. That's where I started my training. Then I got a chance to move to the power side: guitar speakers and variations of the G12 type speakers that were used for sound reinforcement then. 

They were starting up a small unit, a little area doing what we would call heavy power, the heavy, big woofers. I spent a day there and thought, ‘Yep, this is for me!’ It was very much in its infancy. We'd never done anything like that before. Today's equivalent would be the 18-inch (and bigger), pro audio stuff. The original PA (public address) stuff, that was very titchy, tiny stuff. I was doing Derby autos on the hi-fi line, making really tiny diaphragms. 

The power side was a lot heavier, more robust. I was there when they started the heavy stuff up; it started with me, really. So that was quite good! Somebody must have seen something in me; at 18 they asked me to take over the section to supervise, and I jumped at that. I stayed with that for a few years. Then they needed a supervisor for our smaller power, which was 10-inch, 12-inch, 8-inch speakers. That was around 1984. I have stayed with the power line stuff ever since.

I went to Celestion for three months to work out what I wanted to do. I've always joked that I’ve been there 50 years, and I haven’t worked out what I want to do yet! It's been great. So many changes and so many people going through the company. Early on, Celestion was in a very, very old building. 

I mean, the roof leaked and then the drains would leak. If we had torrential rain, we would get wet from the top and from the bottom. The floors were soaked. It wasn't a very glamorous place to work. It was very old and quite shabby, really. We thought it was hilarious.

What kept you there?

I took over the line, the heavy power side and then I went to take over the mass-produced lines as supervisor. Before that, I used to look after the grille section; we used to cover the cabinets with grilles by hand then. I don't know if anybody's told you, but I have a fantastic head for figures. 

I can tell people which pieces and parts went into a product 20-odd years ago. Employees often come and ask me for numbers today and they'll say I’m quicker than the computer. Nigel Wood, our managing director, recently said that I need to have my brain flushed out of all my numbers. I just love working there. I love the people I work with.

How would you describe the evolution of your work over the years?

When we began mass producing and the heavy power line in the mid-1980s, we weren't really the preferred customer, if you like – because all the emphasis at the time was on hi-fi and public address speakers. I thought, “Well, I'm not having that!” So I made sure we always made a profit. We always did a lot of work for Marshall. If the line broke down, I'd move hell and high water to get that all fixed. 

I'd shout at people and tell them to get down there. I probably didn't make myself very popular at times, but I got the job done. And then we were just getting busier and busier. I suppose my turning point, being tenacious like I am, was when Iain Elder started as a new manager in the late 1980s. He really supported me because, as I said, all the emphasis was on hi-fi and PA in those days. And power was like the poor relation. 

Ian supported the power side, and that gave me the drive to make sure that we succeeded. I made sure that we always got the orders out. We were always on time and all that just to try and say, “Hello, power is here!” You know, you're not going to ignore us. So that's basically what I carried on doing until I went part-time last November.

Did things get easier for you as business evolved?

It didn't scare me, because I grew with it. I was there from the beginning. And the bigger that we got, the more I wanted to do. The more I wanted to succeed and make us the best. In a presentation recently, Nigel said some lovely things. He said, “If it wasn't for what she did all those years ago… she really made us help us to become the best in the world.” I was quite humbled.

Did you face challenges?

Yeah. Probably in my early 20s, the local station wanted to interview me, and I will always remember the radio broadcaster said, “You're a woman in a man's world. You shouldn't be doing what you're doing.” I said, “Well, I'll be here. So that's what I'm going to do.” They were quite surprised, I think. I'm like a dog with a bone. If anybody wants to try and put me down, they’d better be damn well perfect. 

They're going to get it back. And if I hear anybody putting somebody else down, I won't have it. I jump in and sort that out. I'm six-foot tall, so most people sort of look up to me anyway! They go away thinking, “I’d better do what she says”. I got the job done. That's all I was there to do.

You sound like you were born for this job!

I'll take charge of any situation. It doesn't matter what I've got to do to try and help people. The people that I've got working for me, I trained them myself. Two are still with me today after 20 years: Lynn Warren and Mandy Pearson. I trained Lynn and Mandy to take charge of their areas; with my impending retirement coming up I have been training Lynn for the past two years to take charge of the shop floor. 

She's very much like me when I was younger. She's doing a good job. I’ve also re-employed three people — Berti Cook , Graham Heck, and Mark Allen — so we still have part of the old team together.

If you could go back and give the 16-year-old version of you some insider advice, what would you tell her?

I honestly don't know. I’ve only ever looked back with fondness. I've had no bad experiences. I’ve probably made some bad decisions at some stage, but we all have. I honestly don't think I would change anything because I think that's made me, me. Do you know what I mean?

Now that you're going to retire, what are you going to do with all this time?

I still have my mother, who is 91, and my sister. I'm sure the two of them will keep me busy. I love getting out in the garden, going on holidays, coffee mornings with the girls, ladies-who-lunch type things. Give me more time to do that!

How are you going to celebrate your last day?

I'm sure I'll be a bit sad. I'll obviously go on that last day, but I probably won't be there by six that morning. But I will go around and say hi and thanks to everybody, because you're only as good as the team you have around you. As I said, I've always had a fantastic team, and I know they'll carry it through.

Is there anything else you’d like to add as a parting thought to Celestion?

I’d like to thank everyone at Gold Peak, Celestion and GP Acoustics for all the support. You have made my work life the best time of my life; I'm going to miss you all, and you will always hold a special place in my heart.

Photo credits: Charlotte Bond, Newsquest