For six and a half years of my life around the turn of the millennium I worked for the menswear retailer Greenwoods Menswear. I joined the company in 1998 as an agency warehouseman following one of the most difficult periods in my career and by the time I left in 2005 to become a minister in Norwich, I had climbed up to being the warehouse and distribution manager, running the distribution centre in Bradford; this was one of the proudest achievements in my career. I tell you this, not with a desire to boast, but because my experience sits as a parallel with the experience of my employer at this time in my life.
I find the history of Greenwoods Menswear quite fascinating, in 1860 a young lad called Willie Greenwood got himself a job working at a milliner’s shop in Bradford. After just a short while the owner of the shop disappeared without trace and the young Willie Greenwood ended up running the shop. Over a period of time, he established a gentleman’s outfitters shop and over the following years generations of the family put their stamp on the business and by its peak in the 1990s the company owned around 200 shops and there was a Greenwoods shop on most high streets particularly across the north of England.
The Oak Tree was the emblem on the facias of the shops and the ethos of the business was “from tiny acorns, mighty oaks grow”. I learned a lot during my time with the company and one of the most important of those was the difference small changes can make.
I took the picture above during last summer of acorns outside one of the Churches I serve and the sight brought back many happy memories. Mighty oak trees grow from these little gems. I believe that this is a decent moral for life, small changes can make a big difference.