Employees clock up 165 years

A group of employees from Thompson & Morgan is this year celebrating a combined total of over 165 years of service to the company.

John May, Thompson & Morgan’s chief executive, who has himself been with the company for 15 years, said, ‘At Thompson & Morgan, we’re delighted that so many of our colleagues show such loyalty and commitment’. Chloe Farmer and Sue Adams both joined Thompson & Morgan, the UK’s most successful horticultural mail order company, in 1988. Chloe started her career at Thompson & Morgan packing seeds in the warehouse. She has since worked in various different departments and now heads up the design team, producing some 20 plant and seed catalogues each year. As Catering Assistant, Sue Adams has produced in excess of 750,000 cups of tea and more than a quarter of a million sandwiches over the 25 years that she has worked at Thompson & Morgan! ‘I like to think I provide the fuel that keeps everyone going’, she says.

Erin Geaves, Marilyn Keen, Anne Wooden, Michael Perry and Kim Parker are all celebrating their 15 year anniversary with T&M this year. Erin works in the warehouse, preparing plants for despatch; Marilyn is in charge of Thompson & Morgan’s extensive photo library, while Anne and Kim both work in the accounts department. Michael is T&M’s self-proclaimed ‘plant hunter’ and is the person who introduces new and interesting plants to the company’s range.

‘Without the hard work and dedication of our staff - in all areas of the company; whether in the warehouse, the canteen, accounts or marketing - Thompson & Morgan would cease to exist’, remarked Paul Hansord, horticultural director, who last year marked his 25th year with the company.

Thompson & Morgan is proud of its long-serving and loyal staff and boasts a number of long-service awards. Christine Wilcock is the longest serving employee, having clocked up an impressive 38 years at the company which has been based in Ipswich since 1855.

There is also a history of family connections at T&M. Erin Geaves is one of six sisters who have all worked at the company at one time or another; four of them - including Erin - are still employed there now. Erin also met her husband, Simon, at Thompson & Morgan!

‘T&M is most certainly a family-friendly company’, says John May. ‘When so many of our staff recommend working here to their family members, we know we are doing something right! Our staff are loyal and a real credit to the company’.

When asked why he’s stayed at the company for over 20 years, Andrew Tokely, T&M’s horticultural manager sums up the sentiments of the long-serving employees. ‘When I started at Thompson & Morgan, I was made to feel like part of the company; it was like working with an extended family rather than with work colleagues - and it still feels like that today’.