DriveSpeed Group provide tailored vehicle solutions to clients across a range of industries from a base in North Yorkshire. The business has grown significantly since its incorporation in 2011, and has doubled in size in the last three years, with over 20 staff at their office on Fishergate in York.
In 2020 the dental industry was shut down for a couple of months, but Swallow Dental Supplies adapted its PPE product range and are now growing rapidly through their sales of bone regeneration material and other surgical dental supplies.
Went good for new team leaders.
Very good overall and enjoyed it taken away a lot.
Today Learned new things about change curve.
Overall a great course thanks a lot to Joanne.
Thank You Joanne for having patience with all of us. It was a pleasure knowing you and Thank You for sharing your knowledge with us.
Absolutely loved this course. Joanne was so helpful and just a general lovely lady! Hopefully our paths cross in the near future!
Really good course thank you.
Just an eye opener, was a very useful course for me.
Great course.
We have worked with Pro-Development for a significant period of time. Our recent challenge has been centred on developing a Leadership Framework and then getting this out to the business. We have worked with Pro-Development to develop this framework whilst also sending some of our key managers on focused leadership courses. Pro-Development provided valuable support and guidance in building our framework whilst linking it back to our core values. This support was multi layered including workshops and one to one meetings. The results have been fantastic, and we are now in the process of rolling this out to the business. The focus training has also provided great benefits for our managers who have grown in confidence and used the skills they have learnt on the courses to great effect.
Pro-Development have taken the time to understand Yorwaste and what makes us who we are. This has allowed them to tailor their engagements with us to provide the best outcomes possible.
What was your challenge that led you to engage with Pro-Development?
People management and getting the best out of people.
What course of action / programme / activity did you engage with us on?
Skills Bootcamp
What has been your experience of working with us?
Fantastic to summarise in one word. The course was well delivered, well run and plenty engaging.
What impact did the programme / activity have on you on a personal level?
It has allowed me time to reflect on me as a manager / leader and really allow me to focus in on getting the best out of people whilst improving myself also. I feel I have a better understanding of the skills required to be a better manager.
What impact has it had on your business/team (can you think of at least 3 outcomes/benefits)?
Secondment of shift engineer working within my team to engineering manager relieving me to work on projects I’ve been unable to find time for whilst giving the shift engineer experience in management and form part of a succession plan.
Better understanding of performance management
Understanding DISC
What have you most valued about working with Pro-Development?
A group of people, coming together to become better versions of themselves on the same journey as I am on all headed up by our fantastic mentor/trainer/teacher – Abi.
Two years ago I was looking for leadership & management training provider and discovered Pro-Development. What a fantastic find! They are a passionate and relatable group of learning & development specialists who have helped us transform our company culture and become a genuine partner to our business.
We have had 4 senior managers complete their long leadership development programmes, commissioned a bespoke supervisor essentials course (Team Leader Skills Bootcamp), and worked extensively with them on employee engagement, values, and our leadership behaviours framework. The impact has been significant, both at an individual level and as a group.
We got Pro-Development involved in our culture challenge onsite. We wanted to understand more about the current culture and how we can adapt in improving our culture moving to our new site in 2025.
Joanne & team at Pro-development managed to create a course which not only helped up understand the current culture, but also provided support in creating a better culture moving forward. The workshop we created wasn’t just sit down and listen based, it included a fun team building activity, which was described as “mind challenging” and “interactive” by our employees.
We also found the support that we received from Pro-Development was second to none. If we needed anything at any given time, they were only a phone call away. We would highly recommend Pro-Development to anyone in future!
When done right it is such a powerful tool….
One of the best things we did as a business was going through the Employee Engagement process with Pro-Development and Michelle Mook.
We have done this twice and even though we gained 91% on both occasions, we still came away with a plan based on the feedback. A key area was Performance Reviews.
With the guidance of Michelle and her team, we transformed this process into one of the most interactive processes I have ever experienced when going through the review process.
What I’m pleased to say is that two years down the line, this continues to grow from strength to strength and as a business we have benefited so much from this… so a big THANK YOU to Michelle Mook and her team, we couldn’t have done this without you!
I commenced the Coaching Sessions alongside the Leadership training programme, this came at a time whereby I was working to enhance my skills to enable me to lead a team and encourage the growth of the company. The Coaching supported me at a difficult time in my career and even supported me in making the decision to seek a new opportunity and manage change is a positive and effective manner, I will continue to utilise these tools moving forward.
