H.V. Bowen & Sons was formed in 1907 by Harry Vaughn Bowen. In 1911 he purchased ‘Dwyrhiew Mill’ near Newtown which became the base for an Agriculture & Fuel business. Bowen then acquired ‘Tan-y-Foel Quarry’ in the 1940s and started producing aggregates. The company was carried forward by Harry's sons, and was run for many years by Haydn (Harry's Grandson). Now over one hundred years after being founded, the company is run by Harry's Great Grandson, Mark Bowen.
Pictured Left to right Thomas Bowen (5th generation), Haydn Bowen (3rd generation) and Mark Bowen (4th generation).
The wealth of knowledge and experience that this family-run company has gained for over a hundred years, enables H. V. Bowen & Sons to continue to provide a range of quality products and a high standard of service.
Notwithstanding their impressive heritage, H. V. Bowen & Sons remain progressive and committed to continual improvement, recently working with EMPI Awards & MinTrain to assure their workforce is competent and fully compliant by undertaking a program of Occupational Competence Assessment (OCA), the first company in Wales to engage with this new, innovative, assessment of machine operator competence.
Tan Y Foel Quarry's Manager, Lee Hankinson said:
Returning to the UK after working overseas for a number of years, it wasn't particularly clear which route to a demonstration of competence would be the best fit for us. I was faced with a number options and assessments including various operator cards, Vocational Qualifications and also the EMPI Awards Occupational Competence Assessment.
What we value as a business is EMPI Awards' no-nonsense, unambiguous and comprehensive assessment of competence. It is more than just a 'snap shot' of operator performance, it includes all aspects of the job function including past training & experience.
We really benefitted from the assessor, Mike Phillips' experience and advice during the process. His feedback was clear, consistent and motivating. We would readily recommend Mike, MinExp and EMPI Awards Occupational Competence Assessment.
Graham Owen & Thomas Bowen receiving the first OCA certificates in Wales, pictured with Haydn & Mark Bowen, Lee Hankinson & Gavin Brain of EMPI Awards.