Why did you start your SC21 improvement journey?
We started our SC21 improvement journey because we recognised that we could do better for our customers and the overall performance of our business. We wanted to create a culture of continuous improvement where everyone takes ownership, works more efficiently, and focuses on delivering consistent quality and service.
By beginning the SC21 journey, we committed ourselves to raising standards, improving processes, aligning the business with a structured framework to improve how we did business. It gave us a structured way to identify opportunities, improve operational excellence and build a more sustainable and competitive business for the future.
Most importantly, the journey was about developing our people and embedding a mindset where improvement becomes part of everything we do, every day.
What have been some of the key lessons learned along the way?
Consistency is critical, sustained performance over time was far more important than short-term improvements. Embedding quality, delivery, and continuous improvement into everyday operations was essential.
Strong processes create resilience, standardising procedures, improving documentation, and focusing on process control reduced variability and improved both quality and delivery performance.
Employee engagement has driven success, achieving SC21 Gold status required involvement from the entire workforce. Encouraging ownership, accountability, and open communication across all levels helped create a culture of continuous improvement.
Customer focus is fundamental, understanding customer expectations and maintaining strong relationships with customers and suppliers played a major role in achieving and sustaining high performance standards.
Another key lesson is the importance of embedding a culture of continuous improvement. SC21 is not something that sits alongside the business, it becomes part of how the business operates every day.
What made the difference taking you from Silver to Gold?
What made the difference in taking CCP Gransden from Silver to Gold SC21 status was the move from simply meeting performance targets to fully embedding operational excellence across the business, some of these key factors included:
Greater consistency in performance/operations – Gold status required sustained excellence in quality and delivery over a longer period. CCP Gransden focused heavily on maintaining consistently high standards rather than achieving short-term improvements.
Maturity of business systems and processes, these processes became more robust, standardised, and repeatable, helping reduce risk and improve overall efficiency and compliance.
Leadership focus and commitment, strong leadership helped maintain momentum, reinforce expectations, and ensure continuous improvement remained a strategic priority for the business.
A mindset shift from compliance to excellence, rather than working purely to achieve the accreditation, the business focused on building a sustainable culture of excellence, which ultimately supported the transition from Silver to Gold.
How do you continue to retain Gold performance in delivery and quality in today’s difficult climate?
CCP Gransden continues to retain Gold-level performance in delivery and quality by focusing on consistency, adaptability, and continuous improvement, even within today’s challenging operating environment.
Building a culture of accountability, performance is sustained because quality and delivery are viewed as everyone’s responsibility, embedded within the company culture rather than driven solely by audits or targets.
Investing in our people, skilled, engaged employees remain central to maintaining performance. Ongoing training, development, and cross-functional teamwork help build resilience and flexibility within the workforce.
Ensuring supply chain management and resilience in a difficult global climate, maintaining strong supplier relationships and contingency planning has become increasingly important in protecting delivery performance.
Within CCP Gransden we have a continuous improvement mindset, rather than standing still after achieving Gold status, CCP Gransden continues to review processes, analyse performance data, and implement improvements wherever possible.
What’s next from CCP Gransden?
For CCP Gransden, the focus now is not only on maintaining Gold SC21 status, but on continuing to build on the standards and culture that achieved it.
Sustaining performance with continuing to maintain high standards in quality, delivery, and customer satisfaction across all areas of the business.
Investing in our people and supporting employee development, training, and engagement to ensure the workforce continues to grow alongside the business and industry requirements.
Strengthen our supply chain working closely with suppliers and customers to improve resilience, communication, and overall supply chain performance to minimise risk to the business and our customers.
Remaining agile and responsive to evolving aerospace and defence sector expectations, technologies, and customer requirements.
Enhancing our digitalisation and process maturity, we will continue to develop systems, data visibility, and process control to support smarter decision making and operational excellence.
Using our SC21 Gold status as a platform for growth to strengthen customer confidence, support future business opportunities, and reinforce CCP Gransden’s reputation within the aerospace and defence industry.
The leadership team has commitment and visibility for the future with clear direction and ongoing support from leadership help maintain focus, accountability, and momentum across the organisation.
