How would you describe Granada as a company?
Excellent,excellent. The Property Buyer, Spud Taylor, who had incidentally worked on Snows of Kilimanjaro, he was Property Buyer on the film. He was on the ladder, putting some props away, fell and broke his leg. Taken to hospital. Of course Sidney was told about it. He sent him off to the Theatre Rest Home in Brighton with instructions he hadn’t to come back until he was absolutely clear. Someone else would do your job. And that’s just how it was. All the way through it was. He did that with other people you know. Send them off to the Rest Home. He had his finger on the pulse.
And the Company had its own doctor didn’t it?
Oh yeah, we had a doctor at Salford Royal who could be rung at any time. He could come in at any time. We had two nurses. There was Sister Rowe and I can’t remember the surname of the other one but her name was Jean anyway, and we had them over the studio, well not the studio hours, one would be around for the studio if they were needed but the other one was for any other call anyway they took it in turns. As long as there were people in the building there was a nurse there. I mean it was great.
So a very paternalistic company?
Yes, yeah well that six-month party was something.
Was it generous in its pay, payments?
Well..
Expenses were always generous?
Yes they were but compared to outside companies in this area and this was the thing, they were generous for salaries, I mean, I was on seven pounds ten shillings, seven pound fifty when I left and Granada paid me ten pounds
You were on seven pounds?
Seven pounds ten shillings, seven pounds fifty pence a week in Engineering.
Right, sorry. I understand.
In Engineering and when I went to Granada, I was on ten pound straight away. And then we got a pound, one pound fifty each Christmas until the unions came in and then they set a format for wages and it did give an increase to other people as well anyway.
And there were the share bonuses as well?
Oh yeah. You had to do, if you’d done twelve months you got one weeks bonus, two years was two weeks, then you waited for four weeks and you got four weeks bonus.
