David Bellis produced his first coin handling solution in 1964 and now, fifty years on he is still going strong as Chairman of Innovative Technology making cash handling solutions. We at ITL thought it a fitting tribute to look back on what has been and we hope will continue to be an amazing career for the local boy from Royton, Oldham.

David’s story is too vast to tell in a single post, so over the next month we will share the story so far in a number of blogs.

David began his early life in Royton, firstly at St Paul’s Mission School as an infant and a junior and then to secondary school at Royton Central (now known as Royton and Compton School) where he left at the tender age of 15, after failing his 11 plus exams.

Out of school, David continued his education in the form of an apprenticeship building textile machinery for S. Dodd and Sons. With industry in Oldham at the time being dominated by textiles, opportunities were plentiful and he took full advantage before spending two years in Scotland where he was seconded by his company to J & P Coats and Clarks of Paisley.

During his time in Scotland, still showing a thirst for furthering his personal knowledge, David attended Paisley Technical College where he completed textile qualifications and his national certificate.

At the time in England, National Service remained compulsory and having finished his apprenticeship, it was time for David to complete his duty for Queen and Country. With a few years of mechanical design under his belt he went on to add electronics to his already impressive resume, being posted to No.1 radio school on national service before being stationed in Germany, where the vast majority of his work was based in signals on transmitters. During this time, David began to study Physics, he completed an O Level without attending one class, using his book alone.