Coaching with Joanne has been overall fantastic, she is a kind and caring person and without her guidance and listening ear I would not have made the positive changes I have in the last six months.
Joanne gave me plenty of time to adequately express my thoughts and explain myself fully which assisted in me understanding my thoughts further. Whilst consistently keeping to time I never felt pressured, and the timers really gave me incentive to plan my sessions and consider the priorities fully.
I would highly recommend Joanne as a Business Coach and will certainly look to use Pro-Development in the future.
Joanne, thank you for everything.
Ebuyer had recently been purchased by a small group of individuals, and a new Senior Leadership Team formed. Those members of SLT who were part of the previous company engaged with Pro-Development on the Inspiring Leaders Bootcamp programme.
My personal experience of working with Pro-Development was fantastic. The staff were incredible, they made you feel at home straight away, and their insights into you just by saying the first ‘Good Morning’ shows how skilled they are at their craft. The course helped me understand my managerial style better, helped my understand my communication style better, how to communicate with others better and what motivates me as an individual. These insights were incredible.
I can’t really describe the value that working with Pro-Development brought to me, especially at that moment in time as well. Abi and the team were just so supportive of everyone and amazing cheerleaders for us all.
It sounds cheesy to talk about a ‘journey’, but whatever journey I was on, Pro-Development were there every step of way, and I cannot thank them enough for their help, support, guidance and inspiration along the way.
I sincerely hope that I get the opportunity to work with Pro-Development again in the future, and would recommend them to anyone who is willing to listen. Thank you.
Beyondly has always placed employee satisfaction at the heart of the business and as a result, benefits from a highly engaged workforce and a positive culture. The team has nearly doubled in size in the last 5 years, and one of the challenges this has presented is maintaining the small team feel, consistency in approach across line managers, and the positive culture. We have engaged with Pro-Development in a number of areas, some of our line managers have completed training courses, the whole team has done the DiSc profiling and this was then used to feed into small team walking days with the aim of enhancing cross-team collaboration and relationships. One of the team also participated in the Remarkable Leadership Programme. Michelle and Will initially described this to me as ‘transformational’ – I was a little sceptical, however, that is exactly how our team member has described it. She has got so much out of it and been on a real journey of personal discovery.
All the PD team we have interacted with have been a pleasure. Engaging and fun and it’s clear they know their stuff! As a result of the programmes/activities we’ve done with PD we have seen improvements in the skills of our line managers, a greater understanding across the whole team of different communication styles and for our team member who completed the Remarkable Leadership Programme, she has highlighted that she feels she can add greater value to the business with a shift in her responsibilities – something that I can absolutely see the potential with. She is building the documented case for this as we speak.
It’s clear that the PD team are very passionate about their work and the quality of the support we have received from them is a reflection of this.
When we first reached out to Pro-Development, we were facing challenges with the leadership team. We wanted to empower our leaders and enhance collaboration within our teams, but we were struggling to find the right approach and expertise to guide us. Our goal was to build a more connected, motivated, and high-performing team, and we knew we needed support from experts who truly know and understand us!
We engaged with Pro-Development on a bespoke leadership walk/team building activity. Right from the start, the experience of working with them has been incredibly positive. Michelle from Pro-Development took the time to understand our unique needs to enable her approach to bring the best out of all that attended. As always Michelle brought her enthusiasm and knowledge with her and made the day not only insightful but enjoyable!
On a personal level, the programme helped me reflect on my leadership style, and I developed new skills to communicate more effectively with our leadership team.
For our business, the impact has been transformative. Three major outcomes we have seen include:
- Improved team morale – Engagement levels have risen, and our teams feel more connected and valued.
- Increased productivity – With better collaboration and clear communication, meetings and projects are running more smoothly and efficiently.
- And the most important for our business and what we wanted to get out of the day – Enhanced leadership skills – Our managers are more confident and capable in their roles, which has a positive ripple effect throughout the business.
What I have valued most about working with Pro-Development is their commitment to our success. They have gone above and beyond to ensure the day met our needs, and their support did not end when the day was over—they continue to work with us and offer valuable insights. It has been a rewarding experience that has truly made a difference in our business.
I would wholeheartedly recommend Pro-Development to any business looking to empower their team 😊
