Our Story
S A Partners is a global consulting and training company dedicated to helping people and organisations achieve true Enterprise Excellence. We partner closely with our clients to uncover their unique purpose, support their strategic goals, develop their teams and enhance their processes – creating lasting, positive change.
Our brand promise, Together, the Power to Improve, reflects our commitment to fostering environments where people can thrive and reach their full potential. We’re passionate about making a meaningful impact – not only for our clients and the communities where we work. At S A Partners, we believe in empowering people to succeed together, every step of the way.
Together, the Power to Improve is also about how we approach every program we deliver, collaborating with our clients to enable lasting change.
Company Timeline
The Early Years
Founded as the Supplier Association in South Wales, we stayed aligned to LERC championing the adoption of lean thinking in a wide range of organisations.
Founded as the Supplier Association in South Wales, we stayed aligned to LERC championing the adoption of lean thinking in a wide range of organisations.
1993
Spreading Our Wings
Growing our team and winning the first of five Shingo Publication Awards with the iconic Staying Lean.
Growing our team and winning the first of five Shingo Publication Awards with the iconic Staying Lean.
1998
Going Global
This period saw the expansion of the team to new markets in the USA and Australia where we have developed a great presence.
This period saw the expansion of the team to new markets in the USA and Australia where we have developed a great presence.
2008
Going Virtual
We stayed ahead of the curve with our pivot into virtual training and consulting allowing us to succeed during years when others didn’t. We now embrace hybrid as the way of work.
We stayed ahead of the curve with our pivot into virtual training and consulting allowing us to succeed during years when others didn’t. We now embrace hybrid as the way of work.
2020
Expansion into Europe and Digital
We continue to grow with a dedicated presence in Germany, Switzerland and Austria – the DACH team is formed. We also introduced our new Digital Transformation service to our clients.
We continue to grow with a dedicated presence in Germany, Switzerland and Austria – the DACH team is formed. We also introduced our new Digital Transformation service to our clients.
2022
The Future Looks Bright
We have built a team passionate about helping others improve. We have built our services, combining training and expert consultancy.
We have built a team passionate about helping others improve. We have built our services, combining training and expert consultancy.
2024
Transforming Organisations to Achieve Enterprise Excellence.
Our Heritage
We were founded by Professor Peter Hines and Paul Morris in 1983 as a small break-out company from Cardiff University’s Lean Enterprise Research Centre (LERC). We have grown into a global training and consultancy business with offices in the UK, USA, Ireland, Germany, and Australia. We support world-renowned organisations as well as small to medium sized organisations develop their leadership and continuous improvement capability – enabling them to build their tomorrow whilst managing today more effectively.
Our Vision
Our vision is to create a sustainable business that delivers our stakeholders, social, economic and environmental goals. We are committed to making a positive impact and have developed a number of initiatives to support us on our journey:
Care Programme
We believe in everyone being given the opportunity to become ‘the best version of themselves’. We are committed to cultivating an environment where people are trusted, respected and treated with humility.
We celebrate differences and know that the diversity of our experience, our ideas and our personalities are what make us unique and valuable contributors to the team. We want everyone to feel respected and appreciated for who they are, where they come from and what they have achieved.
The Care Programme
- Provides all employees with time to donate to their chosen charity.
- Support with Mental Health through MIND and our healthcare provision.
- Ensure all our people leaders have the skills and capability to effectively support their teams.
Charity Programme
Each year we donate 2% of profit to charity. This is divided between partners and employees ensuring every person in the company can contribute to a cause that has meaning to them. We also enable our team to donate their time to support charities in person.
Sustainability Programme
We are committed to creating an organisation that has sustainability at the heart of all that we do. We acknowledge the role that we play as individuals and as a company to support each other, our customers and all our stakeholders in making this a reality.
What We Do
- We are and will remain a carbon-neutral organisation.
- We will continue to evaluate our operating practices to ensure we consider our environmental impact. This will include travel, materials, and machinery.
- We actively encourage all employees to take responsibility and ownership for their and their colleagues environmental impact and task individuals to identify ways in which we could improve. This is managed through our performance review process.
- Where feasible, we will recycle equipment and materials that are no longer required for the operation of the business.
- We will source all materials from sustainable resources and recycle them at the end of life.
- We will support our customers’ drive for sustainability by ensuring that it is included within our programme governance.
“The message of the Kaizen Strategy is that not a day should go by without some kind of improvement being made somewhere in the company.”
Masaki Imai
Strategic Partnerships
S A Partners has developed a number of strategic partnerships and affiliations with organisations that enable us to significantly add value for our customers.
