№ 01The Partners
Sponsors and partners.
Sponsors support the programme on terms that suit our chairs and not the other way round. We do not sell speaking slots, we do not host sponsor pitches from the floor, and we do not put product logos on session backdrops.
Patrons
Hawksmoor Press
An independent London publishing house specialising in serious non-fiction for working professionals. Publishes the Hawksmoor Quarterly, a long-form review read by senior practitioners. Patron of the 2026 programme since the practice’s first year, and the press behind the printed reader we send out two weeks before every event.
Northbank Strategy
A boutique London strategy consultancy advising boards of mid-cap private and listed companies. Founded in 2009, partner-owned, deliberately small at fewer than forty practitioners. Northbank’s senior partners have chaired two of our workshops in previous years, and the firm sponsors the patron dinner before The Strategic Pause.
Partners
The Caledonian Institute of Leadership
An Edinburgh-based leadership institute running residential programmes for senior public-sector and third-sector leaders. Founded in 1986, independent of any single university, charitable status. The Institute hosts the closing alumni breakfast for the Slow Retreat each September, in a small room overlooking the Botanic Garden.
The Aldwych Foundation
A research foundation funding independent work on attention, deliberation, and the quality of public conversation. Endowed in 1998 by a private family trust, grants made annually. The Foundation funds our bursary seats for younger practitioners and the printed readers that go to every attendee.
Supporters
The Marylebone Writing School
A small writing school in central London running short courses in business prose, speechwriting, and editing. Founded by working journalists in 2011, alumni-supported. Several of the tutors at the Writing School have taught for us at Boardroom Letters and Speak Plainly over the years.
The London Review of Working Life
A monthly review of business writing, public administration, and the professions, founded in 2015. Independent, subscription-funded, print and digital. Our quality-press media partner. The Review carries an occasional notice for our open events, and we publish two pieces a year in their pages on the practice of senior writing.
How sponsorship works.
Sponsors are introduced quietly in the printed reader and on the day’s name badges, and they have a small stand at the drinks reception when the format calls for one. They do not select speakers, they do not approve briefs, and they do not address the room from a stage. If that sounds like the right way for your practice to support a programme like ours, write to the chairs.