Morelli Group's Timeline of Business

From 1957 to now...

On 24th January 1957 Morelli & Co. was founded by Challoner ‘Slim’ Moring and his wife Winifred. Slim started selling paint and consumables to local body repairers based on a hunch that he could provide a better service than he was getting for his own repair shop, Moring & Co. His early business partner, Bert Ellis, provided the second part of the Morelli name.

The first shop was below the flat where Slim and Win lived with their three children in Southgate High Street. The first paint supply was Valentine who supported the business with a £1,000 loan and six months credit. From the start, a large stock order was placed to make back orders a rarity. Slim’s early motto was, “your stock is at the end of your telephone,” and daily deliveries were started; making him the first supplier to offer this service.

On 27th May 1957, Morelli & Co. open their doors for business! The first customer was the Landlord of the local pub who spent 7s. 2d. on a 2lb tin of paint. The first ten shilling note taken by the business that was used to buy the paint still hangs on the wall at Morelli head office.

Take a look below at some more highlights in our 65+ years of business.

1960s

Valentine Paints

Morelli & Co. secured the rights to sell Valentine Paints for North London and Essex and, as a van round became too busy to operate, new branches were opened in that area, providing a service that was second to none. Branches in Uxbridge, Ilford, Camden, and Chelmsford were all opened in this period of expansion for the company.

Slim’s children David, Joan, and John all started working in the business. Their fourth and final child, Ruth, was born in 1962.

1970s

Morelli & Co. Expand

Now well established in the South East, Morelli continue to expand moving the original premises 100 yards up Southgate, High Street to a larger site. More branches were added in other busy areas.

Delivering quickly and fulfilling orders first time is still a cornerstone of the business. The custom car scene takes off and a Renault 4 van is commissioned and airbrushed with murals and pinstripes and topped off with a fur trimmed interior lining!

1980s

Morelli Group Ltd. is Formed

Morelli Group Ltd is formed and there are now branches across the whole of the South East; from Norwich to High Wycombe and several in London including our first move south of the Thames. Most of the early branches still exist although, like Southgate; some have moved to bigger, more modern premises.

The company is now being run by the second generation David, John, Joan’s husband Colin Laybourn, Allan Toms, Allan Clark and Steve Laybourn.

New Paint Brands

Paint brands are added to the Morelli product range. Most significantly, Glasurit becomes the leading brand with approvals on all German manufactured cars aiding growth during this period of German brands dominating the market. Ault & Wiborg paints start to replace Valentine products for the one man bodyshops.

Slim begins pursuing his lifelong dream of restoring Rolls Royce cars as a hobby; showing them on Rallies and Concourse Events up to his death in 1984.

1990s

New Head Office

Even more paint brands are now stocked to ensure Morelli Group remain market leaders in the South East.

The UK market is all about manufacturer approvals and, as a manufacturer drops one brand, Morelli takes on another to ensure that customers are not let down. Spies Hecker and PPG are the latest brands to hit the shelves and Valentine is all but gone now.

1998 sees the company leave Southgate for a new head office in Enfield – 15,000 sq ft. purpose-built warehouse; servicing the outlying branches as a central facility, with daily drops to all branches ensuring the best stock holding.

26th May 1998

Mount Everest Summit

Morelli tops the world as we sponsor the successful expedition to Everest with Neil Laughton. Our flag was unfurled on the summit of Mount Everest at 7:30am on 26th May 1998.

Also on this expedition was Bear Grylls, who was to find wider acclaim with his survival programmes.

2000s

A New Millenium

In 2000, Morelli undertook significant expansion with the purchase of Bancrofts, the successful Midlands and North based distributor that was owned by Finelist but went into administration. This projected Morelli onto the national stage and turnover went past £20m for the first time.

After a decade of prosperity and consolidation that saw the purchase of Car Paints in Waltham Abbey, Morelli now had an impressive list of paint brands: Glasurit, DuPont, Spies Hecker, Standox, PPG, DeBeer and Masons. The number of branches increased to 20+ across the UK.

2007

50 Years of Business

Morelli Group celebrate their 50th Anniversary with a riverboat cruise on the Thames with staff and suppliers. Some of the suppliers had been with Slim from the beginning including 3M, Upol, and DeVilbiss.

The 3rd generation of Stuart, Andrew, and Mark Moring and Michele Laybourn join the remaining 2nd generation of John, Ruth, and Allan Toms as Directors.

