Illustrating its commitment to employee well-being, aftermarket exhaust manufacturer Klarius Products has won Employer of the Year Award at the 2024 Staffordshire Chambers Business Awards. Sponsored by the West Midlands Reserve Forces and Cadets Association, the award recognises progress the business has made engaging with its workforce and providing opportunities for progression.

Sarah Ratchford, Head of HR at Klarius, said: “We’re delighted to receive this prestigious award. Over the past three years, we’ve worked tirelessly to improve our work environment, harnessing valuable feedback from our employees so that we can better foster wellbeing, talent, innovation, collaboration and personal development. A huge thank you to each and every staff member at Klarius for their continuous strive for excellence.”

The UK’s largest manufacturer of aftermarket exhausts, Klarius Products has an established culture of promoting shop floor workers into management positions. This avenue for career progression has resulted in an average retention rate of eight years – twice the national average. In fact, 20% of the workforce has been at the company for 20 years or more.

The skills gap in engineering is well publicised, and Klarius is helping to address this too. Approximately 4.5% of the team are foundation level apprentices, 1 percentage point above national average, while a further 1.3% are undertaking degree level apprenticeships. Furthermore, the company has a track record of hiring promising young engineers directly from local universities and colleges.

Opportunities abound for Klarius employees thanks to easily accessible training and development programmes, which provide clear pathways for people at all levels of the organisation to progress both professionally and personally.

Klarius has been recognised by Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce in the past, winning Business of the Year at the 2020 edition of the awards.