Encirc, part of the Vidrala Group, is the only company to offer a full 360 approach to the beverage supply chain. The company operates across three key sites: Derrylin (Northern Ireland), Elton (Cheshire), and Bristol, employing over 2,000 people and producing around 3 billion glass containers each year. Holding more than 30% of the UK's glass manufacturing market, Encirc supports some of the world's most iconic brands with high-quality, low-impact packaging solutions. Encirc is one of the UK's largest contract bottlers filling wine, beer, cider, soft drinks, with capacity to fill up to 500 million litres annually, including 15 of the top 20 wine brands by volume. 

A forward-thinking manufacturer in a socially and environmentally conscious world, Encirc is underpinned by six core values. One of these is 'people commitment and development,' embracing learning and development (L&D) within Encirc's organisational culture. Charlotte Hughes is the Professional Development Specialist responsible for managing Encirc's L&D programmes via the Encirc Academy. In April 2023, following a period of project management consultation with Wellingtone, Charlotte began working with their training team to deliver a range of customised, APM Accredited project management courses. The programme is supporting continuous improvement and driving a project culture across the company, as she explains. 

“I have been part of Encirc for two and a half years,” says Charlotte. “When I joined, my colleague, James Parker (Head of Operational Excellence and PMO) was working with Wellingtone to create a standardised Encirc project pack and deliver sponsor training, moving us towards a more mature project culture. To support the change, we wanted to put key people through a project management course, so that they could understand how to support that culture across Encirc. Wellingtone worked closely with James to tailor their ‘Delivering Successful Projects with APM Project Fundamentals Qualification (PFQ)’ course to our requirements. We then reached out to departmental line managers across the business, inviting them to nominate people involved in projects to take the course. The initial objective was to level up basic project management skills so that everyone was using our project pack in a standardised way. Delegate feedback from the first round of courses was very positive and we recognised a demand amongst our people to gain the APM accredited qualification. That, coupled with Wellingtone’s ability to flex to our requirements and tailor the course content to our culture, values, and ways of working, made them the right long-term partner to deliver on our L&D commitment.” 

This ongoing relationship has equipped Encirc to adapt and expand the training offering according to different levels of project knowledge and involvement, according to Charlotte. “After rolling out the initial PFQ course, there was increasing interest in higher level training from our project-based people and PMO. So, we added in Wellingtone’s ‘Managing Successful Projects with APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ)’ course, plus their ‘PMO Practitioner’ and ‘PMO Leader’ courses – all fully tailored to Encirc. We also received feedback from team and department leaders that some of their people would benefit from an introduction to project management but didn’t need to take a formal qualification. So, Wellingtone introduced us to their ‘Everyday Project Management’ course and again worked closely with us to customise the content. This offering is lighter touch but still familiarises people with the basics of good project management and our project pack and culture. With Wellingtone’s support, we now have a comprehensive, adaptable training offering, led by demand. Every year, we conduct a full training needs analysis across our company, using that data to plan the schedule for the year ahead. This year, for example, demand for the ‘Everyday Project Management’ course is especially strong, so we are increasing the number of available seats. It ensures that we are delivering the skills and culture that Encirc needs, but also the L&D opportunities that inspire our people and support their career pathways.” 

All training is delivered face to face across Encirc’s three sites, often with a diverse mix of delegates. “As well as staff from across all departments, we have welcomed leaders and sponsors onto some of the courses,” says Charlotte. “Wellingtone’s trainer is skilled at adapting to, and communicating with, everyone in the room in a meaningful way. She is open to people referencing their live projects and the challenges they’re facing, and she ties those real-world examples back to the training content as well as Encirc’s project pack. She takes the time to review the delegate list in our planning calls so that she can adapt her approach according to who is in the room. During the training, she maintains a lively dialogue, ensuring that everyone is engaged and equipped to apply the learning in their everyday work. I do think it helps that Wellingtone have allocated one trainer to us, and we work with her every time. She has really got to know us as people and as a company. For us, there is no doubt that face-to-face training and that personal touch gives us the most meaningful return on investment.” 

Embedding Continuous Project Improvement Across the Organisation

Looking ahead, the training programme is set to continue and expand, Charlotte confirms. “We see the value of what people are learning across the business. In 2024 alone, we have trained 44 people. We see them cascading their learning to their teams, applying our project pack and the skills they have developed in their everyday work. We also see increased demand for the courses as delegates recommend them to other team members. We already have three ‘Everyday Project Management’ courses booked for September 2025. We are also experiencing increasing demand for the PFQ course. As more people move into specific project management roles, I anticipate increased demand for the PMO-level courses, so it’s likely that we’ll expand that offering. Plus, we encourage people to make use of Welingtone’s extensive library of online resources – their webinars, blogs, videos and so on. I would say to anyone looking to embed and improve project management in their organisation, it is well worth speaking to Wellingtone. They are collaborative, adaptable, and always deliver on what they promise. I have no doubt that we will continue to work with them moving forwards.”