Investment in training and development is key to Morris Lubricants’ success
Andrew Goddard, Morris Lubricants' Executive Chairman, has emphasised the importance of employee training and development to the enduring success of the business.
Morris Lubricants has been established for 156 years and manufactures quality oil and lubricants, which it exports to more than 100 countries worldwide.
In the past three years, Morris Lubricants has invested over £5 million in the company's manufacturing, production, and storage facilities.
Executive Chairman, Andrew Goddard, believes that, as well as investing in the company’s manufacturing facilities, the training and development of talented employees are crucial to the future of the business.
“Training and educating our employees in the way we wish them to develop around the business is the key to our future success”, explained Andrew. “We have several senior managers who joined the company on our graduate scheme and have been trained and educated to fill strategic roles within the business”.
The company’s talent pipeline has included ex-graduates Owen Lloyd, who is now Chief Operations Officer and Kyle Gleeson, Commercial Manager, who are both part of the Morris Lubricants' Leadership Team.
As part of the current graduate development program, Vasil Valkanov and Marcus Forrester are based in the company’s operations team and they are exploring how the various products are made and dispatched to customers around the world. Also featuring in a graduate role is Hannah Stocking, Morris Lubricants’ Graduate Buyer, who has been heralded for her charity work over recent years, including a 100-mile run and being part of the team that completed the epic Three-Peaks Challenge.
As well as the graduate scheme, the company also offers apprenticeships, in-house and external training with organisations like the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce and the United Kingdom Lubricants Association (UKLA), external education and a rising stars programme for succession planning.
“The rising stars programme is designed for young employees, whether apprentices or graduates”, explained Andrew. “We create and deliver a career pathway for them to develop and fulfil their potential whilst also future-proofing the business".
“We focus on succession planning, constantly developing employees in areas of the business where we could be vulnerable due to retirements”.
Morris Lubricants has a number of employees who are currently on, or have completed the company’s apprenticeship scheme, using hands-on, paid, on-the-job training to develop their skills and knowledge to help find their career path. Two employees to recently complete their apprenticeship are Maintenance Engineer, Luke Hibbert, and Marketing Assistant, Amelia Sayce.
Having joined the company in March 2024, Amelia completed a Digital Marketing Apprenticeship and was promoted to her current role of Marketing Assistant. She wants to carry on learning and is keen to progress with the various Chartered Institute of Marketing qualifications.
Amelia completed A levels and a graphic design qualification at Ludlow College, whilst working part-time as an optical assistant, which convinced her that an apprenticeship was a better option for her than going to university.
She recently returned to Ludlow College to share her learning journey with students who are interested in apprenticeships.
Amelia’s wide-ranging marketing role includes website design, writing blogs and press releases, producing social media content, video editing and organising shows and events.
She particularly enjoys video editing and filming behind-thescenes videos for the Morris Lubricants' media channels, which include the new Power and Performance YouTube channel with Alex Sharphouse and Charlotte Vowden.
“Morris Lubricants is a really nice, welcoming company to work for”, said Amelia.
“It’s like one big family, and the company’s amazing reputation is fantastic. I have met dedicated, longestablished Morris Lubricants’ customers at shows and events who have said that they and their customers have been using our products for a long time, one had even been using the company's products for more than 70 years!”
“It’s great to work for a company that has made major investments to modernise the business, and it’s always open to new marketing ideas - it demonstrates their commitment and desire for progress for the future”.
Andrew Goddard concluded, “It is a great privilege to be involved in the development of the next generation of Morris Lubricants’ employees. The business has been operating for over 150 years, and with this continued investment, we can go for many more”.