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Manon Lloyd Jones, from Four Crosses near Cricieth, has spent more than four decades at Harlech Foodservice and insists she still loves every minute.

Manon is one of 10 long-serving staff honoured by the family-firm, with the group clocking up a staggering 269 years of service between them.

The loyal workers were treated to bottles of Lanson champagne and £100 vouchers, presented by Company Chairman Andrew Foskett and his sister and fellow director Laura, as the company celebrated the people who helped build the business from the ground up.

Manon said: “I’ve done pretty much everything here. I was 16 and I wanted to go into nursing but Colin Foskett who started the business offered me a summer job and I’m still here.

“I only had two weeks’ maternity when my first son was born and I have had two more sons since and only had a total of 12 weeks off.

“I’m still enjoying it and when I don’t, I’ll stop but they’ll probably have to turf me out in the end.

“The Fosketts have been a brilliant family to work for and the business has grown so much with lots of changes – there were only six people working with me when I started.”

Paul Owen from Bangor had been working in a cash and carry and joined Harlech as a sales rep when the company moved into dairy goods. Twenty years later he is a National Key Account Manager.

He handles major accounts like Hickory’s Smokehouse who have 36 restaurants from Stockton on Tees in the North East to Swindon in the South West.

Paul said: “I’ve seen the business grow from a £10 million turnover to over £50 million a year and it’s been brilliant to be a part of that. Harlech are a great company to work for.”

Ian Rogers, from Chwilog, joined the business at 18 from Coleg Menai and was working in the stores packing orders when he was given the chance to train as an HGV driver.

He has now been with Harlech for 37 years, most of his time behind the wheel of a delivery lorry and he said: “I love the job going out on the road. You’re your own boss and you get to meet the customers.

“It’s a friendly company and I enjoy working here. Most of my friends are here and we regularly socialise together outside of work.

“I’ve never thought about leaving Harlech. I’ve always been happy here.”

Andrew Foskett said: “In this area big employers are few and far between and all these colleagues here today have known our parents who started the business and have worked in the old depot so we must have been doing something right.

“We like to think that we’re a good employer and it keeps young people in the area and strengthens the Welsh language and culture so there are a lot of knock-on effects from our success.”

Fellow director Laura Foskett added: “It’s always nice to know that people enjoy working for Harlech and want to stay here and that we’re creating more and more job opportunities.”

Also among the long-service award winners was Finance Director Mike Clishem, who’s been with the company for 25 years, Paul Monaghan, 36, Huw Watkin-Griffith, 30, Aled Owen, 29 years, Peter Jones, 23, Dylan Hughes, 22, and Gary McDonnell, 22.

Harlech last year announced a three-year £6 million growth plan which has already seen it open new depots in Carmarthen, Caerphilly and Telford in the last 18 months to add to those at Cricieth and Chester.

Their expansion has already created over 100 new jobs taking the workforce to almost 300 and they now run a fleet of 90 vehicles delivering up to 5,000 product lines.

The business was founded in the town of Harlech in 1972 by Colin and Gill Foskett to supply the holiday market and now deliver to restaurants, pubs, schools and hospitals across Wales and into England.

The founders’ three children, Jonathan, Andrew and Laura, took over the reins from their parents and still sit on the board while a third generation of the family are making their way in the firm.

We know it’s a strong move for us - and here’s what our Managing Director David Cattrall said:

“Adding fresh fruit and vegetables to our offer fills a gap for our customers. It’s always been our ambition to be a total range supplier and buying up a well-established and respected local business fills a gap in our range of products. All the staff at Oren have been offered their job on the same terms and that’s something we were committed to from the start of our discussions.

By September we will have fully integrated Oren into Harlech’s main site and those Oren staff that are happy to come down the road will be made welcome and it’s our hope that they will all come.”

Oren – Welsh for orange – was launched 45 years ago as Ffrwythau DJ Fruit by Dei and Cheryl Jones from their existing greengrocers in Cricieth, rebranded as Oren in 2021, and for the past 12 years the business has been run by their son, Gethin Dwyfor.

They supply Gwynedd and Anglesey schools and care homes and restaurants, hotels, cafes, nursing homes and B&Bs across North Wales.

According to Gethin Dwyfor, recent news that we had been named by the Sunday Times as one of the best places to work in the UK gave him added confidence to make the switch.

He said: “The company was originally called DJ Fruits but we changed it to Oren and it’s always been my plan to build the business and to have a clear succession plan. My dream was for a partnership with a locally based company and that has happened and it was always going to be a condition that our staff could keep their jobs and Harlech have always given that assurance. I will stay on and continue to be involved and that’s very exciting for me as well. I’ve run the business for 12 years and this will now be a new challenge for me with a bigger business.”

David Cattrall added: “Gethin and his team will bring the valuable knowledge and experience of their products and their customers they have gained over the years. We don’t have a fresh fruit and vegetable offer and this now gives us a total food service solution for our customers. It’s a great fit because the Oren operation dovetails neatly with what we do and their ethos as a family-run business chimes perfectly with our approach. Gethin’s role will be to help us settle in and to make sure we have a smooth transfer of the business and provide our customers with the right range of stock and the right produce. And that will be Welsh whenever possible.”

Oren’s fleet of 12 delivery vans, three electric-powered, have been taken over by us.

The fruit and vegetables, including locally grown potatoes, supplied by Oren to Gwynedd and Conwy schools have been integrated into school deliveries by us in both counties.

We were founded in 1972, now have sales of £50 million, and cover all of North and Mid Wales and the North West of England from our headquarters near Cricieth and hubs in Chester, Aberbargoed, Carmarthen and Telford.

The addition of the Oren team will take our staff numbers to 300 and our fleet of 65 vehicles delivers up to 5,000 product lines across the whole of Wales, Shropshire, the Midlands and the North West.