Moog has been an integral part of the Tewkesbury business community for more than 30 years and during that time Chris Curr’s career has gone from strength to strength with the company.
Aged 16, Chris began his career with Moog Controls Limited on a youth training scheme in 1985. Moog had moved from Cheltenham to Tewkesbury 6 years earlier and by the time he joined the company it was already doubling the size of its facility on Junction 9 of the M5.
Chris’s career took the engineering route. Whilst working in the assembly and test team on Industrial products, he studied for his HNC in Mechanical Engineering at GlosCAT where he gained distinction in Engineering Controls. From there, Chris moved into the Test Equipment department at Moog for 5 years where he gained practical knowledge of closed loop control systems.
In 1995, he moved from a hands on engineering role to a commercial position, leading the Customer Services Team and studying for his Diploma in Management. This led to a Sales Engineer role specialising in the heavy Industrial steel production market. Following this, Chris had a short spell back in the Aircraft group, part of Moog Controls where he was responsible for development of suppliers, many of whom are local in Tewkesbury.
In 2002, Chris returned to the Industrial Group in Moog. This coincided with the start of a significant upturn in the motorsport business due to the introduction of a miniature hydraulic servo valves. Chris was the Project Manager for the Motorsport Business until 2008 when, following his project managing the implementation of a new ERP business system, Chris took the role as Operations Manager. He gained his MSc degree in Lean Operation from Cardiff University in 2011. Also that year, Chris project managed the introduction of a separate Quality Management System for the Industrial Group.
In 2013, Chris was appointed the Entity Manager for the Industrial Group and appointed to the Moog Controls Limited Board of Directors. Last year he led the move of the Industrial Group Business to a new purpose built facility at Ashchurch Parkway.
Chris says: “When our business became constrained in our old facility and the lease was due for renewal we had a decision to make on whether to relocate the business away from Tewkesbury. The decision to stay local to Junction 9 was a very easy one for Moog. In fact we made sure we found a location for our new facility within walking distance of the main building on Junction 9. The location is great for our business with easy access to the M5 and the national rail line alongside local bus and cycle routes. We also have local suppliers for both services and products. It is also a great place for our employees to live with countryside and towns of Tewkesbury & Cheltenham it’s the best of both worlds within a few miles.”