Humble Beginnings
The beginning of the 1920s saw the Spanish Flu Pandemic spread across the world killing an estimated 100 million people. In 1922 Thomas Charles Morris lost his father and brother to the disease. Struggling to cope, his mother did the best she could and gave Charlie away to a pig farm in the West Midlands. There Charlie helped on the farm, slept in the stables, and looked after the pigs.
Several years later, Charlie met Lilly Plackett while working in Smith’s – a butcher’s shop in Willenhall marketplace. Deciding to marry in 1938, together they were able to buy their first butcher’s shop a year later, on Lower Lichfield Street just before the start of World War II.
During the war, Charlie and Lily managed to keep the butcher’s going and when the war ended, they were able to make a reasonable living. Eventually, they were able to buy the butchers in Willenhall marketplace where they originally met.
The business grew and Charlie, together with Lily’s brother Zebulon, brought a farm in Essington to provide produce for the shops.
Transition to Manufacturing
During the late 1960s Charlie’s two sons, John and David Morris, entered the business. Predicting the decline of the traditional butcher shop, they decided to sell the shops and farm to concentrate resources on manufacturing.
The factory on Walsall Street was purchased where they produced various meat products including pasties, sausages, and pies. The product range became more specialised and in the 1990s T.C. Morris began to concentrate solely on the manufacture of quality pork pies.
To the present day
David’s daughter Charlotte had worked in the business during holiday seasons as she was growing up and had a true passion for carrying on the family name. She gained experience in various positions within multi-national manufacturing and Transport organisations after leaving university and decided to enter the business full-time in 2010 beginning a new era of investment and improvement for the Company.
Allan Jones joined the business in 2019 bringing over 30 years of experience within the food industry across multiple disciplines. Allan became Managing Director in 2024.
In May 2024 the business moved premises to a purpose built manufacturing facility in Dudley. TC Morris has continued to reinvest in it’s processes and it’s people and 2025 will mark the beginning of a new chapter in the Company’s history.
Employing over 50 people from the local area, many of whom are highly skilled in their craft, the business is proud of it’s authentic Black Country heritage whilst continuing to reinvest in the processes that drive efficiencies, producing a top class, quality range of pork pie products and savoury snacks.