CELEBRATING 40 YEARS of PRECISION BADGING

Mentoring success with Diametric and the Santander Women Business Leaders’ Mentoring Programme.

Earlier this year, Stace – the Logistics Coordinator here at Diametric – successfully secured a spot on the Santander Women Business Leaders’ Mentoring Programme. As the programme sadly draws to a close, here we celebrate Stace’s fantastic achievement.

The mentoring scheme is delivered through Santander and Women Ahead, and set up for the ‘next generation of fast growth entrepreneurs’. Mentees must tick a few boxes in order to be considered, including:

  • Be the female owner / shareholder of a business with an annual turnover up to £6.5m
  • Be keen to develop and be prepared to take responsibility for progressing your business
  • Be capable of scaling up your business and boosting local employment
  • Be ready to be mentored, with a willingness to receive feedback and advice
  • Have an awareness of your own strengths and limitations

We were incredibly impressed but not surprised that Stace was judged within these categories. Since joining Diametric back in 2018, Stace has been instrumental in transforming the company’s logistics operation. Initially, she joined the company to support her husband, Graham Steele (our Managing Director), to oversee the logistics department. However, since then she has moved on to manage the assembly and inspection workflow, as well as being more involved in the manufacturing plant. She has quickly become an integral cog in Diametric.

The programme matches mentees up with a suitable mentor who will support them throughout the programme. The intention of this mentor is to push mentees like Stace to think outside of the box, refining their approach to business growth & development and encouraging an innovative mindset.

Stace was matched up with Paula Bolton, and it was the perfect partnership from the very first session.

Speaking of their work together so far, Paula said:

“It has been a pleasure and privilege to work with Stacey through the Santander Women Ahead Mentoring Programme. From the moment I spoke with Stacey I knew she already had an amazing skill set which plays an important role within Diametric.

We have focused on exploring the key challenges that many business professionals face within their roles, and seeing Stacey develop and grow with confidence is the exact reason I signed up – to be selected by Santander to mentor and help wonderful people like Stacey.

Stacey has worked hard and taken action to make inspiring changes and I am very much looking forward to, (in fact excited) to continue mentoring and providing key solutions to Stacey to support her within her role within Diametric.”

Improving her skills and awareness of the industry has always been of huge importance to her, and the Santander Women Business Leaders’ programme is proving a brilliant way to truly maximize that growth and take things to the next level.

Stace said:

Since joining Diametric 3 years ago, I have been keen to learn about other aspects of the business and to further develop my role.  I am fortunate to have access to advice and guidance from colleagues to support me with this.  However, I was keen to benefit from a female perspective on working in business.

Through the Breakthrough Women Business Leaders Mentoring Programme, I was paired with Paula as my mentor.  She has been fantastic in supporting me with identifying key areas to focus on and helped me to think about my own personal development.  I have been really grateful for Paula’s advice and encouragement, and have already gained so much from being part of the mentoring programme.

As the mentor and mentees meet for the last time through the scheme, we are delighted to announce two successes as a result of the programme. Firstly, Stace will be moving away from her current duties to take on her new role as Operations Manager. Secondly, to support Stace, we are now looking to boost local employment as we go in search for a Logistics Coordinator to expand our team of amazing individuals.

Well done, Stace!!