2011

Takeover of SmartExpress

Morelli buy Smart Express, a company specialising in SMART (Small to Medium Accident Repair Techniques) to minimise the cost and speed up the repair process. At the time this was something being mainly done by a man in a van turning up at a site and repairing the car from the back of his van. The Morelli vision was to train and supply the products to our bodyshop customers to offer an upsell solution and increase profitability for them. The company has excellent knowledge and offer training courses which are key aspects of the business.

Worldskills London

WorldSkills London 2011 – The biggest ever skills event held in the UK and the start of Morelli Group‘s involvement with skills events supporting the drive to get youngsters into our industry. This event is classed as the Skills Olympics and competitors came from all over the world to take part in the event held at London ExCel.

Morelli supplied panel stands, trestles and van loads of product during the event and have continued to support WorldSkills after this first experience.

2012

IMI Approved Assessment Centre

Smart Express gains IMI Awards Approved Assessment Centre status.

The Smart Express training facility was one of the first SMART repair training facilities in the UK and at this point had trained in excess of 500 delegates from all sectors of the industry, including bodyshops, independent mobile SMART repairers and dealer SMART sites.

Attaining IMI Accreditation was something that Morelli Group aspired to after buying Smart Express in 2011. As the industry’s leading Awarding body, IMI Accreditation means delegates leave with an industry recognised standard at the end of courses attended across all disciplines.

2013

Top 100 Award

Morelli were presented with a top 100 award from the Financial Times for our expanded export services in 2013. A strong year of supplying product to Europe saw us achieve a high ranking amongst top UK business for increased sales abroad.

2014

Slim's Detailing

2014 saw the start of a new e-commerce business, Slim’s Detailing, named in honour of our founder ‘Slim’ Moring.

This business started as detailing sees a period of growth as a hobby and pastime. Slim's Detailing continues to grow as a business today and has built a dedicated following of people who take car cleaning to the highest level and enjoy the lifestyle brand that Slim's has become.

One of Slim’s own cars is used in the early videos - a MKII Jaguar that he bought from new and restored by his eldest son David to its current condition.

See Website

2015

Eyebox Collaboration

Morelli decide to move the Smart Express training to a new, purpose built training facility in Coventry. We shared space at Eyebox UK with customer XL Motors.

Being central in the country is key for our motor manufacturer, dealership, and independent customers offering them a much better facility in an easier to reach location offering IMI Accredited Training courses.

2015

ABP Night of Knights

The ABP Night of Knights award is presented to the supplier voted for their best service to the bodyshop customer. This is voted for by the customer and we have won the Repairer’s choice Award in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2021 a strong showing and testament to our branches for their hard work supporting our customers.

2016

Birmingham Branch Move

Our Birmingham branch is moved to a new distribution hub just off the M6 in Castle Bromwich. The 25,000 sq. ft. building is laid out to ensure that the space is maximised and stock is managed in the most efficient manner for storing and picking orders.

AutoRaise Partnership

We also declared ourselves as Platinum Partners to AutoRaise as soon as they became a registered charity in 2016. This is an industry charity encouraging apprentices into the trade. We were one of the first Platinum Sponsors and continue to support this and other initiatives to get young people into our trade going forward.

2017

60 Years of Business

A party of over 400 guests including staff, customers, suppliers, and friends gathered at Celtic Manor to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Morelli Group.

The table raffle on the evening raised £3,500 for Auto Raise with CEO, Bob Linwood, there to accept the donation.

The meal was pie and mash and the entertainment was provided by Chas and Dave, with a good old-fashioned knees-up, celebrating the heritage of Morelli’s original roots in Southgate, North London.

To celebrate, a historic 1957 Ford Thames van is purchased and the Morelli Technical Team put it into the original livery of our first delivery vans.

Recognition in the Industry

The IMI awarded Andrew Moring a Recognition Award for Contribution to the Work of the IMI and helping to promote skills events which Morelli have supported since 2010 including WorldSkills London in 2011. Morelli continue to support these skills events and are at the forefront of encouraging youth into the trade that we have supplied for 60 years.

Slim's Detailing & Koch-Chemie

Morelli Group are appointed Koch-Chemie distributors for the UK through Slim's Detailing. Their products hold many OEM approvals and offer superb and safe car cleaning products for detailers and trade users doing a quality volume wash.

2018

Automotive 30% Club

Morelli join the Automotive 30% Club inspiring gender balance in our industry. The Automotive 30% Club, powered by the social enterprise company Gaia Innovation Ltd, is a voluntary network of MDs and CEOs from UK based automotive manufacturing, retailing and supplier companies.

