A divisional manager with over 35 years’ service with a family-owned Shropshire firm is to retire from his role.

Kevin Gardner will leave Tudor Griffiths Group this month after 38 years with the company. During his time with the company, he has played a key role in establishing the Group as a major player in the builders’ merchants sector.

Managing director Tudor Griffiths said Mr Gardner would be a real loss to the team, and praised him for his dedication and commitment over nearly four decades of service.

“When Kevin joined, we had just two builders’ merchant branches in Ellesmere and Tattenhall. Since then, under Kevin’s guidance, we have added branches in Northwich, Oswestry, Nantwich, Welshpool, Kidderminster, and our latest in Bridgnorth, which opened just last year.

“Kevin has successfully managed the business over this period of sustained growth to take us to our current position as a significant regional player in the builders’ merchants’ sector with a flourishing network of eight branches. I am very grateful for all the hard work and dedication that Kevin has put in to achieve this. He will be a tough act to follow and will be missed throughout the Group.”

Mr Gardner has spent much of the last two years working on the new Bridgnorth branch, right through from the design and planning stage, to ensuring it was open for business and trading well.

He said: “Tudor Griffiths Group has been a huge part of my life, and it will be very strange not to come into work after all these years.

“I’ve been privileged to have had the opportunity to help build up the builders’ merchant side of the business from its humble beginnings to the thriving network we now have in place, and I’d like to thank the Group for the confidence it has shown in me during my time with the company.”

Mr Gardner’s role as divisional manager will now be taken up by Mark Evans, who will work with the rest of the management team to drive the business forward. Mr Evans has worked for TG Group for over 20 years in a variety of roles, most recently as group sales manager.

Mr Griffiths concluded: “I am sure that with everyone’s support Mark, like all the managers within our Group, will continue to run the business as successfully as we have in the past and we are looking forward to further steady growth into the future.”

Picture caption: Kevin Gardner (right) who is retiring with Tudor Griffiths (centre) and Kevin’s successor, Mark Evans.