Leading Cumbrian engineering company celebrates its manufacturing heroes

McMenon Engineering Services Ltd has hailed two of its longest serving employees after they were named among the heroes of UK manufacturing.

Production Manager Richard Fell and Business Director John Edmondson, who both work at McMenon’s10,000-square-metre site in Workington, have made The Manufacturer Top 100 for 2021.

Those named in The Manufacturer Top 100 are recognised as the most dynamic leaders and innovators in manufacturing, as nominated by The Manufacturer’s 265,000-strong audience, the wider industrial community, and judged by a panel featuring leaders of industry, academic institutions and manufacturing associations.

John mentored and trained Richard when he first joined the company and both men have since risen through the ranks to become crucial figures within the McMenon team.

Richard Fell was nominated in the Unsung Hero category. In his 21 years at the factory he has progressed through the ranks to become welding manager at the age of 30. And he now holds the position of production manager.

His nomination read: “As a young team leader, Richard has guided teams on several major projects providing innovative technical solutions to support the manufacture of multi-million pound projects for the oil and gas sectors.

“For 15 years, Richard has led the development and delivery of apprenticeships, traineeships and school work experience programmes, and has been directly responsible for the majority of the 50 apprentices and trainees working within McMenon across the engineering, technical and administration sectors.

“A true role model to young professionals, Richard’s passion for developing the next generation extends beyond apprenticeships and traineeships, and he has moulded two welding apprentices into team leaders through his expert support and guidance.

“Richard’s mentoring fits around his production manager role which sees him manage the largest team at the company, overseeing the manufacturing of more than 16,000 products a year.”

Business Director John Edmondson was nominated as an Inspiring Leader.

After working at Cumbrian-based factory McMenon for the past two decades, John has become known as ‘Mr Workington’ to clients across the world.

He has occupied a variety of different roles since starting at the company 23 years ago, and has developed relationships worldwide by leading, inspiring and motivating internal and external stakeholders.

John’s glowing nomination said: “He joined the business as a welder and was quickly promoted to the role of welding team leader and then production manager, where he led a team of 120 staff manufacturing multi-million pound projects for use in the UK and across the globe.

“John has been the main figurehead in developing McMenon into a UK Centre of Excellence for the manufacture of Differential Pressure Instrumentation Products for global exports, and sharing his outstanding technical knowledge helps get the best from his team.

“For the past five years, John has led the Sales and Engineering teams, and by combining a full technical solution to meet the clients’ requirements, he has helped put McMenon ahead of the rest of the competition.”

McMenon CEO Anand Puthran said: “This is a fantastic reward for John and Richard, two key members of the McMenon team.

“It is great to see how they now pass on their knowledge, innovation and experience to others.”

McMenonhas built up a global reputation for manufacturing quality specialist products for a range of industries, including energy, water, nuclear, defence, food and beverage and process industries.