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In this episode, we share the real story of how a 4-day working week moved from concept to reality across multiple manufacturing sites. You’ll hear how we designed and trialled the shift with people-first thinking, data-driven decisions, and flexibility at the core. We cover everything from early union conversations to contract changes, phased rollouts, and how we managed customer expectations and KPIs.

Learn how we tackled fairness across roles and shifts, made overtime a tool—not a crutch—and what we’d do differently if starting again. If you're serious about sustainable change and curious how a 4-day week can actually work in complex, operational environments—this one's for you.

In this episode, we cover:

• How we designed trials, managed union concerns, and kept flexibility central
• The KPIs that mattered most: productivity, absence, and retention
• Balancing customer cover, Friday escalations, and shift fairness
• Lessons learned, what we’d change, and why it still works

Feel free to share this with the powers that be considering a four-day week.

Please subscribe to the channel for more content! Theo James are a Manufacturing & Engineering Recruiter based in the North East, helping Manufacturing and Engineering firms grow across the UK. Please call us on 0191 5111 298