Hunter Valley based company, Morgan Engineering, is expanding its operations into Gunnedah – bringing new jobs, and around-the-clock support for local mines.  

Having successfully launched award-winning and inclusive apprenticeship programs (including those for mature age and female apprentices) at their Singleton facility, the team are keen to provide the same opportunities to foster talent in Gunnedah.  

All Certificate III Mechanical apprentices and trade qualified personnel within Morgan Engineering are able to pursue Certificate IV CNC Programming which provides them with the required qualifications to further advance their career.   

Spearheaded by Morgan Engineering General Manager, Jeremy Brett and Operations Manager, Matthew Morgan, the decision to make the move to Gunnedah is backed by their commitment to supporting local.   

“We’re looking to hire four new apprentices by the end of the year, with roles on offer for both onsite machinists and line borers,” Jeremy said.   

In addition to supporting new talent, they will further strengthen the local job market, with roles for experienced machinists and line borers, as well as those who are looking to learn a new trade.  

This approach to upskilling has seen several of their team from Singleton achieve a dual trade, such as adding Line Boring/Fitter Machinist to an existing Boilermaker qualification.   

“We want to attract the right people, retain the right people, and develop the right people, and we also want to be pioneers for change within our industry. We’ve absolutely nailed it with our Singleton team, and we’re keen to introduce some new faces to the crew,” Jeremy said.  

By bringing their state-of-the-art equipment and processes to Gunnedah, Morgan Engineering is now able to meet the needs of local mine sites, providing rapid onsite machining and line boring support around the clock.  

Their line boring trucks are fully equipped for machining parts back to OEM specifications, ensuing QA standards are maintained.  

They will also support the local agricultural industry, with liquid nitrogen and other key services.  

“We’ve got quite a few customers in the Gunnedah Region who were looking for the same level of support for their local sites that they have enjoyed in the Hunter Valley, so we’d been scouting locations for a few months already. We knew there was a need, and we had the capability, so it just made sense to make it happen, but it’s obviously a big undertaking, and there was a lot of work to be done behind the scenes to ensure we did it strategically,” Matthew said.   

“Having done the groundwork already meant that once we made that final decision, things moved really quickly. Everyone chipped in, and within three weeks, we’d secured the perfect site for our depot. Two weeks later, our first team member relocated from Singleton to Gunnedah. We don’t mess around!”  

When the Reliability Engineer, Luke Bailey, at Whitehaven Coal’s Maules Creek Operation expressed concerns about the availability of local support for their fleet and mine operations, he reached out to Morgan Engineering.   

“I had seen that the team at Morgan Engineering displayed a high level of quality and in-house capability during an awarded Major Overhaul Project being undertaken at their Singleton Facility,” Luke said.   

“Large-scale mining operations similar to ours at Whitehaven Maules Creek, encounter limitations and inefficiencies when it comes to maneuvering equipment and componentry to offsite facilities when repairs are needed to be performed.   

“It became clear to us that we needed onsite Line Boring support and Matthew and Jeremy from Morgan Engineering were eager to expand and tailor their Line Boring operation to suit our needs giving us a bespoke solution,” Luke said.   

Having provided their services to the coal mining, construction, agriculture, and industrial industries for over 45 years, the team has worked closely with the Hunter Valley branch of many of Gunnedah’s local mining companies including Hitachi Hunter Valley.   

When Hitachi heard about the expansion they reached out to Morgan Engineering for upcoming collaborations to ensure their company was taking advantage of exceptional services that will now being undertaken in the Gunnedah area.   

The new depot will form a home base for the team, and their onsite support trucks, as well as offering liquid nitrogen and other products and services. There is also opportunity for expansion into the future. They will also bring some of their existing team to Gunnedah, with a dedicated Customer Support Manager, Jeremy Mervin being the first to make the move.   

“We’ve signed a five-year lease, with one truck up there already, and another one due in mid-2024. Given the speed at which things have moved so far, and the number of people reaching out for our services, I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up expanding our Gunnedah operations with a machine shop soon too,” Jeremy said.   

Having won awards for their commitment to supporting their local community in the Hunter Valley, the team are keen to continue that in Gunnedah.  

“I’m really looking forward to meeting some new faces, and to get involved in local life,” Jeremy said.   

IMAGE | Gunnedah Shed and Line Boring Truck.