Long standing Wye Valley resident, Karen Rudderham, has recently completed her final day with Ross-on-Wye based Aquilant Endoscopy, before retiring, having spent close to a decade working with the fast-growing healthcare and endoscopy products specialists.

Having seen many changes to the Wye Valley since she first arrived in 1976, Karen’s witnessed equally significant developments at Aquilant Endoscopy, particularly during the company’s transition from its previous incarnation of Imotech Medical. Having been an active employer and mainstay of the local community since the mid-1990s, Aquilant Endoscopy continues to go from strength to strength, as demand for its cutting-edge endoscopy products grows throughout the healthcare industry.

It’s a successful formula that relies on the contribution and commitment of employees like Karen, something that Aquilant Endoscopy’s Marketing Manager, Matt Aronow, is only too keen to point out: “We really value the drive and the talents of all our staff and Karen was no exception. In addition to being a high-end provider of endoscopy products, Karen’s support has been invaluable to us becoming a quality provider of educational training programmes for clinicians and support teams including endoscopy nurses and healthcare assistants. This includes our flagship City & Guilds accredited ‘Care & Maintenance of Fujifilm Endoscopes’ course. We were sad to see her go, but wish her all the best for a long and happy retirement.”

As for Karen, who currently lives in Woolaston near Lydney, she’s looking to keep as busy in retirement as she was when working, with lots of activities to help fill her day: “I’ve always liked to keep active and besides being able to spend more time with my grandchildren, I’m really looking forward to spending time travelling, writing and hopefully helping out with some worthy causes in my local community.”See this week’s paper for more stories like this, available in shops and as a Digital Edition now.