Centenarian chews over time at Wrigley's factory in Devon
Mr Coverley was invited back to the factory by the company for a tour and was presented with a cake and presents. He and his family spoke with staff and he was shown pictures and products from when he worked there. He was also shown a video of what the company looks like today. Mr Coverley said he "really enjoyed" returning and being able to see how everything has changed and "improved". He said that, prior to working at the factory, he helped build Lancaster bombers during World War Two and was in the Army. Speaking of his time at the Plymouth factory, he said: "I liked the job. "I used to work on the four-piece machines, which produced chewing gum pellets in small packets."But he said the firm started stated phasing them out just before he retired so they could concentrate "on larger 10-piece packets".
Site legacy
Plant manager at Mars Wrigley Plymouth Adrian Grochowski said it was a "special day".He said when Mr Coverley was retiring, he was just a year old, so I "didn't have a clue" what it was like there then. "This site has a massive legacy," he said.He added: "A lot of people have worked here for many years and having this kind of guest got a lot of notice, and everyone has been talking about the visit". Wrigley became part of the Mars group in 2008.
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