Morson Training, the training business within the £1 billion Morson Group recruitment giant, is celebrating the success of its first decade, with more than 150,000 delegates trained during the past 10 years.
Initially established as part of a successful acquisition, Morson Training has grown from its early focus on apprenticeships and safety critical training for contingent workers in the rail sector to become a key element in Morson’s strategy for future talent, re-skilling and supporting clients’ retention strategies.
The business has grown from a £117, 000 turnover in its first year to be on target to achieve a £10 million turnover in 2024. It has added six new trainers to its team in the past six months alone, and aims to raise that to 10 by the end of this year, with a further 10 to be added next year as Morson Training continues to grow exponentially as part of an integrated approach to talent acquisition and retention from Morson.
Morson’s group training director, Matthew Leavis, was instrumental in establishing the business 10 years ago, and has been Morson Training’s strategic lead ever since, building a model that is founded on high quality standards and improved outcomes for learners.
Matthew commented: “When Morson Training began 10 years ago, we were part of a crowded training provider marketplace and standards from some in our industry were not always high enough. That meant that clients weren’t getting the talent they needed and trainees weren’t achieving the careers they deserved. We set out to change all of that.
“Now, we’re not only delivering training programmes that are the envy of our industry, with potential clients from a varied array of sectors knocking on our door, but we’re also providing a managed service capability. Network Rail’s decision to make us their master vendor for training is the biggest contract of its kind the organisation has ever awarded. It means Morson Training now has responsibility for training quality and on time delivery across Network Rail’s needs, drawing on the client’s existing supply chain, our own expertise, and new training resources we are developing.”
To celebrate Morson Training’s 10-year milestone, the company brought together colleagues to enjoy a trip down memory lane at Morson’s Salford HQ. The highlights shared included winning the Best Apprenticeship accolade at the Transport for London Supplier Awards in 2018 and being the first and only ever recipient of a Network Rail Platinum Award.
The event was also an opportunity to map out the business’s plans for the future, which include building on Morson Training’s successful master vendor and technical training capabilities across infrastructure, utilities, renewables and other sectors where there is a need for technical competency and safety critical skills.
Ged Mason OBE, group chief executive at Morson, added: “People are at the heart of what we do at Morson and training and education are critical to improving outcomes for individuals, teams and companies.
“We know there are challenges with workplace skills and knowledge in so many of the industries we work with, which is why we’re so committed to training and education. Morson Training is pivotal to that commitment, powering our Pathfinders Academy, for example, to upskill, reskill and inspire those who want to return to work or change direction.
“Morson Training is part of Morson’s bigger picture future talent thinking, which encompasses education programmes from primary schools through to the Morson Maker Space at the University of Salford and the Gerry Mason and Morson Engineering scholarships. Training is a key part of our integrated people solutions approach and we’re very proud of how far Morson training has come in just 10 years.”
Image credit: Morson Training
