Pros
Prior to the recent acquisition I reported directly to the COO (Shaw) who was very "hands off" in his style. I spoke to him a handful or times a year at most. He gave no direction to anyone, set no targets and completed appraisals online to avoid meaningful 1:1 feedback. This was great for stress free working. I wish I'd taken up a new hobby to fill the time. The restaurant was average but had a decent coffee machine installed. Helped keep people awake if you were unfortunate enough to be in the office all day. Wimborne (HQ) itself was very laid back. Office staff trickle in late and leave early. Despite the published policy, bonuses and share options were awarded without reference to individual performance.
Cons
Other than the (absent) COO, the CEO seemed out of touch with the Business Units. Very much stuck with the mentality of a "holding company" which left the BU's with a lot of autonomy with no real attempt was made to drive performance centrally. Lots of meetings with power point slide decks but no significant improvements or restructuring were proposed. Staff seemed weary of continual minor initiatives rolled out from Corporate so paid them lip service. Corporate Exec seemed to aspire to mediocrity. Then they'd fail. The business was plagued with infighting between BU and Corporate (HQ) teams. The COO had surprising little control over Operational strategy or performance which was led by the BU. Consequently, the BU's typically could ignore perceived interference from Corporate HQ, which was probably the right move. The annual budget process was a shambles and the approach was inconsistent between BUs. BU leaders were disinterested in any initiative they didn't directly control. They were overly protective of their existing strategy and missed opportunities to move forward through not sharing data or plans outside of their teams. The stock price flat-lined / declined during much of Lockwood's tenure which is reflective of the lack of drive within his team and the laid-back approach to planning and execution throughout the wider business