“You’d have to be pretty foolish to show up to a job for 30 years if you didn’t like it. Then you should find something else,” says Uffe Holtze, 52. He’s standing in the workshop at Lykkegaard Pumps in Ferritslev, having just finished preparing eight pumps for shipment to a fish farm in Poland. But how many pumps he’s handled over the years at Lykkegaard? He couldn’t possibly count.

On September 21st, Uffe celebrated his 30th anniversary as an industrial technician at Lykkegaard. That’s 30 years with the same manager, Karsten Lykkegaard, and 30 years of building pumps.

It might sound like 30 identical years, but that’s far from the truth, Uffe explains.

“I wouldn’t function if I had to stand at the same machine day in and day out. No two workdays are ever the same here. Some days I’m in the workshop working on one or more machines, sometimes I’m assembling pumps and preparing them for testing – and quite often I’m out visiting farmers, pump associations, or companies to pick up, repair, or install pumps,” he says.

Incredible skilled and liked technician

Uffe is usually the technician who visits customers – whether it’s a summerhouse area in Denmark, a large farm, or fish industry businesses across Denmark and the Nordics. And according to Karsten Lykkegaard, he couldn’t ask for a better ambassador for the company.

“Uffe is incredibly skilled and a genuinely kind person. I often get calls from customers who’ve had a visit from Uffe, and they take the initiative to tell me what a pleasant and positive experience it was. As a manager, you really can’t ask for more,” says Karsten Lykkegaard.

Uffe himself is also happy that part of his job involves being out in the field as a service technician and installer.

“It’s great to get out. One of the perks of pump stations around the country is that they’re often located in beautiful natural areas with views of the sea or fields. It’s nice to meet new people and get some fresh air. On the other hand, I’d probably get tired of it if I had to be out on installation jobs every single day. As I get older, I can feel that I’d rather sleep in my own bed than stay overnight somewhere – and I’d rather push dinner a bit and get home to a slice of rye bread or leftovers in my own kitchen than stop at a roadside cafeteria,” he shares.

Experience Makes Uffe an Expert

Installation jobs often involve fitting a large pump into a pump house that’s barely bigger than the pump itself. So it takes creativity and cleverness to get the pumps into the designated holes.

“Half the job comes with experience. I wouldn’t want to install one of the big pumps in a pump house without having done it before,” says Uffe Holtze, who learned a lot from the older colleagues he worked with early on. He absorbed their knowledge and experience.

Over the past 30 years, he’s also trained several apprentices and younger colleagues.

“There was a time when I was the one asking the older guys for advice when I was unsure. Now I’m the one they come to,” he says, and admits:

“Yes, I know quite a bit about pumps by now. And it means a lot to feel confident in what I do.”

The anniversary will be celebrated with a dinner for all employees and their partners.