2025 marks the 60th anniversary of our North Shields business, Elfab Ltd, which was founded in July 1965. As we were also recently honored with the King's Award for Enterprise (International Trade), what better way to mark the occasion than with a triple celebration, combining the King’s Award Presentation, a 60th birthday party, and a fundraising initiative for a local charity, St. Oswald’s Hospice?
On October 2, our UK employees gathered in a marquee for a Celebration Extravaganza. Our President and CEO Steve Gallo opened the day, welcoming everyone and highlighting some key moments from our UK company’s history, with its roots in 20th century European history and links to a local family business, through to the present day. These moments and others are captured on our new History Panels, which were displayed for the first time at this event.
Next up was our charity fundraiser. St Oswald’s Hospice famously ran a Shaun the Sheep Art Trail, with statues of Shaun the Sheep decorated by local artists and placed around local sites of interest. We supported this campaign by buying our very own Shaun the Sheep and running our own art competition to decorate him. We opened this competition not just to employees but to friends and family as well. It was fantastic to welcome Jo Williams and Libby Fryer from St Oswald’s to unveil the fully decorated Shaun and present the winning designer with their award. To accompany Shaun’s Grand Unveiling, we ran a charity tombola that raised nearly £450 for St. Oswald’s Hospice.
After an excellent buffet lunch, we were honored to welcome His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant ofTyne and Wear, Ms Lucy Winskell, OBE, who presented us with our King's Award for Enterprise - International Trade, and the Royal Warrant. The award recognizes the excellence in international trade and outstanding growth in overseas sales achieved by our North Shields site (Elfab Ltd).
The Lord-Lieutenant unexpectedly had her own story to tell relating to our business: As a young girl, she grew up in High Heaton, a suburb of Newcastle. At the end of her road lived an old gentleman, and at some point it was discovered they shared a birthday. From then on, every year on her birthday, he would come down the road and present her with a beautiful, illustrated children’s story book. She still has all those story books, and that gentleman was Laszlo Torday – the man who originally founded our business! This beautiful story shows how being aware of your roots and history can connect and enrich us in unexpected ways.
The event was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our achievements with the whole North Shields team. The key to Elfab’s success over the past 60 years has undoubtedly been the commitment and loyalty of our team members, with the ability to learn, grow, and mentor one another across generations. We value each one of our employees for their passion for serving our customers with excellence, and their dedication for carrying forward our values while adapting to change.
Thank you to everyone - and here’s to the next 60 years!
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