Shelforce
Shelforce’s award-winning team
It’s fair to say that promoting opportunity, together with developing an integrated workforce that has been built into a winning team, are the reasons behind the continued success of the award-winning Shelforce. The Birmingham-based window and door manufacturer, which specialises in providing high quality PVCu windows and fire doors to local authority building projects and social housing, also works with many of the biggest contractors in the UK. Shelforce provides a workplace initiative that provides employment and opportunity for some of Birmingham’s most vulnerable people. The company was established in 1839 as a workplace for visually impaired people as part of the Royal School for the Blind. From its origins in manufacturing items, such as brushes, baskets and mats, it has totally re-invented itself to become a leading window and door manufacturer while staying true to its origins in employing and training those with disabilities. Out of its 30 staff, 75% have a disability and its social mobility programmes help people from disadvantaged backgrounds into successful working lives.
environment in which they can lead, innovate and use their skills to drive the business forward. Staff have the freedom to think about how to improve the business and their individual performance, and every member of the team lives and breathes the vision and takes pride in wearing the Shelforce shirt. Thanks to creating an environment where individuals with a complex diverse range of disabilities and challenges can succeed in a competitive marketplace, Shelforce has equipped the team with the self-belief to achieve their potential by developing a breadth of skills. This approach, which has given staff confidence, motivation and direction, has led to 30% of the workforce successfully moving to more senior roles and over 85% diversifying their roles and maximising their potential by developing skills in manufacturing. More than just a business Technical Specialist Safdar Thakur, who is deaf and has worked at Shelforce for 13 years, says: “Shelforce is a way of life for me and, without it, I would be depressed and financially unstable. Shelforce has been important for me as it helped me and employed me when no one else would because I’m deaf. It is such a good working environment.” Paul Ramsay is another Technical Specialist and has cerebral palsy. Paul has worked at Shelforce for 38 years and has moved from the office to the factory floor. He says: “I have come to realise
A successful reinvention As a disabled business unit within Birmingham City Council, Shelforce’s value has always gone beyond a financial return. However, nine years ago due to funding cuts and reduced disability grants, the business was faced with a stark choice to either become self-sustaining or close. To be successful Shelforce needed to build a new heritage based on social and commercial principles, so the new leadership collaborated with the workforce to develop a vision reflecting the strong commercial and social ethos of the business. One of the key cultural challenges was to address the perceptions of the role of people with disabilities within the workplace – both internally and externally. The business reinvented its operating model by adopting an ambitious approach to embed both commercial and lean manufacturing principles and invested in the diversity of the workforce. Leading the way With three-quarters of its staff having a disability, Shelforce leads the way for promoting opportunity in the fenestration industry nationally. The business’s inclusive approach to employment requires an unconventional recruitment process and a hands-on approach to training that replicates the factory floor operations and is tailored to individual abilities. The team is given collective ownership of the business and an understanding of what everyone needs to do to be successful and to create an
Floyd Levermore
Safdar Thakur
Paul Ramsay
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