Gardiner Bros & Co

When footwear and clothing distributors Gardiner Bros & Co experienced rapid growth and increasing operational complexity, it was left with a fragmented approach to workforce planning that posed a number of strategic risks.

Managers across departments were raising recruitment requests based on local pressure rather than strategic need, creating risk around cost control, the duplication of roles and long-term organisational design that wasn’t joined up. At the same time, historic contractual variations, inconsistent role structures and limited use of people data meant senior leaders lacked a single, trusted view of workforce capacity, capability and cost. 

Ultimately, people decisions were being made without a sufficiently robust governance framework, risking escalating costs without clear return on investment, workforce structures becoming misaligned with future business needs and HR being perceived as an administrative function rather than a strategic partner. 

In response, a People Cost Committee (people director, CEO and finance director), supported by people analytics, was introduced to ensure all workforce decisions were evidence based, financially responsible and aligned to business strategy. Each head of department was required to submit a workforce cost plan outlining business need, alternatives to recruitment and expected return on investment, while workforce cost analytics were introduced and reviewed monthly and quarterly. 

In 2025, the business implemented a company-wide nine-box talent matrix, scoring all employees against performance and potential, and this data was triangulated with qualitative development conversations to create a structured investment strategy for 2026. Managers were trained to interpret people data, challenged constructively by HR and supported to see workforce planning as a strategic discipline rather than an administrative hurdle.

Financially, the initiative delivered more than £750,000 in inefficient staffing costs in 2024 and further savings of £500,000 in 2025. Operationally, the organisation achieved a single, transparent governance process for all people spend, clear audit trails for restructuring and redundancy decisions, improved workforce alignment across multiple warehouse sites and functions, and simplified contractual frameworks for more than 150 employees. Culturally, the initiative repositioned HR as a strategic partner at board level.

“This is a strong example of creating and implementing a strategic workforce plan that puts data and people at the centre of decision making,” the judges said.