The network was founded by Julia Muir, CEO of Gaia Innovation Ltd, with the purpose of achieving a better gender balance within the automotive industry, and with the aim of filling at least 30% of key leadership positions in the member organisations with diverse women by 2030 through a “30 by 30” strategy.

2019

Slim's Training Academy

A new training academy in Coventry is opened – to teach professionals and enthusiasts the perfect way to clean and detail their car!

The Coventry branch is perfectly located to be our training hub and we run a series of courses on detailing through our sister brand, Slim’s Detailing. The site becomes the home of the second Slim’s Detailing shop, the other being in Enfield. The site also takes over the despatch for the online business of our products to customers nationally.

The firm has made a significant investment in the training academy, which was officially opened by Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands, during a visit to the branch.

2020 - 2021

The Pandemic Years

The COVID pandemic strikes and shuts down large parts of the business. Of 14 branches, 5 remain open during the first lockdown. Morelli branches in Manchester, Birmingham, Enfield, and High Wycombe stay open for our customers that repair key worker vehicles such as ambulances, police cars, recovery vehicles, NHS staff cars, and commercial vehicles.

As suppliers of PPE we help with donations to care homes who are getting very little in the way of masks and gloves during the worst of the crisis.

The Slim’s despatch remain open in Coventry and provide much needed retail therapy for the millions of workers sitting at home on furlough and giving them something to do once they receive their products.

Official CARPRO UK

Slim’s Detailing takes on the official UK distribution for the CARPRO brand during this difficult time.

The staff at all branches act safely and responsibly and with great commitment. As the other branches reopen, the staff get back to some kind of normality as the year goes on and all branches remain open after the first lockdown with safety measures in place.

2021

Business as Usual

Our branch supervisor in Manchester, Matt Johnson, was nominated and successfully chosen as one of the Bodyshop Awards 30 Under 30 rising stars.

Morelli appoint three new non-executive Directors, long standing employees Paul Glover, National Programme Director, Mike Rowley, Corporate Accounts Director and Steve O’Brien, Sales Director Midlands.

Morelli Group work with long time partner ECA Energy towards PAS 2060. As of November 2021, Morelli became the first bodyshop distributor to achieve carbon neutrality.

November 2022

ABP Night of Knights

Morelli Group wins Distributor of the Year for the second year running at ABP Night of Knights 2022! This is our fifth victory in the last ten years and the first time we have retained the award.

Adding this prize to our recent win at the Bodyshop Awards means Morelli are currently holding the last three awards handed out to Bodyshop distribution since the start of 2021.

April 2023

Eyebox Takeover

Morelli take over the Eyebox Training and Conference Centre. A new logo was designed in house at Morelli Group and the centre underwent some modifications and renovations.

Visit the press release here.

Visit the Eyebox website here.

Coachfinish Acquisition

Morelli acquire Coachfinish NI Ltd, Northern Ireland’s premier refinish distributor. The acquisition of Coachfinish completes Morelli Group’s national footprint in the UK.

Read More.

Richard Hammond’s The Smallest Cog

Morelli are now supplying The Smallest Cog Workshop, the restoration business started by Richard Hammond. Hammond, along with three members of the Greenhouse family and an apprentice, make up the current team of five staff.

There are plans to put Richard through some of Morelli’s IMI Accredited training for paint, and even possibly a detailing course with Slim's Detailing if he can find time around the business of restoring cars.

Visit the press release here.

June 2023

Best Places to Work 2023

Morelli Group are delighted to have been placed in the inaugural “The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2023”, powered by The Sunday Times data partner WorkL.

Read More.

March - July 2023

Slim's Historic Bentley Restoration

In his time, Slim restored several classic cars including a Bentley Countryman. The car is now owned by his eldest son, David, and in 2023, Morelli put the car through a full restoration, as it had not been tinkered with much since the 50s! You can follow the story along via our blog.

Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4

September 2023

Eyebox Launch and Supplier Showcase

The Morelli Sales team gathered at Eyebox in Coventry for a two day launch event to showcase the facility. We welcomed select suppliers buying in to the centre to give them the opportunity to use the space and showcase their products. The first day was set up for our key partners and the second day was primarily for training partners and other key suppliers to showcase their training courses and products.

April 2024

Eyebox Feature in ABP Magazine

It was a great honour to feature in the Spring 2024 edition of ABP Club magazine. The article focused heavily on our Eyebox takeover and our vision for the future of the centre. Plus, we shared some landmark projects that had already taken place such as the installation of the first dedicated PPG LINQ Studio outside of PPG premises.

