Since its inception just after the Second World War, WB+AD Morgan has demonstrated an ability to move with the times by evolving its offering to meet the needs of the marketplace.
Established by Wilfred Bruce (WB) and Allan Dennis (AD) in 1946, the company originally supplied generators to rural areas, allowing cows to be milked using electric machines. Fast forward 40 years and Wilfred and Allan diversified into drilling for water in the 1980s, as water costs continued to rise for their farming clients.
Allan’s son, Brian, joined the business in 1984 and whilst drilling for water continued to be a major focus for the business, it also began incorporating ground source heating system installations into its portfolio.
In 2019, WB+AD Morgan was bought by SafeLane Global Limited and joined the Ground Source Heat Pump Association. Today, the company serves clients large and small, from global drinks brands to single family homes in rural communities that cannot access mains water.
Responsible for the creation of district heating schemes for Britain’s councils and constructors, in the drilling industry WB+AD Morgan is considered a green thought leader as a result of its pioneering utilisation of environmentally conscientious processes and materials.
Due to the rapidly expanding nature of the business, WB+AD Morgan currently employs 30 full-time staff and is actively looking to add to its numbers. This highly trained workforce enables the company to provide a range of services including:
- Water boreholes for consumption, manufacturing, irrigation and engineering;
- Boreholes for open loop ground source heating;
- Water treatment;
- System maintenance;
- Geophysical testing.
In terms of specific projects where WB+AD Morgan’s capabilities have been utilised; the company recently won a tender to install an open loop ground source heating scheme within a large public building for a central government department. For the scheme to be effective, the required flow rate of water was 32 litres per second.
To facilitate testing the ground’s capacity to support this flow rate and the return of water, the team from Morgan initially drilled two boreholes. The first was drilled to 550m and the second to 380m. Both were cased to 330m. The permanent casing was made of repurposed steel in support of the governmental department’s decarbonisation ambitions, and it was grouted into place. Water was returned at 18°C, which was well in excess of the required temperature for the scheme. The clear environmental benefit of this is that the heat pump will be required to work less to uprate the temperature to heat the large building. The reinjection borehole proved effective for the return of water. The project, in the north-west of England, was delivered on time, on budget and on an immaculately clean site to Environment Agency licence stipulations.
WB+AD Morgan is an expert in the installation of open loop ground source heating schemes and supports clients from the point of design all the way through to licensing and commissioning.
Due to the broad-ranging nature of its activities, WB+AD Morgan serves residential and commercial clients. Residential clients are serviced with water boreholes for consumption and single home ground source heating solutions. Commercial clients include constructors and councils, for which WB+AD Morgan installs community heating schemes. Additionally, it includes large manufacturers that either utilise water within their products (drinks manufacturers, for example) or for the creation of alternative products.
It is a remarkably busy marketplace with ample room for continued growth, particularly as there is an increased interest in large-scale ground source heat pump projects and water supply requirements. There is also a growing focus on the utilisation of water in abandoned mine workings for ground source heating, which is an area where WB+AD Morgan pioneers.
In terms of what is influencing this upward trend, the cost of living is a driver towards solutions that will ultimately save money in the longer-term. In addition, there is a persistent drive for decarbonisation, with which WB+AD Morgan’s services are entirely aligned. The uncertainty of wars, price increases, etc., continues to cause waves, but WB+AD Morgan has the experience to overcome these challenges.
The length of time it has successfully been operating sets WB+AD Morgan apart from the majority of its competitors. It also has an excellent team of highly trained and experienced staff thanks to the effort it puts into training and developing its workforce.
The company’s drive for customer care is another differentiator as it believes in building client relationships for life. What’s more, its parent company is well financed and supportive of its growth, meaning it has the investment to advance faster than its competitors.
Despite the strengths it has a business, WB+AD Morgan isn’t immune to the challenges that all companies are currently facing, such as the increase in the cost of raw materials across the board. This has been exacerbated by the Government legislation to remove the use of red diesel on construction sites. Regardless of these issues, and the uncertainty surrounding the future of the economic climate, the company remains committed to continued growth to deliver excellent investor returns.