It is just over 50 years since the name of RG Morgan became part of Hereford's commercial community.

Ronald George Morgan had started his working life as a foreman plumber for Bailey Brothers at a time when funeral directors more often than not offered many invaluable services to the living as well as to the dead.

But in 1955 he took the decision to strike out on his own, and last year the company he built from scratch celebrated its golden jubilee, 50 years in which the business has not only grown, but diversified, expanded and moved.

In that time, too, it has passed from one generation to the next, run today by Ronald's sons, Barrie, Graham and Roderick, together with Graham's son Dale. While Graham and Roderick trained with other plumbers before joining the family firm, Barrie learned his trade working with his father.

"He was a hard taskmaster," Barrie recalls. "But he made us the plumbers we are."

Today, just as it always has been, RG Morgan is first and foremost a family firm, its most recent recruit, apprentice Stephen Cope the only non-family member.

"He might change his name in time," laughs Barrie, whose wife Val runs the RG Morgan fireplace showroom in Whitecross Road.

The business may have evolved and expanded over the last five decades, but one thing never changes. The Morgan's commitment to customer care ensures that customers continue to be provided with the first-class central heating and plumbing service that Ronald Morgan demanded.

Barrie's son Darren followed Morgan family tradition to become a plumber and his business, Elite Bathrooms, also started life in Cotterell Street. It was when Darren's showroom outgrew the Cotterell Street premises that Barrie took advantage of the then-empty showroom to display the range of fireplaces and fires for which RG Morgan had established a reputation.

"It seemed a shame to turn it back into a storeyard," says Barrie, explaining the decision to take the plunge and open a dedicated showroom.

Before long, though, like Elite Bathrooms before it, the showroom space became too small for the range of fireplaces RG Morgan were able to offer, and they moved to their present premises in Whitecross Road, while retaining the Cotterell Street site.

Today, RG Morgan not only has an enviable reputation as Corgi registered central heating and plumbing experts but has added to that by creating a name for itself as a leading supplier of fireplaces and fires.

With everything from traditional solid wood, stone and marble fireplaces to highly contemporary hole-in-the-wall electric fittings and cast iron stoves from leading manufacturers, including Worcester Bosch, Burley, Vermon, Kinder and Flavel, RG Morgan has a wide selection of supplementary heating, a selection that contains something to suit every interior.

Barrie might have been doubtful about opening the first showroom, but he's in no doubt about the benfits of the move to Whitecross Road.

"We've never been so busy," he says.

Fact file

PartnersBarrie Morgan, Graham Morgan, Rod Morgan

Showroom Manager

Val Morgan

Business type

Fires, fireplaces, heating and plumbing

Established

1955

Telephone

04132 265364

Web address

www.rgmfireplaces.co.uk

Email address

barrie@RGMfireplaces.co.uk

Location

95 Whitecross Road, Hereford, HR4 9DQ