Morson Group

Morson Group

Type	Private
Industry	Recruitment, engineering, design consultants
Founded	1969
Headquarters	Eccles, Manchester, UK
Key people	Ged Mason, CEO Dr. Kevin Gorton, Group Managing Director Paul Gilmour, Group Finance Director
Revenue	£771.9 million (2015)[1]
Number of employees	circa 1,200 (2015)
Website	www.morson.com

Morson Group is an international engineering recruitment and design consultancy company. The Group provides permanent and contract staff to global clients across a variety of engineering sectors including aerospace, defence, rail, construction, nuclear, oil and gas, IT and telecoms.

With a turnover in excess of £800million, the Group is made up of Morson International, Morson Projects and Vital Human Resources.

Morson International, the recruitment arm of the business, is based in Eccles, Manchester, and provides blue and white collar recruitment solutions to over 400 clients worldwide, with over 12,000 contractors on assignment. Morson is the number one recruiter in the UK for the rail and aerospace sectors.

Morson Projects, the design consultancy division, provides multi-disciplined project management, engineering design services from complete turnkey project management to detailed design exercises.

Vital Human Resources is the newest company operating under Morson Group.^[2] It is a leading brand in the provision of skilled trades and contingent labour solutions to the rail, mechanical and electrical, construction and power markets in the UK.

Morson Group has grown organically to support client requirements, and currently has 36 UK offices and is spread across six continents, with an employed workforce of approximately 1,200.

History

Morson was founded in 1969 as J Morson & Company by trained engineer Gerry Mason at the family home in Eccles, Manchester, specialising in recruiting skilled engineers for UK companies. After moving to Bank Chambers in Eccles high street the following year, in 1979 the growing business moved to new premises on Clarendon Road. At this point the in-house design consultancy division, Morson Projects, was founded.

In 1992, the company moved to Stableford Hall and by 1995 had a turnover in excess of £50million. In 1999, Ged Mason, the son of founder Gerry, became managing director of the company after working for the business since 1986. In the same year, Barclay’s private equity bought a stake in the business which they held until 2005.

In January 2005 Ged Mason took over as chief executive, with business development director, Dr. Kevin Gorton, taking over as managing director.

The following year, Morson Group were floated for the first time on the AIM stock market.^[3] It remained floating until 2012 when GGMM, a consortium led by the Mason family, completed a P2P share repurchase in order to return the control of the ownership, growth and direction to the family.^[4]

In 2007, Morson International acquired Westbury, White & Nunn, Pentagon Personnel, Rosta and CTS.^[5] The same year the company announced a turnover surpassing £300million.

In 2010, the company moved to a new purpose built office at Adamson House, Centenary Way in Eccles. The office was officially opened by Sir Alex Ferguson and artist Harold Riley.^[6]

In 2013, the company acquired Vital Human Resources Ltd.^[7]

In July 2015, company founder, Gerry Mason, passed away.^[8]

In 2016, CEO Ged Mason was awarded an OBE for his services to business,^[9] as well as an EY Entrepreneur of the Year award for Master Entrepreneur.^[10]

Sectors

Morson currently operate across the following engineering sectors:

• Aerospace/Defence
• Rail
• Nuclear
• Construction
• Telecommunications
• I.T
• Oil & Gas
• Automotive
• Marine
• Scientific

Charity and sponsorship

Morson is actively involved in charity work, with a dedicated charity committee organising yearly events and fundraising activities. Each year, employees choose two charities to support and money is raised through staff initiatives like dress-down days and sponsored events.

In 2016, Morson hosted a masquerade ball which raised over £100,000 for the 2016 charities, Seashell Trust and Springhill Hospice.^[11]

Morson is also involved in sponsoring boxers. An early primary sponsor of Ricky Hatton, Morson currently provide sponsorship for boxers from his training academy.

Group CEO, Ged Mason, is also co-owner of the rugby club Sale Sharks.^[12]

Awards

• Investors In People Award (2004)
• Queen's Award – Morson Projects (2012)
• The Drum Recruitment Business Awards 2015 - Best Large Recruitment Agency (2015)
• Recruitment International Top 250 Report – UK’s No.1 Technical Recruiter (ten years running)
• Recruitment International Top 250 Report – No.1 Rail Recruiter (2015–16)
• Recruitment International Top 250 Report – No.1 Aerospace Recruiter (2015–16)
• Salford Business Awards – Best Company to Work For (2016)
• Order of British Empire – Ged Mason (2016)
• EY Master Entrepreneur of the Year– Ged Mason (2016)

References