From delivering milk and newspapers to working in shops, factories and offices, Harrow residents have been sharing memories of their first jobs.
We asked Harrow Online’s Facebook followers where they first worked in the borough, prompting stories spanning several decades of local working life.
The responses included well-known Harrow employers such as Kodak, Debenhams, Woolworths and Winsor & Newton, alongside smaller shops and businesses that have since disappeared.
Saturday jobs and Harrow’s former shops
Many residents began working while they were still at school, often taking Saturday or summer holiday jobs in Harrow’s shops.
Saillie Robarts said: “My first job was as a junior in the ladies’ department of Lilley and Skinner in Station Road. It was a family firm then.”
Jan Hughes worked at Universal Stationers near Sopers during the 1960s, while Pam Huggins worked in the Sopers office, where staff added up the day’s takings.
Iona Hills had a Saturday job at the Index catalogue shop inside Littlewoods, and Barbara Thompson worked as a Saturday girl at Woolworths.
Vespucciano Annaleena said: “I was a Saturday girl and had a summer holiday job at Broadhurst’s, the school outfitters. I learned how to refold shirts and repackage them.”
Shilpa Unalkat worked in the curtains and haberdashery department at Debenhams, as well as at the Land Registry, during her school summer holidays in the 1980s.
Sarah Georgina Watts also worked in the shoe department at Debenhams through the Youth Training Scheme, while Cherise McCann worked at JD Sports and the John Richard concession inside Debenhams.
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Belinda Clark worked at Peter Lord Clark’s shoe shop on Saturdays and during the summer holidays. Cam McEwan remembered working at Lee Jac shoe shop and Harris pram and baby shop during the 1950s.
Georgette Louis had a Saturday job at Garner Chemist in Pinner Road before later working at Dorothy Perkins in Harrow.
Claire Mendonça-Yeboah worked as a sales assistant at First Sport in St George’s, while Sails Switchy Gohil worked part-time at Iceland in Wealdstone and Burton menswear in Harrow.
Mike Lavelle started with a paper round and later worked at Hamleys when the toy shop had a Harrow branch.
He said: “Paper round, but I also worked in Hamleys when they had a shop in Harrow. Does anyone remember Hamleys toys in Harrow?”
Other residents recalled working at Wavy Line in Pinner Green, Dales in Kenton, The Photo Shop in Harrow, Peteroys, Saxon shoe shop and Tigi Wear in Pinner Road.
Ann-Marie Bright said: “I worked in the food court upstairs in St Ann’s, clearing tables. This was when there were still indoor smoking sections. It was owned by P&O.”
Sophia Hinton worked at Ann Summers between 2007 and 2012 before moving into what she described as her “grown-up corporate career”.
She said: “Ann Summers! 2007 to 2012, before my ‘grown-up corporate’ career. The most fun I’ve ever had at work, ever!”
Factories, public services and lifelong careers
Kodak featured heavily among the responses, reflecting its long history as one of Harrow’s major employers.
Kaushik Joshi had a summer job at Kodak, while Tina Evans worked in the company’s accounts department at Imperial House in Rayners Lane.
John Stratford worked at Kodak after beginning with a paper round for WHSmith in North Harrow.
Joy Locke said: “I worked at Kodak for about eight years, then Lloyds Bank in Harrow until 1974, when I got married and moved to Ipswich.”
Mike Phillips worked at the Sainsbury’s in Wealdstone as a student from 1986 until it closed around a year later, before staff were transferred to a newer store.
Cass Edwards worked at Whitefriars Glass in 1968, while Sue Silcox worked at Rich’s sweet factory, just over Harrow Hill opposite the Civic Centre.
Raymond Saunders was a junior sales clerk at Winsor & Newton in 1959, and Jackie Sharpe also worked at the company’s Ladysmith Road site in Wealdstone.
Other factory and industrial employers mentioned included Marconi’s in Stanmore, Hitachi, Green Shield Stamps, Hunt and Kennard Timber Merchants and an unnamed bed factory.
Alan Day recalled an unusual first job on the railway.
He said: “I was a box boy working at Harrow signal box. We logged train movements and sometimes even unofficially worked the lever frame.”
Chrissie Johnston worked in the London Transport ticket office at Harrow-on-the-Hill, while David Jenkins was a telegram messenger in 1960.
Norma MacHaye worked as a court stenographer at Harrow Crown Court, and Kevin Gould served as a police officer based in Wealdstone between 1983 and 1988.
Lin Adams worked in property charge administration for the Land Registry at Lyon House. Others remembered jobs at NatWest, Lloyds Bank, Britannia Building Society, Eagle Star Insurance and the HMSO stationery office.
For some residents, an early job became a career lasting several decades.
Neil Sullivan said: “Royal Mail in College Road. I’m still there 36 years later — although not in College Road, unfortunately.”
Simon Riley said: “Gardener at Bowden House Clinic, now Cygnet Hospital Harrow, for 42 years.”
Hairdressing was another common route into work. Carole McAndrew was an apprentice at Brownies near Harrow School, while Colin West worked at Alec’s hairdressers in Eastcote Lane.
Clare Griffiths sometimes worked as a Saturday girl at Petros Hair and Beauty when the salon was short-staffed, while others mentioned Kevin Michael Hair and Hair by Robert in Sudbury.
Mick Sh worked as an apprentice decorator for Ridouts in Harrow on the Hill, and Tim Cole became a management trainee with Bovis Construction in South Harrow in 1974.
There were also first jobs at the James Joyce pub in Kenton Road, the Mayfair Coffee Shop, Tops Pizza in Rayners Lane, North Harrow Bowl and Travis Perkins in Neptune Road.
Chris Finn’s first experience of work was less successful.
He said: “Milk boy. I was awful. I dropped more than I delivered. The milkman politely asked me to leave, so I got a paper round.”
The memories show how much Harrow’s working landscape has changed, with many former shops and factories now gone.
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Chris Mitchell is the founder and editor of Harrow Online, Harrow’s leading local news platform.
He launched Harrow Online in 2010 as a Facebook page sharing local news and information. Since then, it has grown into a trusted source for breaking news, crime, council decisions, planning, transport, business and community stories across the borough.
Harrow Online reaches hundreds of thousands of readers each month and has a social media audience of more than 200,000 followers.
For news tips, press releases or enquiries, contact Chris at info@harrowonline.org.
