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Facing rising demand and growing pains, Thermex turned to People Puzzles to unlock the next stage of their growth as they pushed turnover beyond the £10 million barrier. With expert strategic HR leadership, they transformed operations, culture and performance fast.
From £1 million acquisition to £12 million turnover
Thermex is a leading manufacturer of heat exchangers and is located in Redditch in the heart of the West Midlands. The current Managing Director, Julian Crossley, acquired the business in 2004 for £1m as a sole shareholder. Today, the business employs over 60 employees and has a sales turnover of £12 million, aiming to reach £20 million within the next five years.
Strategic HR support at a critical turning point
People Director, Shahbaz Idriss, joined the business in November 2023 as a fractional HR Director. At the time, the business was at a key transition point, moving from a small business model to one with ambitions of doubling turnover. As one of the Senior Managers put it, “What worked well below £10m didn’t work as we pushed towards £15m. The business was developing faster than the processes and structure could support.”
Exposing the pain points blocking growth
The growing pains resulted in several critical issues, all impacting business performance. These included high manufacturing arrears in £000,000s, capacity constraints due to plant layout, process bottlenecks, quality issues, high absenteeism and high labour turnover. After a two-day Discovery and based on her extensive experience in automotive manufacturing, Shahbaz recommended a more “fit for purpose” management structure designed to drive performance and continuous improvement.
Building trust fast and making brave decisions
During one of her many 1-2-1s with Julian, he admitted he was concerned about the proposed changes. Notwithstanding this, he was brave enough to go with her recommendations, which is testimony to Shahbaz’s ability to forge trusting relationships early on. Through her extensive network, Shahbaz was able to quickly recruit an experienced Plant Manager and get buy-in from the entire management team.
The turning point: New leadership, new momentum
The Plant Manager’s arrival in April 2024 marked a turning point. His calm authority, daily leadership presence and practical focus helped embed the changes and drive significant improvements in performance within 12 months of his appointment:
Metric |
Improvement |
| Arrears (£’000,000) | Reduced by 98.6% |
| Delivery performance | Increased by 50% |
| Internal scrap performance | Reduction by 52% |
| External scrap performance | Reduction by 78% |
Tackling communication breakdown
One of the biggest challenges Shahbaz encountered early on was poor communication and a ‘them and us’ culture between the shopfloor and the office. There was a disjointed understanding about the business direction. To begin changing this, she introduced regular weekly meetings and daily walkarounds of the shopfloor. These became opportunities not just to share information but to break down silos and build connection across teams. “We have made meaningful progress in addressing this barrier,” noted a Senior Manager. “A culture of active listening and recognition is emerging, and we’re committed to building upon this foundation, continuously improving how we listen and respond.”
Shahbaz also profiled employees and provided feedback to the management team, helping them better understand how to engage their teams and bring them along on the journey.
Embedding HR to transform employee engagement
Another recommendation that Shahbaz suggested was the introduction of a dedicated HR function. This role would support the end-to-end employee lifecycle and improve employee relations and engagement. This position was filled in early 2024 and has been instrumental in delivering meaningful changes, including giving every employee their birthday off, introducing a new employee handbook and creating positive shared experiences through initiatives like visits from a fish & chip van and Macmillan coffee mornings.
A stronger structure, a clearer future
Shahbaz’s changes to the company structure have had a lasting impact. The organisation had previously been very flat, but there is now clearer structure and progression. The Senior Manager explained that “The team have an improved understanding of how their roles support the overall objectives, which enhances individual effectiveness. There’s greater opportunity for career development, and the work environment is more collaborative and focused, with everyone aligned in their responsibilities.”
The business retains its family feel, but the mindset has shifted. Many of the team on the shopfloor come from an earlier era of engineering, and previously the phrase “we’ve always done it like that” was often heard. Now, that’s changed. “There’s a different mentality,” said the new Plant Manager who joined in April 2024. “People are more open to trying new things and challenging ideas.” There’s also a renewed focus on developing the next generation of engineers and taking the workforce on that journey.
A complete transformation delivered in just 17 working days
Today, Thermex is more aligned and focused. Sales are similar to when Shahbaz joined, but now everyone is clear on the goals and their role in achieving them. That clarity has made the whole team more efficient and more profitable.”
Julian’s concerns are a thing of the past and he recently commented: “It’s a complete transformation from where we were 12 months ago. There’s a great team spirit and atmosphere now—and Shahbaz was the catalyst for that change.”
For Shahbaz, the most rewarding part of working with Thermex was recognising its untapped potential. “Julian had a clear vision of where the gaps were and how to close them,” she said. “With my background in organisational design, lean manufacturing and employee engagement, I was able to bring in best practices from other £10m+ businesses I’d worked with and apply them confidently to help realise that vision.”
Shahbaz was able to achieve the above in a short period of time, between November 2023 and February 2024, a total of just 17 working days.
