Since becoming Managing Director of Garrard Jones in 2017, Andy Taylor has shown the drive and determination to take the business from strength to strength. His hard work came to fruition, with 2023 being the busiest and most successful year since taking over. A key factor in this success was the decision to diversify into power generation, wind turbines and solar energy, and Garrard Jones is quickly becoming a UK leader in these areas.
In addition to this, in early 2023, Andy visited Ghana in Africa and met with Government officials to offer expertise and advice regarding the opening of gold mines, a major mining opportunity for a UK based business. Scope to potentially mine lithium and copper were also discussed.
Following on from his successful trip, Andy then secured involvement with project management at Woodsmith Mine, North Yorkshire: the largest mine in the UK to gain approval in the last 25 years, in order to supply machinery to progress the shaft sinking. This also led to Garrard Jones becoming main power distributors and suppliers to Strabag who were developing a 33km tunnel to extract commodity from the mine once in production.
As business opportunities for Garrard Jones continued to grow, it became necessary to expand the team. Subsequently, a new Operations Manager, Carl Wallage, was welcomed in March 23. A further eight positions were created in the workshop, mainly in order to meet the demand for the repair of wind turbine parts.
An invitation to attend the Houses of Parliament then presented itself to Garrard Jones, and Andy and Roccio embarked on a trip to London. Here they met with government officials, including Mining Minster Nusrat Ghani, in order to ensure coal mining remains on the agenda as Britain looks for ways to maintain and expand its power production capabilities.
November saw Andy attend the largest mining convention ever held in the UK. Here he delivered a presentation to over 190 delegates, highlighting the growth and potential of Garrard Jones within the mining industry. This was a fantastic opportunity to network with likeminded businesses and individuals who also see the potential of coal mining within the UK.
As opportunities to diversify were sought, a link was made within the historical rail network. Garrard Jones now repair generators and motors for this industry.
Safety training was another string to Garrard Jones’ bow in 2023, with courses being run in underground mining theories, safety and machine usage.
International links have continued to be made this year, with potential customers in Canada and India enquiring around the machinery and services which Garrard Jones can supply. A successful project has seen Dosco spares shipped to China throughout the year too.
ISO and Baseefa certifications have also been maintained, ensuring that Garrard Jones can continue to provide a safe and reliable service to all their customers.
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