You can read the article on page 68 of ABP Spring '24.

IMI Event with Primary Engineer

The IMI and Primary Engineer took over Eyebox for a day in April. Primary Engineer have developed an engineering curriculum that spans Early Years students. Its core aims include; the development of children and young people through engagement with engineering, the promotion of engineering careers through inspiring programmes and competitions.

They approached the IMI looking for a suitable location to hold a regional event where they engaged 10 primary schools in Coventry. We were honoured to host the event to inspire the future of the automotive industry.

Eyebox Website Goes Live

In April 2024, Morelli Group debuted their dedicated Eyebox website!

This becomes the homepage for everything training related as well as offering a look into our conference facilities for hire.

Visit Website.

May 2024

Eyebox feature in Car SOS

Eyebox and Morelli had the privilege of working with the team behind Car SOS for an episode in season 12 of the show. Paint partner Sherwin Williams sponsor Car SOS and approached Morelli for the use of Eyebox as they needed a last-minute location where they could work on a Triumph TR7 body shell.

Technicians from Morelli and DeBeer handled all the preparation and painting of the car's shell and parts on a very tight schedule.

Car SOS presenter Tim Shaw was very complimentary of the centre and the workcarried out by everyone involved.

Read More.

Hosting IMI Skills Competitions

We were delighted to play host to the IMI Skills Competitions Refinishing and Body Repair tasks at Eyebox 15th-17th May.

It was amazing to see the competition take place in the Centre and there was a real buzz every day as the competitors set about their tasks trying to complete them in the most efficient way to the best of their ability. It was great to see so many people visiting to watch the competitors and add to the atmosphere on the day also.

Read More.

September 2024

Bodyshop Magazine Awards

It was our honour to collect Supply Chain Partner of the Year 2024 at the Bodyshop Magazine Awards.

The night was hosted by actor and comedian Steven Mangan and we were delighted to take home this award for the second year running (the Supply Chain Partner of the Year award was not presented in 2023).

Adding to our overall company victory, we also celebrated two of our sales reps as winners of Bodyshop Magazine's 30 Under 30 Rising Stars. We are incredibly proud of Jack Rowley and Nathan Ward as they take home this award.

October 2024

Bob Linwood Memorial Trophy

Morelli had the incredible privilege of taking part in a charity football match against NWVA and some West Ham Legends at The London Stadium. The Morelli Masters' kit was sponsored by customer XL Motors and we managed to raise over £20,000 for DEBRA UK.

By some miracle, Morelli beat the home side 2-5 taking home the Bob Linwood Memorial Trophy, named in honour of an industry great.

November 2024

ABP Repairer's Choice Awards

Morelli were delighted to take home the award for Paint Distributor of the Year for the sixth time at the ABP Club Night of Nights awards.

We doubled this win on the night with Eyebox winning Training Provider of the year after our first nomination in the category.

These awards are a true testament to the hard work put in from all our staff year round.

January 2025

IMI Annual Dinner and Awards

We were honoured to be shortlisted for the prestigious Partner of the Year Award at the IMI Annual Dinner and Awards 2025.

Morelli have been a dedicated supporter of skills competitions since 2010, supplying materials, tools, PPE, competition venues, and logistics for Body Repair and Refinishing events. We have also provided support for training, judges’ shirts, and prizes.

Our commitment extends to securing storage for equipment and leveraging 67 years of industry contacts. #ProudToBeIMI

21st October 2025

Bodyshop Magazine 30 Under 30

Another celebration of young rising stars in our industry with Bodyshop Magazine's 2025 class of 30 Under 30 winners in partnership with 3M.

This year we were pleased to have another representative from Morelli Group accept the award, our Creative Marketing Executive, Verity Moring. She joins Matt Johnson, Nathan Ward, and Jack Rowley as Morelli recipients.

October 2025

Long Standing Service Awards

As part of an effort to recognise staff tenure, Morelli Group implement Long Standing Service Awards. The special board showcases our top serving members of staff who surpass 25 years.

Read More.

20th November 2025

Morelli Group win Paint Distributor of the Year 2025 at ABP's Night of Knights awards. This marks the 3rd time in 4 years that we have taken home this award, with 7 total wins.

Our Director of Strategy & Growth, Ruth Moring-Beale, is given the Lifetime Achievement Award on the same night, following in the footsteps of some industry greats.

Read More.