Raise a glass to retiring Chairman, Peter Gable

They say things come in threes. With the transition to the Employee Ownership model and Managing Director Keith Hogben’s retirement last year, it’s time for the third phase of RPC’s evolution as we bid farewell and thank you to retiring Chairman and founder, Peter Gable.

Pete has been the face of RPC since RPC began, but with the company in fine fettle and at the start of a new era of employee ownership he’s made the decision to hand on the baton and think about putting his feet up. 

He’s been working with Primavera tools since he was introduced to P3 during a 3-month contract with Railtrack (now Network Rail) in 1997, and took over the running of Richard Palmer Consultancy in 2006, with weekend help from his sister, Tina Johnson. It was two years later, in May 2008, that Richard Palmer Consultancy became RPC UK Limited, when Pete and his friend and former IT Director Keith Hogben bought the business, with Tina as the third director. ‘Do you take a leap of faith when your brother asks you to give up your job and come and work for him starting up a new company?’ she reminisces. ‘Of course you do!’ 

Building the business – hard work, passion and instinct

‘I’ll look back,’ Pete says, ‘and I’m mostly proud of building the team that I’m leaving behind. Three of us: me, Tina and Keith, that’s where it started. Now we’ve got me, Tina and 23 other people. All hand-picked for their character, their suitability and their fit with the RPC family, which we’ve always stressed is the most important thing for us. It’s not been a job. Not a career. It’s a way of life.

‘I have to say I couldn’t have done any of it without my amazing wife, Candy. She’s been my rock and number one supporter at every step of the way. She still has no idea what I do for a living but has held the ladder firm if it wobbled.’

Chris Callaghan has been a key member of the team since 2012 and says that working with Pete has always meant ‘working hard, but never hard work. Pete set the tone for the “RPC way”, drawing a balance between getting work completed to the highest standard and ensuring customer satisfaction, all whilst doing it with a laugh and smile on our faces….and maybe the occasional quick snooze in the office chair.’ 

‘The biggest thing that happened for RPC and shaped our future without us realising it,' Pete remembers, 'was when Oracle took over Primavera only 5 months after we started. Dave Hurren's technical expertise has always kept us on the leading edge – and he's been a pleasure to work with all these years – but we've pushed forwards with those developments and grown RPC with the support of Oracle: Pat McMullan, Mark Gilbride and the rest of the sales team in Dublin and the encouragement of Dan Bryett and Andrew Godfrey through the years has been instrumental in carrying us forward. I can’t name the whole sales team, but they’ve really helped to make us what we are and I do want to say a personal thank you.’

Dave remembers one of those early Oracle Partner events in Madrid as the first of many bootcamps, conferences and expos spent with Pete. 'It's always fun to be with Pete at these events with his approachable and easy going manner. The real night was the hotel he booked for us, with its dark corridors and fluorescent mood lighting. We did wonder what we had let ourselves in for! I always say with Pete, if you're not pals after spending five minutes with him then you need to look at yourself.'

Looking back, with the RPC Family

Looking back, Tina reflects that ‘The last 16 years have been amazing, with very few arguments (is a foosball table really a necessary piece of office equipment?) but plenty of laughs. His work ethos and charitable work make Pete someone who I look up to and admire. I know the company is in safe hands going forward with John at the helm but I will really miss Peter, his bad jokes and magic tricks included.’

P6 trainer, Richard Collins, first met Pete at Railtrack and has been delivering training with him since ‘the garage days’. ‘Wednesday night was football night,’ he remembers. ‘We’d have a game on one of the local pitches in Guiseley if I was around during the week.’ In fact, football is a recurring theme when you ask anyone about Pete. When we asked the team what they would miss most about Pete in his retirement, ‘Table football matches’ was the number one answer. ‘We have had some epic battles on that table, alongside Keith, Neil, Russ G and James too.’ Chris remembers, ‘often leaving the office quite late because of that rather than because we were working overtime!’ Russ Gable didn’t even have to think when asked the same question: ‘This is an easy one. Thrashing him at table football. The apprentice has become the master.’

Looking forward – Football, family and fish ‘n’ chips

So what’s next? ‘I’m not tired of work – remember this isn’t a job, it’s a way of life – but I’m ready for a rest,’ says Pete. ‘It feels the right time in my life and the stage that RPC’s at. I’m going to be volunteering for a local elderly group as a minibus driver and Friday Fish’n’Chip runner, I’ve got my football – Guiseley and Leeds United – I want to be able to spend more time with my family and I want to learn more magic and get into mind-reading magic a bit more. I’m a Parish Councillor, I’ve got my man cave at home for listening to music and we’ve recently remodelled the garden, so lots of barbecuing …’

Pete’s hopes for the future of RPC? ‘Leaving the company is a big thing but I know that it’s in totally safe hands and is just going to keep growing. All those people we hand picked for their jobs – as an Employee Owned Trust they own the company now. I want to make sure that the culture is maintained, the company growth is steady and that people carry on enjoying coming to work for RPC.’

‘The office won’t be the same without Pete,’ says Managing Director, John Lister. ‘I’ve known Pete for the best part of 20 years and was delighted to be able to join the terrific team here at RPC. As my wife said at the time, “I’ve found my tribe”. As Managing Director since Keith’s departure last year, I’m as committed as Pete has been to keeping the company culture – “the RPC way” – going whilst continuing to take the business from strength to strength. We’ll miss him, but we all wish him a long and happy retirement.’                                                                                                         

Primavera trainer, Simon Thom, describes working with Pete as ‘the great privilege of my working and personal life,’ but adds ‘I'm fortunate that he is my great friend and I will see plenty of him in his well-earned retirement,’ and this nicely sums up one of Pete’s own hopes going forwards. 

‘I don’t think I’ll miss work,’ Pete says, ‘but I will miss the people and I’d love it if people can still just ring me up and say hello. Not just RPC people, but so many people I’ve met over the years – even going back to the days of training in my garage – don’t stop talking to me!’