As Kelkay embarked on its ambitous brand development and expansion programme this year, the family-run business was also busily engaged in further strengthening its management team to equip them for further business growth ahead.

Antony Harker and Hayley Thomis already have the experience of Richard Pyrah, Richard Slade, Alan Sheppard and Debs Dugher, who head up the management team, and they have recently added further skills and experience through the appointment of a new production manager, Mark Murgatroyd.

Mr Murgatroyd joins the business with more than 38 years experience in the industry, which included spells in process improvement management as well as production control at one of the UK’s largest industrial hard landscaping manufacturers.

At Kelkay, Mr Murgatroyd is responsible for the production of bagged aggregates and manufacturing of all the concrete products for the Borderstone ranges, as well as the joinery department which manufactures Kelkay’s modular point-of-sale (POS) material.

Asked what sparked his interest in the new role, Mr Murgatroyd said: “I came to meet Antony and I was immediately impressed with the sense of purpose and enthusiasm in the whole team. The business has clearly been growing rapidly and is now entering a very exciting new phase of its development. I’d be mad to turn down such an exciting opportunity and it’s also a role to which I am confident I can add real value from my past experience.”

Mr Murgatroyd joins the business at a time when there’s lots of change to be managed, in addition to the new branding, new bag designs and new POS, Kelkay will be installing a new mobile bagging machine in the next few months, as well as scheduling in more than 50 new products.

“We’re all really delighted to welcome Mark to the team and looking forward to working with him,” said Mr Harker. “He’s already slotted in well to the team and coped with the demands put on the business by GLEE and the preparation for pre-season.”