9 Feb. 2022. The PITA Office is especially proud of our ‘Retired Members’, individuals who have frequently given a lifetime to the Paper & Board Sector and still retain an avid interest in the latest developments shaping the Paper Industry. Such is the commitment of these individuals, they often continue to contribute beyond the normal retirement age and it would be easy to draw up a list of members who have and continue to support the industry into their seventies.

Admittedly, once people move into their eighties we tend to hear a little less from them as they spend more time savouring their retirement, but when they do make contact their input is as focussed and relevant as ever, although frequently delivered at a more measured pace.

Given that the gentleman I am about to talk about is a ‘Mathematician’, he amongst all others will appreciate that in any set of results you will get a Gaussian Distribution with data points at the extremes of the distribution and he has become one of those outlying data points in the age profile of PITA Members!

At the beginning of February, Geof Nuttall celebrated his 90th Birthday with a lavish supper for his neighbours, friends and family at his local ‘Gastro Pub’, the ‘Shoulder of Mutton’ in Kirkby Overblow (near Harrogate), where Geof is still considered to be something of an ‘Activist’ in village matters. Nearly fifty people packed into the little village pub on one of the wettest evenings so far this year to join the festivities and were rewarded with a memorable evening, which fell comfortably into the space between formal and casual. Geof’s daughters, Claire and Celia, after being falsely accused of organising ‘alternative entertainment’ to mark this auspicious birthday, presented their father with a piece of antique Roman Glass, the only thing in the room older than Geof.

Perhaps more importantly, to our readers, Geof is still actively involved in the Paper Industry and is currently acting as ‘Senior Advisor/Monitoring Officer’ to PITA’s IEEA ‘Simulation Aided Control Project’ which has already demonstrated the potential to significantly reduce steam consumption in the Dryer Section by proactively controlling conditions in the Dryer Hood using a finely tuned mathematical model (as anyone looking at the cover of the Spring 2020 edition of Paper Technology International® will know).

After 31 years of working in mills, progressing from Research Officer with Wiggins Teape and Technical Assistant (affectionately referred to as ‘Physicist’), progressing through various management roles (and companies) to Managing Director, Geof left day to day papermaking (although some do maintain he was ‘fired’) and established a highly successful career as a Consultant to the Paper Industry, including publication of the much sought after “Theory and Operation of the Fourdrinier Paper Machine”, which is still listed on Amazon!

Geof’s list of clients reads like an extended, historical ‘who’s who’ and his work as Chief Advisor on the Paper Industry to the UK Government for over ten years paved the way for many of the energy-saving technologies we take for granted in today’s mill operations. This in-depth knowledge of energy use in paper mills was a key factor in Geof taking on the role in the IEEA Project and his contribution has been invaluable.

Geof served as PITA’s National Chairman from 1977 to 79 and went on the become President of EUCEPA, as well as serving on various Paper Federation (now CPI) and PIRA committees.

February’s party was clearly a rehearsal for the ‘big event’ in ten years but in the meantime ‘Happy Birthday Geof’ and sincere thanks for your contribution to PITA and the Paper Industry over a great many years.