Made in Nuneaton - and proudly still growing

"The training has been brilliant, in many cases tailored exactly to our business."

A small business which started in Nuneaton more than three decades ago and continues to grow there is well-equipped for further growth following staff training funded by the Skills Escalator programme.

MES Systems Ltd is a true Nuneaton success story. Created by Andy Morgan in his home 35 years ago, it continues to thrive at its premises on Attleborough Fields Industrial Estate with Andy’s son Richard now Managing Director.

The business, which install and maintains security and life safety systems such as CCTV, fire alarms and automated gates, began in Andy’s kitchen. As it grew, it moved into an office in the garden, then a unit at Centenary Business Centre which proved the perfect incubator, nurturing it to a point where it had to expand again, into the current premises in Watling Court.

Now MES Systems employs 21 people, four of whom recently underwent a variety of training funded by the Skills Escalator programme, delivered by Warwickshire Skills Hub and funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in partnership with the county’s district and borough councils. The courses covered a range of IPAF and Health & Safety training.

“The funding enabled us to get some staff trained up and others to go on refresher courses much sooner than would otherwise have been possible,” said Richard. “Training like this is so important because, these days, most customers, especially the bigger ones, demand assurances that staff are trained to a high degree. Thanks to the Skills Escalator funding we can say they absolutely are.

“We also had some earlier funding from the Skills Escalator because we were part of the pilot scheme in Nuneaton & Bedworth. As a whole, the training has been brilliant, in many cases tailored exactly to our business - for example the risk assessment training that our sales surveyor undertook.”

If you would like to know how Warwickshire Skills Hub can support your business with apprenticeships and upskilling, please email skillshub@warwickshire.gov.uk  and one of our Business Support Advisors will be in touch.

MES Systems’ business trajectory remains very much upwards in Attleborough Fields where it has been since first moving into the Warwickshire County Council-run Centenary Business Centre in 2010.

“We moved into the Centenary Centre when my mum suggested it was time the business moved out of the house!” said Richard. “That move gave us space to expand and the business centre was perfect for us, enabling us to grow to the point where we had to move again to our current base.

“We love it in Nuneaton. The town and especially the location at Attleborough Fields are ideal.”

Louise Stolz, Future Skills Business Support Advisor at Warwickshire Skills Hub, said: “MES Systems is a great example of a small Warwickshire business which has the skills and enterprise to grow and succeed and it’s fantastic to see how much the business, and individual employees within it, have benefited from the Skills Escalator training.”

* If you would like to know how Warwickshire Skills Hub can support your business with apprenticeships and upskilling, please email skillshub@warwickshire.gov.uk  and a Business Support Advisor will be in touch.