Malcolm Odlin Bids Farewell to Luxus After 34 Years

A key figure who played a significant role in the growth of a leading UK advanced materials manufacturer has retired.

Malcolm Odlin has called time on a career spanning four decades at Luxus, a specialist in recycled compounds for the plastics industry.  

He became a factory hand when an early career in agriculture came undone, quickly unearthing his commercial acumen when the business’s head office functions relocated from Banbury to his hometown of Louth. That early Nineties stopgap became a sales and purchasing journey of ever-increasing magnitude.

“I looked at what was available locally, thinking it would fill the time until something else came up,” Malcolm recalled. “It was completely by chance that I joined Luxus!”

Starting on the production floor, he then worked in logistics, prior to the business consolidating in Lincolnshire.

“The company grew significantly,” he said. “Peter Atterby (managing director) and Ron Tonn (founder) before him, always reinvested in the business, and within a relatively short period of time I could see the potential – and that’s why I stuck around.”

He took a sales co-ordinator role, eventually becoming purchasing manager, with responsibility for acquiring the raw materials required for the site.

Luxus, in its 60^th year, is now a £36.5 million turnover operation, with 140 people employed and a further 30 at a sister operation in South Wales, with pride clear in what has been achieved.

“We have been recycling since 1965, something we were very proud of, but we have seen big changes. Initially it was all about industrial waste, scraps and surplus, but there has been a move to post-consumer waste, that has been the biggest change and a significant challenge. Most manufacturers are now much more efficient and generate far less waste.

“Whatever was required, we would source, be it recycled materials, masterbatches, fillers or virgin polymers.

“The growth was incredible, from one building to four as additional plots were purchased and developed. Luxus has grown a lot in size and in tonnage output, and with that has come more machinery and technology. That has also changed over the years. I find it incredible now how someone can dial in from Italy to diagnose a fault on the factory floor!”

It was early summer 1991 when he joined the team, having attended agricultural college at Bishop Burton before joining Nickersons in nearby Rothwell. He said he was always supported and encouraged by his wife, Anne.

Now he is looking forward to spending more time pursuing his hobbies, including “tinkering” with his old motorbikes, gardening and walking. “I’ve also set myself the challenge of learning the guitar, and I’m trying hard,” he added.

Peter Atterby, managing director, fondly recalled his arrival at work on a BMW touring bike and, latterly, an old grey Ferguson tractor - indicating he had “got less wild, but wiser” over the years. He said: “It has been a pleasure and honour to work with Malcolm, and rewarding to see him grow with Luxus in his 34 years. His quiet, calm, measured exterior hid his strengths of accuracy, fortitude and determination.

“Over the past two years, in the role of master, he has been training his pupil successor Dan Marsh to seamlessly take on the challenges he has embraced. I wish Malcolm well and thank him for the contribution he has made to the business, allowing us to move forward in line with the changing industry.”