Headlam

While the company is proud of its long heritage and market-leading position, they want to use their operational strength to take advantage of market opportunities.

Their story is evolving as they focus on their strengths and how they deliver growth and success in the future. After reshaping their purpose, vision and values, they have set new ambitions for growth alongside a revised strategy on how to achieve them. This project looked to show how reshaping their story showcases their market-leading expertise and the value they deliver for their customers, suppliers, business partners and communities.

The goal of this year’s report was to position Headlam as the leading, most trusted expert in flooring, and its new vision, to the market. 

The structure and narrative flow of the report needed a rethink to give significant opportunity for new content within the report to be delivered successfully for different audience types. There needed to be a clear focus on the market opportunity and strategy to help Headlam achieve its ambitions, while also demonstrating the significant progress made during the year. 

The report also needed to demonstrate Headlam's commitment to its key stakeholders – particularly its people – as well as the sustainability of the business now and in the future. 

It delivers content for the skim reader and the deep diver, and it is easy to see how Headlam is making progress throughout the year.

After a strong introduction from the Chief Executive, Chris Payne, Headlam articulate their purpose, vision and values, along with their investment case, across an opening spread, to give the reader a real sense of the business and where they are going, before diving into the detail of the report. 

The Strategic Report opens with a detailed discussion of Headlam’s marketplace and the sectors that they identify as areas for future growth. This links to areas of the strategy that exemplify how Headlam is planning to grow in those market sectors. 

The updated business model demonstrates Headlam’s value chain, along with the key stakeholders it creates value for and its key competitive advantages. 

The new strategy is communicated over a few pages; the first sets out the growth strategy with the pillars, key activities and links to risks and KPIs. Icons are used here to show the linkage throughout the report. The following pages set out the progress that Headlam has made during the year in delivering their strategy, along with case studies to demonstrate these actions. 

Stakeholder engagement has featured heavily in the report, with a dedicated section outlining how Headlam has engaged with, and delivered for, their main stakeholder group this year. 

ESG has been a key area of focus for Headlam over the last few years, with the people of Headlam being at the heart of the company. The People section was removed from the sustainability part of the report, and brought forward, featuring earlier to show its significance.

This year has been a change for Headlam in their reporting journey – something we look forward to continuing with them in years to come. They have demonstrated how they are a market-leading business and how they intend to grow in the future.