Typically an exit interview is a conversation between a departing employee and someone from the company who's looking to gain an employee perspective. This meeting can be an opportunity for management and or the employee to provide feedback and offer suggestions.

In the case of Kevin Johns, we wanted to go in a different direction and take this once in a lifetime opportunity to ask Kevin some questions about his 61 years at Hammersmith, and uncover who the man in the orange overalls really is.

Wyatt Groth (3rd Generation Groth and Managing Director) and Kevin Johns (61 year employee and Factory Foreman) sat down during Kevin’s final days at Hammersmith to discuss Kevin’s time at Hammersmith. Here is what we learned.

Kevin started with Hammersmith on the 15th of May 1963. How did Kevin get the job? Who did Kevin speak to?

Kevin’s mother saw an advert in the paper for an apprentice wood turner in Adelaide, when living in Rosedale in the Barossa Valley. She spoke to the founder of the business on the phone, Ted Groth, and arranged an interview for Kevin. He came down to Adelaide and met with Ted, and then within a week, Ted rang back and told Kevin he had the job. The 15th of May was when Kevin had his first day at Hammersmith Woodturners.

Kevin was 15 ½  at the time, and in year 9 at Nuriootpa High School. Kevin never enjoyed school, and his teacher from craft work suggested he would probably be happier if Kevin looked for a job. 

Kevin left the Barossa and came down to Adelaide and lived with his sister at Mitchell Park. Kevin would ride his push bike from Mitchell Park to Edwardstown for work, which was about a 15 minute ride.

What does Kevin recall about his first day/week?

Kevin’s early memories of working at Hammersmith included cleaning up, tailing out, and drilling and inserting screws into furniture legs, most of which were for the bottom of TV’s that Philips in Adelaide were producing. Kevin would finish up the legs and pack them up into boxes.

There were 6 staff members there at the time. The business was still making Mulga Wood souvenirs for the public, at Hammersmith Avenue but the business had moved to Erudina Avenue in Edwardstown. Kevin would work on and off with Ted, but mainly with other guys in the factory.

What was Ted Groth (Founder) like to work for?

Kevin got on very well with Ted. He was hard but fair. Looking back on it, Kevin felt that Ted became a father figure to him. Kevin’s mother was still living in Rosedale in the Barossa Valley, but sometime later his mother picked up work in Adelaide and moved down to live with Kevin.

Kevin worked with Geoff Groth (Ted’s son and 2nd Generation manager) and they used to go on holidays together with Ted and his wife Merle. Geoff started in the business a few years after Kevin.

If you did something wrong, Ted would let you know about it, but he did not hold grudges with Kevin.

How much was Kevin's first pay packet?
How many hours a week did Kevin have to work?

Kevin remembers his first pay packet being around £4.50. In AUD you would be talking around the vicinity of $40 for a week's work. This week of work would be 7am-5pm, 5 days a week; 50 hours per week. You would get 50 hours + overtime as 3 nights a week they would work till 9pm and then all day Saturday to keep up with the Philips legs orders. Ted paid his workers for the overtime.

When Kevin turned 16 the following year, he signed up and started a 5-year woodturning apprenticeship at Marleston TAFE 1 day a fortnight and 1 night a week. Learning to hand turn at Hammersmith, Kevin had to do cabinet making at TAFE because there was nobody there to teach woodturning.

When did Kevin start taking on more of a foreman role? Who did Kevin take over from?

It was not until the business moved to Brompton that Kevin took on more of a foreman role in the business during the mid 70’s-80’s as Ted ran it until he began delegating this responsibility to Geoff, Kevin, and Peter Howard. Ted wanted to step-back and get into the cutter heads and the tool room, so he handed the responsibility of the turning side to others.

What was Kevin's favourite machine?
Does it still exist?

Kevin’s favourite machine was one that was purchased not long before Kevin had started. The machine was a 30-inch manual rotary knife lathe, which was used for all the Phillips square and round legs. Kevin enjoyed operating this machine and it is still regularly used today.

This was a second-hand machine that a Melbourne woodturner didn’t want anyone local to have, so through a relationship Ted had developed with their owner, Ted had purchased the lathe with money lent from the woodturners and paid it back to own the machine we still use today.

