Beldam Crossley Case Study
Creating alignment, accountability, and a culture people want to be part of
Overview
Beldam Crossley is an industrial sealing & bearing business that provides solutions to the Aerospace, Defence, Pharmaceutical, Petrochemical, Power Generation, Marine, Automotive, Oil & Gas and Construction sectors.
Having seen the positive outcomes and performance improvements that Derren Gittins, Managing Director of Verplas, and his team had achieved through the Verplas Culture Change Programme, the Senior Leadership Team of Beldam Crossley approached Sewells for support in delivering a similar transformation within their own business.
In 2020 the company endured turbulent times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, the Huddersfield site was closed, and the workforce was reduced from 70 to 50 employees as part of a necessary restructuring effort.
In the past couple of years, however, Beldam Crossley has rebounded to a period of growth.
Recognising the need to develop a highly engaged, “unstoppable” team and drive positive, culture-led business improvements, the senior team sought Sewells’ expertise to help Beldam Crossley achieve these ambitions.
Highlights
Record-Breaking Business Performance
Since partnering with Sewells in 2023, Beldam Crossley has experienced its best years ever, leading to the launch of a Leadership Skills Programme in 2024 to continue driving growth and success.
Breaking Down Silos & Embedding a High-Performance Culture
The programme successfully tackled silo mentalities, blame culture, and poor communication, enabling the business to foster a more collaborative, aligned, and customer-focused approach across all levels.
Leadership Transformation with 360-Degree Feedback & MBTI
Through 360-degree feedback assessments and MBTI profiling, Beldam Crossley’s leaders gained valuable self-awareness, improved their communication, and developed the skills to engage and inspire their teams effectively.
The Challenge
Beldam Crossley faced several cultural and operational challenges, which were affecting their ability to reach their full potential:
- Leadership Challenges: A lack of effective collaboration between managers hindered creative problem-solving and innovation.
- Resistance to Change: Many employees were reluctant to move on from past struggles and were resistant to adopting new ways of working.
- Poor Communication: Leaders and Managers struggled to effectively land key messages with the shopfloor team.
- Silo Mentality: A culture of blame, deflection, and siloed working between managers meant views had become entrenched, with a lack of willingness to see the perspectives of others.
- High Employee Turnover: The company faced issues with staff retention and recruitment.
- Customer Focus: The business lacked a strong focus on customer satisfaction, leading to missed opportunities for growth.
How We Helped
Sewells provided a tailored solution that included a combination of leadership development and culture change programmes, designed to address the specific challenges faced by Beldam Crossley:
- Culture Change Programme: By working closely with Directors, Managers, and frontline teams, we ensured that a new Purpose, Vision, Values and standards of behaviour were launched and implemented throughout the organisation focusing on improving communication, collaboration, and breaking down silos.
- Leadership Development Programme: We worked with Beldam Crossley’s leadership team to further embed the culture programme and enhance their leadership skills. Delivering practical, high-impact sessions focused on a number of topics, including effective communication, leadership role modelling, performance management, decision-making, and fostering accountability to eliminate blame culture and encourage ownership at all levels.
- 360-Degree Feedback: We conducted 360-degree feedback assessments to provide leaders with a clear, honest view of their strengths and development areas, helping them understand how they were perceived across different levels of the business and guiding them to apply their insights consistently.
- MBTI Profiling: To improve communication, self-awareness, and teamwork, we used the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to help leaders and managers recognise their own leadership styles and how to adapt them to engage their teams more effectively.
The Results
Since engaging with Sewells, Beldam Crossley has experienced significant improvements across multiple areas of the business:
- Record-Breaking Performance: 2023/2024 marked the company’s best years ever in terms of performance, including in 2024 an 18.2% sales uptake when compared to the previous year driven in part by an engaged and aligned workforce.
- Leadership Progress: In 2024, Beldam Crossley embarked on an Leadership Skills Programme, building on the success of the initial work.
- Improved Team Cohesion: The business has seen a shift towards greater collaboration, transparency, and a unified approach to goals, now surpassing expectations in achieving sustainability targets.
- Employee Retention and Satisfaction: The leadership team’s new approach to managing people and developing culture has helped improve staff retention and morale.
In Conclusion
Through the implementation of a tailored culture change and leadership development programme, Sewells helped Beldam Crossley shift from a period of turbulence to a phase of growth and transformation. The business is now better equipped to overcome challenges, improve communication, and foster a more collaborative environment, setting a strong foundation for continued success.
Customer Quote
“People turned a corner... They went from saying ‘nothing’s broken’ to realising that actually, they needed to change.”
