CV Life’s Jordan Morbey has been on a whirlwind journey since joining the organisation as a teenager.
Jordan, now aged 23, was a modern apprentice but his dedication and ability was so evident management plucked him from the scheme, elevating him to a permanent staff position.
From then, he has flourished, taking on numerous roles, climbing the ladder, manoeuvring himself successfully into one of the organisation’s trickier positions – site manager at Moat House Leisure and Neighbourhood Centre.
I caught up with Jordan recently to discuss his time with CV Life.
Jordan, who is originally from Birmingham, endured difficult teenage years after his life was turned upside down.
He said: “When I was 13 we lost mum to cancer. My older brother moved back to Birmingham from Norwich to look after me and my sister. So family has always been important and we’re really close.”
Jordan’s tough start in life has ignited a passion to succeed in his career and break the family cycle of precarious and temporary jobs.
After doing a year in college, he saw an opportunity to undertake a modern apprenticeship with CV Life, then known as the Coventry Sport Foundation.
After his bosses saw his passion first hand, Jordan’s hours were amended so he could get the train in time from Birmingham. Nothing highlights his dedication more than one day early in his career when the trains weren’t running. Undeterred, Jordan simply got on his bike and rode from Birmingham to Coventry so he wouldn’t miss his shift.
“It wasn’t a posh road bike either,” Jordan laughs. “Just your bog standard bike. But on the other hand there were times I couldn’t get over and they’d arrange for someone to pick me up, so it worked both ways.”
This type of behaviour, as well as staying all hours, often unpaid, doing manual tasks like fixing swimming lane ropes, made Jordan stand out. He was approached by manager Laura Williams in the first few weeks of his apprenticeship and offered the chance to bypass the two years in the scheme and simply start full time work as a lifeguard.
Jordan said: “That was a big help financially for me and my family. Obviously most MA’s get a full time job at the end anyway, but this meant I didn’t have to slog for two years on four pound something an hour and could start contributing more at home.”
Jordan continued to impress, and the following year, 2019, he was given the chance to do duty manager training at Xcel. In 2020, he combined lifeguard duties with a part time role as duty manager at the same venue. This later became a full time role.
By September 2021 his reputation had grown so much he was in demand, and he began splitting time between duty manager roles at Xcel and The Wave.
2023 was a busier year than usual for Jordan, who by this point had moved to Coventry and started a young family of his own. In February of that year he got his first taste as site manager over at Woodlands, a role he combined with duty manager at Xcel.
Six months later he used his experience to tackle a secondment as lead duty manager at The Wave – a particularly important role considering a full time site manager was still not in place at that point.
“I always look for opportunities to build my experience and develop myself professionally,” Jordan shared. “Coming from a family who have mostly worked in fast food jobs, I worked in a chippy myself before here, it feels important to put your heart and soul into everything.”
This philosophy is obviously paying off. By the end of 2023, Jordan’s reputation had grown so much he was successful in applying for site manager at Moat House.
A very community-minded site, Moat House has its challenges which Jordan has tried to tackle head on. The site is home to multiple organisations, including the Moat House Trust who obviously have a vested interest in the running of the site.
Jordan has worked tirelessly to ingratiate himself to all involved at Moat House, even spending time before Christmas volunteering in a local food bank.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here and really appreciate the great opportunities to further my career,” Jordan said. “I know that if I suddenly left tomorrow I’d still stay in touch and know there would be people here I could still call on.”
This is likely testament to one of the key reasons Jordan has succeeded. As well as his hard work and talent, he is a likeable, softly spoken type who gets along with people.
There aren’t many who could overcome Jordan’s tough early start in life and find a job where he is at home and thriving. From modern apprentice to site manager in just over five years, with a pandemic in the middle, all before reaching his 24th birthday, is remarkable progress. Everyone at CV Life is very proud of Jordan’s journey and we look forward to seeing how he progresses.
But more importantly, I bet his family are also incredibly proud of the career he has carved out for himself too, and were she still with us, I know Jordan’s mum would be bursting with pride too.