Glen Dimplex: Leading four heritage brands through change

The situation

Glen Dimplex Consumer Appliances (GDCA) owns some of the UK’s best-known heritage consumer brands, including Morphy Richards, Roberts Radio, Stoves and Belling.

During a significant restructure across the parent business, a new global, consumer-facing marketing organisation was being created. With the organisational design changing, there was a period of uncertainty around people, agencies, activity and day-to-day marketing leadership.

GDCA needed to maintain momentum across four established brands while the new structure was put in place.

Bridging the Gaps

As vacancies existed in the restructure, agencies, activities and general support for the brands were in short supply. We shored up the teams, taking ownership for the Marketing Communications teams across all 4 brands, as well as taking ownership of ongoing agency relationships and stakeholders.

From launching planned campaigns for the brands, to setting up performance reporting, news ways of working and managing the teams on a daily basis, we stepped in as a fractional CMO to support the brands.

Campaigns we led, from media planning to execution and performance reporting included Morphy Richards Turbosteam iron, Roberts Radio Beacon activity and celebrating the 100th birthday of Belling.

Keeping the brands moving

Despite the organisational change, consumers still needed to see the brands, products still needed to launch, and commercial objectives still needed to be delivered.

We led campaigns from media planning through to execution and performance reporting, ensuring activity was strategically planned, creatively executed and measured against clear objectives.

Campaigns included:

Morphy Richards Turbosteam – supporting the launch and marketing activity around the iron.
Roberts Radio Beacon – leading brand activity to support the product and proposition.
Belling’s 100th birthday – developing activity around this significant brand milestone and using its heritage as a platform for consumer engagement.

The work demonstrated the value of maintaining strategic and creative momentum even when the wider organisation is in transition.

Building the capability for the future

Alongside managing the existing teams, we helped GDCA build the permanent marketing organisation it needed for the future.

We were heavily involved in recruiting across a range of specialist roles, including Trade Marketing Managers, Amazon and Affiliate Managers and other marketing positions.

Our approach combined technical marketing expertise with rigorous assessment against the requirements of each role. We helped define what good looked like, assessed candidates against both technical and behavioural criteria, and supported successful hires through onboarding and into the new ways of working.

This meant the business wasn’t simply filling vacancies; it was using the restructure as an opportunity to raise the capability of the marketing function.

Bringing stakeholders with us

Organisational change can create uncertainty well beyond the marketing team, so stakeholder engagement was a critical part of the role.

We worked closely with the Commercial Directors of each brand to maintain alignment, share knowledge and ensure marketing activity remained connected to commercial objectives.

We also supported senior leadership directly, including presenting at a leadership event and working with the CEO on strategic modelling.

To build capability beyond the immediate marketing function, we also created a senior manager-level training programme focused on brand and marketing, helping leaders develop a stronger shared understanding of how the brands could be managed and grown.

Creating better ways of working

A key part of our role was establishing the structure and discipline needed to support the new organisation.

We introduced performance reporting and clearer processes around planning, delivery and measurement, while managing relationships with external agencies and internal stakeholders.

This created greater visibility of marketing performance and clearer accountability across the teams, helping the business move from a reactive approach during the restructure towards a more consistent and commercially focused way of working.

The impact

We helped GDCA navigate a complex period of organisational change without losing momentum across four significant consumer brands.

By combining fractional CMO leadership, hands-on campaign delivery, team development, recruitment and stakeholder management, we provided both the immediate support the business needed and the foundations for its new marketing organisation.

Rather than simply filling a temporary gap, we used the transition as an opportunity to bring greater clarity, capability and structure to the marketing function.

The result was a smoother transition between organisational designs, continued delivery across the brand portfolio and a stronger team ready to take the business forward.

The work at a glance

Fractional marketing director leadership across four UK heritage consumer brands.
Day-to-day ownership of Marketing Communications teams across Morphy Richards, Roberts Radio, Stoves and Belling.
Management of ongoing agency relationships and senior stakeholders.
Campaign leadership from media planning through to execution and performance reporting.
Campaigns delivered for Morphy Richards Turbosteam, Roberts Radio Beacon and Belling’s 100th birthday.
Introduction of new performance reporting and ways of working.
Recruitment support across specialist marketing roles including trade marketing, Amazon and affiliate.
Technical and behavioural assessment of candidates, followed by onboarding into the new organisation.
Strategic support for Commercial Directors and the CEO.
Presentation and strategic modelling for senior leadership.

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