About Us

We Are Culture Stretch

Organisational culture change experts based in the UK. Helping you to create an environment where every hire is just right, where communication thrives, and where employee engagement flourishes.

Having worked in a wide variety of businesses in leadership roles, culturally we have seen the lot! In the best examples, we have witnessed teams achieve amazing results and unbelievable levels of engagement. In the worst, we have watched in horror as businesses disengaged their teams and performance slips to a terminal level. These experiences are what fuelled the creation of Culture Stretch.

Why Culture Matters

Creating the very best culture for your teams should be at the forefront of your mind if you are serious about building a truly successful business.

Culture Transformation is not an overnight fix. It takes a leader who is invested in not only the growth of the business but also the growth of those individuals who are the business. We will guide you to create a vibrant organisational culture, which aligns with your core values and vision, while fostering unparalleled communication to deepen employee engagement.

Our Approach

Understanding Employee Engagement

We focus our attention on your people to understand your current levels of Employee Engagement. This may be through listening groups or a free-of-charge ”Benchmark engagement” survey – why do we do this? How better to understand where the opportunities to grow your business are than with your current employees? It’s never easy to hold the mirror up to see, feel and hear honest feedback however, it is a cathartic exercise that will most certainly unlock potential you didn’t realise was within.

Elevating Employee Experience

Working with you to support elevated Employee Experience, we focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and well-being, we can assist or craft personalised strategies to boost retention and performance. Providing world-class team communication solutions, we can assist and support your teams to bring their whole selves to work by better understanding exactly that – themselves in the ”workplace”. Exceptional communication comes when we understand our differences and similarities, ”why I see things this way, but you see them differently”. When we recognise, as colleagues, managers, and leaders that everyone is different, yet everyone can add value to the organisation, that’s where the magic happens.

Leadership Development

In terms of Leadership Development, your future leaders are not the finished article, however, they are the the foundation of your future success. Ensuring leadership development is essential to both growth and attrition. People don’t leave bad companies, they leave bad managers. And for some, the transition of someone great at their current role with their current skills, being catapulted into a ”manager of people” role without a carefully designed development pathway to those new people skills, can be a detrimental experience rather than an acceleration of excellence and progression. Therefore, we support with bespoke training, workshops, and one-on-one mentoring that empowers your leaders to be pioneers in cultural excellence.

Executive Coaching

And, if you are looking to support and develop your executives further, we are at your disposal for tailored coaching sessions designed to enhance leadership skills, strategic thinking, and personal development for those senior executives.

Meet The Team

Jo Long
Craig Hawthorn
Alicia Tolhurst
Member 4

JO LONG

DiSC Style: D

Business Culture & Engagement Specialist

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My professional journey to founder of Culture Stretch spanning the realms of business and leadership, has profoundly influenced my perspectives, guiding principles, and aspirations. From managing 6 children as a live-in nanny to leading and propelling individuals, sales teams and regions on journeys of excellence and phenomenal success. Drawing from our extensive experiences working with clients, we strive to bring an authentic understanding of your business needs, coupled with a steadfast commitment to supporting you through any challenges that lie ahead.

My DiSC style is D. This means I am most comfortable when I'm taking action, getting results and challenging myself, situations, idea’s, all with a sprinkle of enthusiasm. In the past it was easy to see how my style could be misinterpreted and somewhat intimidating to some, meaning I have had to work hard on myself to stretch my comfort zone into area’s which didn’t feel immediately natural. Working on my EQ emotional intelligence has helped immensely in learning how to understand what I am feeling, the impact on others and how to manage this more effectively to positively impact situations in the moment.

CRAIG HAWTHORN

DiSC Style: D

Business Culture & Engagement Specialist

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I am the proud business owner of Culture Stretch, a dynamic consultancy specialising in driving cultural transformation. With a keen focus on senior leadership teams, I lead my team in developing bespoke programs tailored to meet the unique needs of our clients. My primary focus as a consultant lies in senior leadership teams, where we provide comprehensive support in two key areas: personal development and specialised work on building cohesive teams. We believe that nurturing leaders and fostering teamwork creates the optimal environment for sustainable business success.

ALICIA TOLHURST

DiSC Style: CS

Marketing and Social Media Execuitive

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I joined Culture Stretch in March 2021 and I'm currently Marketing and Social Media Executive. My role involves developing and implementing marketing strategies, as well as managing the Culture Stretch's social media presence and website. I'm passionate about marketing and always looking for ways to improve my skills.

RALPH

DiSC Style: S

MOUSE

DiSC Style: i

When we include our “culture dogs” Ralph and Mouse we complete the full compliment of DiSC styles. Ralph is definitely an S style, he’s very loyal and supportive. He doesn’t like sudden change and values routine and stability.

Whereas Mouse, is definitely an I style, enthusiastic, energetic, a real fun character who can multi task quite easily. Mouse is very adaptive, when things change its exciting for her, she's quick to investigate and sees it as an opportunity.

Craig Hawthorn
Business Culture & Engagement Specialist
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Jo Long
Business Culture & Engagement Specialist
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Alicia Tolhurst
Marketing & Social Media Assistant
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Would you like to know more?

Send us a message on the form to the right or use the links below.