Celebrating EO Day 2026 and Four Years of Employee Ownership
What Employee Ownership Has Taught Us
Today, we join employee-owned businesses across the UK in celebrating EO Day 2026.
This year’s theme, #OwningIt, feels particularly relevant to everyone here at Moorland Fuels.
It marks four years since Moorland Fuels and our sister company, Craggs Energy, became employee-owned businesses. Four years since ownership transferred to the people who make our businesses what they are today. Four years of learning, growing, improving and proving that when employees have a genuine stake in a business, great things happen.
Looking back, employee ownership has been about far more than a different business structure. It has strengthened our culture, sharpened our customer focus, accelerated innovation and given every member of our team a greater voice in shaping the future of the business.
Most importantly, it has reinforced something that has always sat at the heart of Moorland Fuels: What Matters to You, Matters to Us.
More Than Employees. Owners.
When we became employee-owned in 2022, we made a commitment.
A commitment to our people, our customers, and our communities.
Our manifesto talks about community. About trust, reputation, reliability and doing the right thing. It recognises that recognition and recommendation cannot be bought; they must be earned.
Employee ownership has helped bring those values to life every day.
Today, every driver, customer service adviser, sales executive and operational team member has a vested interest in the success of the business. They are not simply employees carrying out a role. They are helping build something they collectively own.
That shift in mindset matters.
Because when people think like owners, they naturally go further. They look for better ways of doing things. They challenge inefficiencies. They care more deeply about outcomes. They take pride in the customer experience.
And customers notice the difference.
Turning Small Improvements Into Big Results
One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned over the past four years is that innovation doesn’t always come from major projects or transformational investments.
Often, it comes from hundreds of small improvements suggested by the people closest to the day-to-day operation.
As a business, we have embraced the principle popularised by Sir Dave Brailsford and British Cycling: the idea that improving lots of small things by just one per cent can create extraordinary results over time.
That philosophy has become embedded throughout Moorland Fuels.
Across our teams, our people are encouraged to identify opportunities for improvement, to raise concerns and share ideas.
Our quarterly Town Hall meetings bring colleagues from both Moorland Fuels and Craggs Energy together to discuss business performance, progress, opportunities and challenges.
Sales team huddles provide regular opportunities to discuss customer needs, challenging situations, service levels and operational improvements.
Monthly driver meetings give our frontline teams a platform to share experiences, highlight opportunities and help shape better ways of working.
The result is a culture where continuous improvement isn’t driven from the top down. It’s driven by everyone.
A great example has been our focus on reducing under deliveries.
Historically, it was common for customers to order more fuel than their tanks could physically hold. This created inefficiencies, additional vehicle movements and avoidable fuel handling.
By encouraging drivers to communicate when they had additional product remaining on board, dispatch teams have been able to identify customers who could receive deliveries earlier than planned. At the same time, our sales teams began using historical data to better understand customer ordering patterns and double-check likely tank capacities before orders were confirmed.
The result?
Average under-delivery volumes reduced significantly, falling from around 7,500 litres per day in December to approximately 4,500 litres per day by February. And that improvement continues.
While that may sound like a simple operational change, the wider impact has been considerable.
It has reduced unnecessary vehicle movements, improved route efficiency, lowered fuel wastage and helped minimise associated carbon emissions.
Similarly, improvements to scheduling systems have ensured driver holidays and vehicle maintenance are fully integrated into operational planning, reducing avoidable delays and improving service reliability for customers.
These aren’t headline-grabbing changes. But they are big wins. They’re practical improvements generated by people who understand the business intimately and who care deeply about making it better.
That’s employee ownership in action.
Stronger Together
One of the greatest strengths of our employee ownership journey has been the close relationship between Moorland Fuels and Craggs Energy.
Although separated by geography, our businesses are united by shared values, shared ownership and a shared ambition to continually improve.
The ability to openly share ideas, challenges and successes across both organisations has created an environment where positive change can happen quickly.
A successful initiative developed in Yorkshire can be adopted in Devon.
A customer service improvement introduced in the South West can benefit customers in the North.
Knowledge, experience and innovation flow both ways.
This cross-pollination of ideas has strengthened both businesses, helping us learn faster, improve faster and adapt faster.
Together, we are creating a culture where progress is everyone’s responsibility.
What Matters to You, Matters to Us
As our business has grown, one thing has remained constant.
Our belief that customer service is about people.
Being employee-owned has reinforced this principle across every part of the organisation.
Our ethos — What Matters to You, Matters to Us — isn’t simply a marketing message.
It’s how we communicate with customers.
It’s how we communicate with each other.
It’s how we make decisions.
It influences how we respond when customers need help. How we support vulnerable customers. How we solve problems. And how we continually look for ways to improve the service we provide.
Because when every member of the team has a stake in the business, customer satisfaction becomes personal.
Helping Our People Thrive
Another lesson we’ve learned over the past four years is that when people feel trusted, valued and empowered, they thrive.
Employee ownership has created more opportunities to recognise great work, celebrate success and champion individuals who embody our values.
Few people demonstrate this better than Andrea Williams.
Andrea was recently named UKIFDA Customer Service Person of the Year, an achievement that reflects not only her dedication but also the culture that employee ownership helps create.
Andrea consistently goes above and beyond for customers and colleagues alike.
Whether that’s arriving early to support her team, delivering emergency fuel supplies outside normal working hours, checking on vulnerable customers, helping resolve technical issues, creating training materials for colleagues or volunteering to support the business during holiday periods, Andrea embodies what exceptional customer care looks like.
She understands that the smallest actions can make the biggest difference.
Her success isn’t an isolated example.
Across the business, we are seeing all our team take ownership, share ideas, support colleagues and seek opportunities to improve.
In fact, four members of the team were nominated for prestigious national UKIFDA awards, resulting in two national finalists and Andrea’s well-deserved win.
For us, that recognition reflects something bigger.
It demonstrates what can happen when people feel connected to a shared purpose and empowered to make a difference.
Joining a Movement
EO Day also provides an opportunity to reflect on something beyond our own business.
Since becoming employee-owned, we have become part of a growing community of like-minded organisations that believe business can be done differently.
Across the UK, employee-owned businesses are demonstrating that commercial success and people-first values are not mutually exclusive.
They are showing that businesses can be profitable, innovative, resilient and ambitious while giving employees a genuine stake in the outcomes they help create.
We’ve learned a huge amount from fellow employee-owned organisations over the past four years and we’re proud to play our part in helping the movement continue to grow.
The more businesses that embrace employee ownership, the more opportunities there are for employees, customers and communities to benefit.
Looking Ahead
Four years on, we remain as excited about employee ownership as we were on day one.
The business is stronger.
Our culture is stronger.
Our customer relationships are stronger.
Most importantly, our people are stronger because they know their voices matter, their ideas matter and their contribution matters.
As we celebrate EO Day and embrace this year’s #OwningIt theme, we’re proud of what we’ve achieved together.
But we’re even more excited about what comes next.
Because ownership isn’t a destination.
It’s a mindset.
And when everyone owns the journey, everyone helps drive the business further forward.
Happy EO Day from everyone at Moorland Fuels.