What was Kevin's least favourite machine?
Does it still exist?

Kevin doesn’t have a least favourite machine, as he took the attitude that it just had to be done and the job had to be completed. Kevin stated that one machine that he might have shied away from may have been the Zuckermann Copy Lathe for the cabriole legs but he still used it.

Kevin says that there was a saw which was air operated which has since been removed because it was dangerous to operate and unsafe to use.

What timber did Kevin hate working with?

Kevin hated working with Nyata Timber (used to be used in the joinery and stair industry). The dust was bad for the lungs and the smell was bad. It was hard on cutters and overall uncomfortable to use.

What timber did Kevin love working with?

Over 61 years, timbers have come and gone but Kevin has always loved working with Huon Pine or Celery Top Pine (timber species from Tasmania). These types of timber were easy to use, were a softer material, and you get a nice clean feeling from them. They also left you feeling on cloud nine from the smell from the timber.

Is there a product that Kevin can recall that he hated having to make? Why?

Kevin doesn’t have a product that he hated having to make, but he would say that light fittings were an annoying one to make as far as care goes. This is because the person doing the job would need to ensure that the products had no dents in them, as these would not be accepted, and as they were made out of pine, which isn’t hard to dent, made this task harder than most.

Kevin has had a company vehicle for quite a long time. What was his first one?

Kevin can’t remember how he got a company vehicle, but the first he can remember was an old delivery van that was used for making deliveries to local customers. One day it was just sitting there in the yard outside the factory and Ted asked if Kevin wanted to take the vehicle home.

This van was reminiscent of the A-Team van from the hit TV Show. The two front doors were sliding doors, and there was a metal cage behind the front two seats. The back doors were also sliding doors and there were rear swing doors. Kevin remembers the vehicle rattled a lot, the seats bouncing around, and the vehicle barely having heating, and having to drive with the doors open during summer due to the heat. Kevin’s next vehicle was the same vehicle but slightly improved. Kevin’s first “real” car was a White Holden Kingswood Ute.

61 years is a long time, and Kevin has obviously seen a lot of fellow employees come and go. Is there an era that Kevin enjoyed the most due to the staff members he worked with?

Kevin says that the era he enjoyed the most was probably when Hammersmith was really busy and had 35 people working in the business; this was during the 90s. Everyone seemed to get along, and back in the 80s and 90s, there was a social club which used to go out for dinners, organise trips (one even to Falls Creek in the snow), and they would catch up outside of work hours and go to Oaks Club Picnics, dinners, and dance balls.

Did Kevin ever consider leaving Hammersmith to work elsewhere or do something different?

During Kevin’s 61 years at Hammersmith, Kevin had never given any level of consideration to doing something different as Kevin enjoyed what he did. Kevin says the variety of what they did and what they produced was the best part because they never really got bored doing a job that just went on and on and on. Looking back Kevin, would never accept another job offer and during his 61 years, never had an inkling to leave.

Kevin is 77 now, which is 10 years past retirement age. How come Kevin kept on working until now, and what made Kevin decide it was the right time to retire?

At 77 years old, and 61 years of working at Hammersmith, Kevin has continued to work at Hammersmith as long as he has since Kevin does not have too many outside interests as far as hobbies go, he enjoyed woodturning, and Kevin felt he was fit and healthy enough to keep working. Day after day Kevin didn’t have any inkling of wanting to retire until late 2023 when he had a knee replacement where it made Kevin realise that it might soon be time to pull back and step aside.

Final Words

Words cannot measure the impact and influence that Kevin Johns has had on the way Hammersmith operates and exists today, as his legacy goes further than simply 61 years of clocking in and out each day. During Kevin’s time at Hammersmith, he has worked with 4 generations of the Groth family, operated countless different machines, run and completed nobody knows how many jobs, and rarely taken a day off unless needed to. Kevin Johns is the employee that every manager wishes for but no manager wants to lose. Kevin will be deeply missed at Hammersmith but we wish him a happy retirement, and hope to see Kevin return someday even if just for a morning coffee with a Groth.