Vera got a job at Mike Baldwin's (Johnny Briggs) clothing factory – Baldwins Casuals. Vera worked at the factory as a machinist, working alongside many of the street's residents including Ivy, Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix), Ida Clough (Helene Palmer), Shirley Armitage (Lisa Lewis), Ernest Bishop (Stephen Hancock) and Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire). After working at the factory for many years, Mike sold it in to developers, and it was demolished, leaving Vera out of a job until she had a career change when her lodger Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy) got her a job at Bettabuys supermarket, working under boss Reg Holdsworth (Ken Morley).