New Possible’s British HR Awards sets out to discover and celebrate the organisations that are truly passionate about delivering a world-class people experience.
In our latest Sharing Success series, we interview British HR Awards 2025 Winners to shine a light on the inspiring projects that are improving workplaces across the UK and beyond. In this article we spoke with Holly Cooper, People Director at Cox Marine, winners of the ‘People Team of the Year (<500 employees)’ category for the second consecutive year.
Introducing Cox Marine's People Team:
"I’m Holly Cooper, People Director at Cox Marine. My colleague Louise Page is our People Partner, and we make up our People Team of two, supporting a business of approx. 80 employees. Our company engineers and manufactures diesel outboard engines for the marine industry. We both have generalist roles, supporting the full employee lifecycle, forming and implementing our People Strategy and upskilling our leaders to better support their teams. We understand that productivity and positive change comes through engagement and coaching, and that our employees are at the centre of our company’s success."
About Cox Marine:
"Cox Marine is a UK based leader in diesel outboard engineering and manufacturing, committed to delivering a long-term development programme of sustainable diesel outboards. In 2010, we started out to deliver a revolutionary new concept; a lightweight outboard that would be the first stop on our journey to power the future of the global marine industry through sustainable innovation. The delivery of the 300 V8 in early 2022, and the launch of the 350 V8, has pushed us towards this vision. Our mission is to deliver world-class outboards for safer and cleaner seas."
Driving Engagement and Retention Amid Change
In response to a challenging market downturn and financial pressures in late 2023, Cox Marine made the difficult decision to restructure its workforce, with its manufacturing team particularly affected. Recognising the risk to employee morale and retention, the company quickly pivoted to prioritise cultural renewal, work-life balance, and long-term people investment, resulting in a powerful transformation across its manufacturing function and wider organisation.
Key Initiatives
1. Flexible Working Options: Employees were invited to request alternative working patterns. Today, the company’s workforce comprises 46% full-time and 54% part-time or 4-day-week employees.
2. Condensed Work Week for Manufacturing: The entire production team shifted from traditional split shifts to a 4-day condensed work week on full pay - enhancing work-life balance and aligning with the wider organisation.
3. Enhanced Benefits Access: The company extended healthcare, life assurance, and share options to the manufacturing team, transitioned workers from hourly to salaried contracts to boost financial stability, and lifted salary benchmarks by 5% to meet the 30th percentile market rate.
4. Engagement & Development Initiatives: Initiatives included Volunteer Days (supporting community projects like Scout Hut renovations and beach clean-ups), Deliver-In-A-Day innovation challenges, and a series of Career Support and Engagement Forums to amplify employee voice and support career growth.
When asked about the challenges of implementing a 4-day work week, Holly explained:
“Transitioning our Manufacturing team to a 4-day condensed working week was a significant change from the traditional production shift patterns our teams were used to. The key concerns were working hours, remuneration and maintaining output i.e. the number of engines we could build per week. We engaged with the team throughout the change and agreed the best working hours to suit them. By implementing a condensed work week (37.5 hours in 4 days) we maintained production output and our team remained on full pay. We also reviewed the full remuneration package we offered our manufacturing staff and made a number of changes including, moving from hourly to salaried contracts to give better financial stability, raising pay scales, introducing benefits such as healthcare, life assurance and company share options.”
When asked if Cox Marine were likely to keep the new 4-day working week schedule, Holly commented:
“Feedback we’ve received from the team is very positive, people value the extra non-working day and not working late shift hours. Our production shifts will always need to fit and flex to our build schedule, but it has shown that by adopting different working patterns we can maintain productivity and increase engagement. In the wider business, we understand that there isn’t one working pattern to suit all our employees, so we offer a range of flexible working options. Currently half our employees opt to work the 5-day week and half work condensed, part time or alternative working patterns.”
Driving Results
Employee engagement within the manufacturing team rose markedly, with scores increasing from 3.51 to 4.09 - a 16.5% improvement reflecting stronger satisfaction and morale. Perhaps most notably, the company’s overall attrition rate dropped from 25% to just 9%, well below the industry average of 19%. Within the manufacturing team specifically, turnover was completely eliminated in 2024, with no employees leaving the department following the implementation of these initiatives. These results highlight the success of Cox Marine’s inclusive, people-centric approach and its effectiveness in building a more resilient and loyal workforce.
What advice would Holly give to other organisations looking to implement similar changes?
“Be open to new ideas and working patterns. I don’t think there is a one-size fits all approach to hybrid and flexible working; it’s dependent on the company and role but most importantly it depends on the individual. We all have a different idea of what our ideal working pattern would be, whether it’s long days, fewer days, in school hours days, in the office or remote. Understanding where and how your team work at their best is key to creating a high performing workforce.”
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