Bill Lee

William R Lee (1945 - 2009)

 

Bill Lee first joined us as Marketing Manager in 1981 from previous jobs at ICL and Data Terminal Systems and left two years later to join TEC UK.  But in 1988 we recruited Bill back to head up our Sales and Marketing operation, and he soon brought a new vitality and excitement to the Company.

 

Bill had a huge input into ensuring that we had the best products in the market at that time, and was always looking for new ideas that could improve the way that retailers operated.  His drive to improve checkout efficiency through the introduction of products and ways of working such as scanner scales, belt scales, self scanning and cheque printing were exceptional.  Many succeeded, but some failed, usually because they were ahead of their time.  Self scanning is now a normal option, but in the 1990s it was revolutionary.  In particular Bill introduced the Green Box shopping method into the UK where it was taken up by Safeway for all its stores.

 

Bill was a formidable negotiator, but afterwards always retained the respect and friendship of our customers and suppliers.  He left the Company in 1996 to join a checkout furniture supplier, but remained in touch with his many friends and contacts at Herberts.

 

Bill died at home on 11th June 2009.