Congratulations to our Operations Director, Nigel Lockwood, for achieving his International Diploma in Coaching. One of the newer members of the BNL team, Nigel joined us as Operations Manager in 2022 from BorgWarner Turbo Systems, where he was Senior Operations Manager. He became Operations Director in Spring 2023.

In the post-pandemic climate, many people have come to value the quality of their working life, over status symbols and remuneration. Collaborative working environments, inclusion and contribution, are just as equally prized.  These are also key to the growth and success of a business – and Nigel applies the principles of coaching as tools to achieve these values in the work place. “The aim is to reach the point where everyone feels they have a safe and productive working environment, feels supported and part of a team, has opportunities to develop the skill set they need to excel, and has confidence in the business and their ability to contribute to its growth.”

Nigel said of his first steps on the coaching path, “I initially embarked on the course to learn how to straddle the divide between process skills, and people management and development. I started a coaching course with Saxton Partners, which provides a skillset for building effective teams. I discovered an aptitude for team-building and I was encouraged to go further and study for the Diploma.”

A firm believer in business growth from the bottom-up, Nigel believes that a successful business needs to have a well-developed, team-centric culture that looks forward not back – there is no room for egocentricity or stagnation. “It’s about understanding how individuals in your team work, how and why they behave in certain ways and the overall team dynamic. When change occurs, individuals need to believe that new systems can offer improvements, and understanding what your team need for them to ‘buy-in’, is key to generating belief and confidence in strategy and processes.”

“I am looking forward to applying the personal development techniques of coaching to build on BNL’s existing team ethics. We have a team of highly-skilled staff already, but with these techniques, we can ensure these skills are used effectively,  to grow efficient and productive teams, becoming more agile, as people and as a business.”