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World War I veteran Fred Rayner was lovingly toasted by his great-grandchildren last week on the centennial of the company the late soldier had founded.
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“In the early days, Fred would travel to workplaces on his bike or on a streetcar with a roll of sheet metal and his tools to install his VETS Supreme gravity ovens in postwar homes,” says Sean Rayner, his great-grandson. and fourth president of the generation company.
“We have an exceptional team at VETS and we are excited to celebrate our 100th anniversary with an employee stock ownership plan,” says Rayner.
“Several of our employees recently accepted our offer to become shareholders and we look forward to seeing more in the years to come.”
Cycling to work could not have been a comfortable trip for Fred Rayner, born in Tring, near London, in 1891. He emigrated to Canada in 1913 and sailed on April 18, 1916 to Europe with the 51st Edmonton Battalion, part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
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“He broke his foot twice during the war, was hospitalized, and ended up driving ambulances and tanker trucks before being discharged in March 1919,” says his great-granddaughter Erin Rayner, the company’s marketing and business development manager that his brother Sean renamed. the VETS Group .
“Fred wore leg braces for the rest of his life. But in the hospital he had been beaten by a nurse named Fanny and he convinced her to marry him. “
The indefatigable soldier and trained carpenter worked for a sheet metal company in Edmonton after the war. But when his wife learned, eavesdropping on the shared line phone, that the company planned to let him go, Fred Rayner resigned and in 1921 launched his own company.
“He employed retired war veterans, which gave birth to our company name,” says Seam Rayner. “When possible, we still employ military veterans today.”
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The VETS Group has seen a world war, countless boom-bust cycles, and now the COVID-19 pandemic, which has prevented the company from having a sizeable birthday celebration.
“I heard that only 0.5 percent of companies survive to celebrate their centenary and I’m not sure how many of them are family-owned, especially in a young developing country like Canada,” says Sean Rayner.
Alan, Fred’s son, became president of the company in 1945 and moved from residential construction to the commercial and industrial heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) markets.
“VETS fabricated and installed conduit at iconic sites like the University of Alberta Hospital and a new Edmonton Retention Center,” says Sean Rayner.
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“My father, David, Alan’s eldest son, ran the business during the 1980s, shifting the company’s focus from riskier construction jobs to specialty manufacturing.
“But after a serious health problem, my father retired in 2005 and I took over the company, expanded the business and renamed it the VETS Group.”
Today, VETS Sheet Metal serves the Western Canadian industrial HVAC market from its offices in Edmonton and Surrey, BC.
Meanwhile, a team of more than 100 traders complete complex work in the wood fiber, oil and gas, power generation, mining, institutional and water treatment industries from Vancouver Island to the Yukon and so far east. like Manitoba.
Another branch, VETS Facility Services, offers proactive maintenance for building owners, property managers and multi-unit homes throughout central Alberta. “
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The case of the missing ladder
The generous Rayners came to the aid of my friends and I in 2011 when former CHED radio host Bruce Bowie and A-Channel Big Breakfast TV hosts Mark Scholz and Steve Antle realized we were missing a ladder.
We had taken our ladder to run with us in the Ottawa Marathon, selling signs for $ 1,000 a step in support of the Salvation Army.
On our way to raising $ 250,000 for the Sally Ann in three years, and after an after-race party, we forgot to take the ladder to the airport.
“I remember his team placing an order for a ladder before a charity run in 2011 to support the construction of Valor Place, a home away from home for members of the Canadian Army, RCMP, families of the fallen, veterans and rescuers”. says Erin Rayner. “My father was delighted that our company was able to lend you and your friends a long ladder.”
Antle returned to Maritimes and CBC Radio host Mark Connolly had stepped in to take his place on our team.
Later, after an argument with the Rayner family, the family business donated all the labor and materials to install a ventilation system at Valor Place, which was then under construction.
“The pandemic killed Valor Place marches for the past few years,” says Sean Rayner, now Valor Place board chair. “But let us know if your group wants to borrow a ladder next year. I feel like Fred’s spirit will march with you. “
Reference-edmontonjournal.com