Leadership with Fox's Biscuits

25th September 2009 8:07

My Peak Potential along with our partners Carnegie Great Outdoors, part of Leeds Metropolitan University, spent a day with Graham Hunter, the Managing Director of Fox’s Biscuits and more than 60 members of his Senior Management Team, from their factories at Batley – which also the Head Office, Kirkham near Blackpool and Uttoxeter in Staffordshire as part of their 2009 Leadership Conference held at the Gomersal Park Hotel in Yorkshire on 22 Sep. Senior members of the Fox’s Marketing Team based in Slough, Berkshire were involved and Vinnie the Panda – Fox’s Biscuits’ No.1 fan – also made an appearance.

The Fox’s team were initially inspired by Dave Bunting’s account of the bid to place the first British team on the summit of Mount Everest via the notorious West Ridge in 2006. Dave recounted the team’s time climbing the hardest route on the world’s highest mountain and the cognitive, physical and emotional challenges that they faced, individually and as a team, during 10 weeks on the mountain. They then moved outside in their teams to participate in experiential learning using outdoor activities as vehicles for learning. Each team was presented with a series of novel challenges which required them to think creatively, communicate effectively and work collaboratively to succeed under pressure with the guidance and coaching of experienced facilitators. The activities offered the opportunity to explore leadership dynamics and allowed the opportunity to be receptive to others ideas, contribute their own ideas, solve problems and improve team cohesion. The final exercise involved them coming together as one team to solve a giant jigsaw puzzle of Mount Everest emblazoned with a huge Fox’s logo – a fitting end to the day.

Keiron Russell, HR Director for Fox’s Biscuits, commented afterwards ‘I would like to thank you, Dave and the team for your input. I thought [the day] went really well and it has generated a lot of debate and thinking time. Thanks again for your help.’

Leadership and management skills are crucial to unlocking the potential within the workforce and vital to business success. The training event was supported by The Enhancement Fund www.enhancementfund.co.uk which has been established to provide a flexible and responsive resource to meet the skills needs of businesses in Yorkshire and Humber. It is intended to provide funds to enable businesses to access training provision that is not currently supported through mainstream provision and Train to Gain. Access to the funds is through Business Link, Training Providers and Business Support Intermediaries.