A young man who joined a Gwynedd-based food supplier as a teenage part-time van driver’s assistant has been appointed to a top job by the fast growing business.
Ten years ago Morgan Jones was a 16-year-old schoolboy from Chwilog looking for a summer job and now he has a key role a Warehouse Manager as Harlech Foodservice expands its operations throughout Wales and the border counties.
He is one of four new promotions announced by Harlech at their headquarters near Criccieth, with Tomos Owen, a new HGV Class One driver, and Jason Martin, Class Two, and Shane Parker joining the Business Support Team from telesales.
Morgan, who has bought a home in Nefyn, said: “The company have been fantastic and have really given me the chance to progress and build a career with them “I started part-time while I was still in school, helping drivers load and unload and then came back from university and started full-time as a van driver before the company put me through my HGV Class One and I worked as a driver through Covid.
“Then I was made Transport Supervisor and then Transport Planning Manager and now I’ve moved out of transport and into the warehouse.
“But it’s not just me. All four of us have been given opportunities by Harlech and we all live really close to the business headquarters and have been given the chance to progress and build careers.”
Jason, from Trefor, worked in the company’s butchery department for ten years before moving into the warehouse and retraining as a driver and has just gained his HGV Class Two.
He said: “I just wanted to progress and do driver training and its worked out very well for me. It’s been a real bonus being given the chance.”
Tomos Owen, 26, from Nefyn, originally trained as a chef and he said: “I worked locally but was looking for a change of career and I joined Harlech in February and re-trained.
“I’ve passed my HGV Class One and have started driving and am really enjoying it – the hours are a lot more social than as a chef and it’s a good job for getting out and about.”
Shane Parker, 42, from Llanystwmdwy, began in telesales in November and he
said: “I enjoyed that and I live so close that I can walk to work if I like and now I’m moving up to work in IT in the Business Support Team, looking after the website and tracking rends and patterns in sales.
“Our job is to support the sales and purchasing teams here in the office and out in the field.”
Harlech Head of Operations Ian Evans added; “As we have grown we have realised we needed these kinds of IT skills and support right across the range of the company’s activities.
“These four new appointments are another good example of how the company promotes from within and how there are opportunities to develop new skills and build careers here with Harlech and that is so important in an area like this.”
Harlech Foodservice which was founded in 1973, now operates from bases at Criccieth, in Gwynedd, Chester, Merthyr Tydfil and now Carmarthen.
Between the four locations, the company is increasing employment to 250 staff and running a growing fleet of vehicles to deliver up to 5,000 product lines to cafés, restaurants, pubs and public sector customers across the whole of Wales, Shropshire, the Midlands and the North West.
