We are deeply sorry to announce the death of former IT director Ron Cairns.
Ron made a huge contribution to the development of the VGC Group business over the last 35 years.
In 1983, Ron joined VGC as a consultant. He came to help with the administration of what was at the time a very small construction business. One of the first things he did was assist in selecting our first ‘desktop computer, dot matrix printer and a bit of software’. From this very small start the systems that Ron implemented have been far reaching; his architecture provides the structure for systems across VGC today.
Ron grew from the role of IT consultant to IT director before he retired in May 2017. Ron understood the specific requirements of our business, and through discussions, ‘wish lists’ and scoping sessions, went on to develop the software that underpins our business. Ron’s systems not only ensured that we complied with our statutory requirements. They also helped us to become the industry market leader in the management of human resources, recruitment, training and payroll. Over the years auditors from our clients and industry awarding bodies have consistently commended the systems that Ron developed.
However, Ron was more than just an IT consultant or programmer. Ron’s gentle tone, manners and caring approach meant that he was our friend, colleague, mentor, sounding board – and at times counsellor for both business and personal issues.
Nothing was ever too much trouble
There was never a cross word in all the years, and he was always able to see the bigger picture. Nothing was ever too much trouble… whether it was logging into the systems to deal with system ‘bugs’ during the Wednesday payroll from whatever holiday destination he was at (apologies for that, Veronica!), working long hours to get new systems implemented, or recovering the lost documents. (Our IT team is very grateful to Ron for teaching us all to save as we go and backup, backup, backup!)
Ron cared deeply for those around him, and his passing leaves a huge gap in our business, both professionally and on a personal level.
We will miss Ron enormously, but are tremendously grateful that we had him as part of our team for so many years.
We offer our most sincere condolences to Ron’s wife Veronica, and his children, James and Lisa.
