Team Member Profile Gerry Decina

Gerry has worked at Bulbeck for 38 years and started as a storeman and driver making deliveries of our products all around the Newcastle area.  In those days he was transporting our marine products directly to the ships in our local harbour.

The old Holden delivery pickup was a double clutch “crash the gears” and would probably be in a museum now! He learned the age-old skill of tying a rope, something most people wouldn’t know how to do now.

Before long, we’d spotted his potential and he was promptly promoted to certifying life jackets. Life Jackets need to be certified every 12 months which is a lesser known specialty service of the Bulbeck Group and now ovesco. The Army is one of our customers, and they often will drop off 200 life jackets at a time for us to certify. Gerry does both automatic and manual jackets. Noting that one needs to be especially careful of the automatic ones – since if they accidentally get wet, they’ll inflate. Bringing them into ovesco in the rain has set a few off unexpectedly…  always good for their shock value and a laugh!  It usually takes 2 to 3 working days for them to be tested, repaired and certified.

What many don’t know is that Gerry was born in Venezuela, South America and which no doubt explains his smooth dancing skills! His family had to leave when civil war broke out, which is when they immigrated and settled in Newcastle. This is where his love of Souths Rugby League came from; Gerry is the Head Trainer for them and has been for over 25 years.

Souths are starting a resurgence now, which Gerry sees is due to the right people being in the right jobs – something that he sees at ovesco too. Gerry has fitted in perfectly with the culture at ovesco and loves the diversity of products and customers that we service.

He’s looking forward to passing his knowledge onto the next generation of team members.