“And then suddenly we were stuck through the wall of a prison cell”
Last October, our colleague Guy celebrated his 30th anniversary at SKP. A man who has seen nearly every department of our family business up close — and who perhaps unintentionally earned the unofficial title of “problem solver.” In other words, someone with plenty of experience (and just as many stories to tell)!
Originally, the plan was to hire Guy as a salesperson, but he flat-out refused.
“I wanted to work with my hands. I started out as a technician, and after six months I got the chance to try my hand at being warehouse manager — alongside an outside job as a repair technician.”
“A few years later, I got caught (laughs). Whether I wanted to just take the existing catalogue and give it a refresh… Well, I went ahead and made a completely new advertising brochure. I did it all outside of work — for twelve years — simply because I loved doing it.”
At work, we know Guy as the king of practical jokes — he once pretended to be a radio host and convinced a customer they’d won a free fridge — but equally as an unmatched problem solver.
His most memorable moment?
“In 2000, we received a massive order from one of our clients. Five trucks arrived from all directions, packed to the brim with heavy materials. From early morning until late at night, we were unloading, sorting, repacking, and finally shipping the goods to the customer’s site.”
“And then there was that unforgettable adventure in a prison in Flanders (laughs). Because a prisoner kept escaping — even by helicopter — the prison administration and politicians were understandably desperate for a fast solution. We found out through the press that a company had been appointed to come up with one — and it turned out to be us. Suddenly, things had to move very quickly, because yet another escape attempt had just been foiled.”
“We proposed stretching heavy steel cables across a network of ground-anchored poles. However, some of these cables also needed to be anchored into the walls. Management had assured us the walls were thick and strong enough. It quickly became clear that wasn’t the case: as soon as we started drilling, we almost immediately broke through the wall — and suddenly, we saw a prisoner waving at us. He had to find somewhere else to stay for a while (laughs).
In the end, everything was sorted out quickly — in a record three weeks, in fact — and there haven’t been any escape attempts since.”