When 16-year-old John Fyffe followed his father into Dundee’s Timex factory as apprentice he could never have imagined where his career would take him.
But 50 years later John, 66, has been made an MBE for services to education and young people, having recently retired as Perth and Kinross Council’s depute chief executive.
Born and brought up in Dundee, John lived as a child in a single end house with an outside toilet shared with five other families.
All he wanted was to train as an engineer like his dad at the factory after he finished at Linlathen High School.
And for six years he loved the job – but then he realised he could do more.
John said: “He [my father] encouraged me to become an engineer and there were lots of engineering apprenticeships in Dundee at that time.
“I always wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps.
“And it was a great place to work, I loved it.”
Making tools at Timex required incredible accuracy, but John had a talent for it and was named top apprentice at Kingsway Technical College four years in a row.
He said: “It was at that point I developed a bit of confidence; I saw the foremen with their white jackets on and thought I could maybe get to that.
“Then at the age of 23 I thought I’ve got to get out of here and do something else.”
By that time John had married Carolyn and just five months into their marriage he started training to become a technical teacher at the Northern College of Education.
His first teaching post was at Perth High School in 1982. From there he became assistant principal teacher at Perth Grammar, principal teacher at Forfar Academy then assistant head teacher at Monifieth High School and depute head at Arbroath Academy.
When he was appointed head teacher at Blairgowrie High School in 2004, he took over a tough post – leading a school so blighted by bullying it had been nicknamed Battlefield High.
But two years after his arrival, education inspectors monitoring the school reported on its “good progress”.
And after just three years in that post, John was promoted to depute director of education, and after six months director, for Perth and Kinross Council.
By the time he retired five years ago father-of-three John, who lives in Dundee, was depute chief executive of the local authority.
He has also served as president of the Association of Directors of Education, is on the board of the Scottish Attainment Challenge and education advisor to the Scottish Attainment Board.
Education Scotland has him as a non-executive board member, and John is proud to be a trustee of the Dundee Bairns charity.
Double celebration for John Fyffe MBE and wife Carolyn
A confidential letter three weeks ago told him that we was to be awarded an MBE – and only now is the secret out with the announcement of the King’s Birthday Honours list.
It’s likely it will be at a Buckingham Palace that he is made John Fyffe MBE.
He said: “I was utterly gobsmacked. I’ve been retired five years so I wasn’t expecting it.”
It will mean a double celebration when Carolyn, 66, graduates with a first class honours degree from Dundee University on Tuesday, for which a family party is already planned.
John said his greatest aspiration in his early years had been nothing more than getting an apprenticeship, then he realised there were lots of kids like him “that needed that head lifted”.
He said: “The first 11 years of my life was spent growing up in a ‘single end’ with a shared outside toilet and I don’t want to see any young person being stuck in the equivalent of that type of environment.
“I believe that education is a great mechanism for social mobility and a route out of poverty.
“It worked for me and is still relevant today.”
