Today, 1st July, is the 6th anniversary of Merlin’s transition to Employee Ownership, the ethos which underlies everything at Merlin. The EO culture allows every staff member to bring forward ideas and discuss opinions, listen to others and be involved in taking the company forward. As a result, Merlin is a strong team, with every staff member proud to be part of Merlin.
As part of our EO culture, Merlin takes time to bring the whole team together for an annual celebration. This year we celebrated on 24th June, the official UK EO day. In true Merlin fashion we opted to get outdoors and look at a few views, some of which might have included a rock or two. Having fuelled up with a lovely pub lunch we headed out for an 8 km walk over the stunning Malvern Hills taking in British Camp, Gullet Quarry (photo top right) and Clutters Cave (side view, photo bottom right).
British Camp is the most recognisable part of the Malvern Hills due to the extensive earthworks carried out to the hill. It is the location of an iron age hillfort and at a height of 338 m, offers amazing panoramic views over the area and into Wales on a clear day. Gullet quarry cuts into the Malvern Hills, allowing a cross-section through most of the PreCambrian rock that makes up the core of the hills to be viewed. Rock types include diorite, granite, gneiss, schist, pegmatite and dolerite. Changes of rock types are difficult to identify due to the complex history of early movement in the area with multiple joints, fractures, faults and shears on display. The Silurian rocks overlying the Malvern’s complex can also be observed at this locality, most likely faulted against the PreCambrian deposits. The final geological exposure we visited was Clutters Cave which has been excavated into pillow lavas, the identification of which was a cause for much debate and arm-waving (hence the typical geological fieldtrip photo from this location).
A good time was had by all with the event bringing together staff from the two offices who wouldn’t ordinarily catch up with each other in the day to day office setting. We look forward to the future and all that EO brings to Merlin, so all that’s left to say is Happy 6th EO day Merlin!
