0345 646 5201
Established in 2010 by founder and Managing Director Greg MacLeod, GT Engine Services is a growing business with ambitious expansion goals. Providing market-leading, bespoke jet engine support services from its base at London’s Stansted Airport, GT Engine Services combines pioneering technical capability with a uniquely people-centric approach.
In May 2024, the business was acquired by STS, a US-based aviation maintenance business, with plans to expand its reach and diversify its engine services capability worldwide.
Setting themselves apart with their bespoke services and quick response times, GT Engine Services offer short notice slot availability and nurtures supplier and customer relationships. The team’s ability to quickly turn around complex jobs, combined with a high level of customer service, is a key differentiator in the industry.
Working with the biggest names in the global aviation sector, they continue to have big plans for growth. Understanding the importance of the right people strategy, they turned to People Puzzles for support.
The evolving people strategy – innovation through people
In September 2022, People Director Andrew Johnson joined GT Engine Services to help implement an effective people strategy. Andrew focused on developing tools and approaches that aligned the business strategy with people management.
Fellow People Director Kathryn Marshall then took over the reins from Andrew in May 2024, and worked closely alongside Tracey Clark, Chief Operating Officer, to support the critical shift towards performance-driven leadership to facilitate accelerated growth and help embed a strong values-based culture.
Rapid growth
The business has grown rapidly, and headcount has more than doubled over the last four years and revenue by 400% over the same period. Further growth is planned for 2025, with 12 new technicians coming on board.
Strategic deep dive for innovation
A deep dive into existing people processes and procedures formed the first step. Interviews with senior managers, key stakeholders, and team members led to a set of recommendations which informed the company’s people plan. This executive report provided the direction needed to align their people strategy with the growth goals, this included:
- Embedding the right business mission and values
- Aligning the people plan to business strategy
- Ownership and accountability to drive productivity
- Focus on talent attraction, retention, and development
Together, GT Engine Services and People Puzzles have built on the original leadership development initiatives, rolling out a modular leadership program for line managers. This ongoing program supports mid-level managers in developing the necessary leadership and people management skills, ensuring that the company attracts, retains and develops top talent.
Tracey’s ambition was to further support a newly formed leadership team, and she worked closely with Kathryn to ensure the necessary training and coaching was delivered to drive performance, innovation in process and embed the right culture across the company.
In addition, and in response to the investment opportunities brought through the new ownership, Tracey and Kathryn worked together on reviewing the organisational structure and supporting the leadership team in being highly effective. Kathryn was also able to bring her experience of change management to support the business in effectively communicating the change in ownership.
In order for GT to retain its competitive advantage, it is investing in new tools, plant and capability. It is also innovating in process and embracing technological developments. This requires a curious and learning mindset across the whole organisation and is embedded by a rigorous focus on communication, mentoring and one to ones, recognition schemes, reinforcing values, and its ESG strategy which Kathryn has facilitated.
Employee engagement has seen significant improvement as a result, and innovation is now deeply embedded within the company’s culture. Kathryn and Tracey’s ongoing efforts continually align the leadership with innovation, performance and learning.
Tracey comments: ‘The strong focus we have had on people and developing the right culture has played a major part in the success of the business. We are able to attract and keep great people as we are known in the industry to be a great place to work. We continue to invest in our people capability and have strengthened the HR function to drive further growth aligned to our values and goals which allows me to focus on the commercial aspects of the business as we continue to expand.
Moving faster toward business growth
By establishing a people strategy from the outset, the team is equipped with the tools they need to adapt and innovate at a fast pace, ensuring the company meets its growth targets.
Kathryn Marshall adds: “People are at the heart of innovation at GT Engine Services. The company’s ability to treat employees well, empower them, and create an environment of ownership is what differentiates them. They are always looking for ways to improve and evolve, both in terms of the skills they develop and how they innovate operationally.”
Building a strong, innovative team for the future
The success of GT Engine Services shows that the right people strategy, rooted in innovation, leadership, and a strong culture, can drive sustainable business growth. As it expands globally under STS, the company is set to continue innovating, delivering world-class support, and maintaining a competitive edge in the aviation industry.
