GORDON Green has retired after a 50 year career at Dorset’s Wessex Group, where he began as an apprentice and finished as a managing director.

More than 100 staff past and present attended his farewell event at the Royal Chase Hotel in Shaftesbury and wished him well for his future on the golf course.

Wessex Group is now a multimillion-pound company with nearly 400 staff, but when Gordon started in 1964 the only other person there was founder Tony Morgan.

In a speech, Tony told how Gordon was recruited for his six year apprenticeship at Wessex Electricals after the business he was working for burned down.

He added: “Gordon has been a major and pivotal part of Wessex Group’s success.

“He’s been a loyal and good friend who has never let Wessex down and I can honestly say we’ve never had a cross word in 50 years.”