Peer to Peer Action Group Events

Who Cares….
…..about the planet and the people on it?

Everyone in agencies needs to care. Not only for the planet but Sustainability is firmly recognised as a business imperative given the rapid regulatory demands. It’s ‘Sink or Swim’ time for agencies.

Our member leads Katy Barney (ESG Lead) & Elli Robinson (PR Executive: Sustainability & Communications) from Alliance member agency AMBITIOUS will be joined by:

Fiona Gaiger of FJG Consulting will give us a taste of the work she is doing to enhance sustainability literacy in agencies to enable client conversations, business development, and better creative solutions.

About our speaker: Fiona is a seasoned comms professional, having worked with some of the biggest and the smallest brands in the world and believes all brands can and should play their part in creating the change required to protect our planet and society.
Fiona has 30 years in marketing – agency, client and independent consultancy including 3 Board level positions. A sound strategist, pitch winner and business developer, including 15 years’ sustainability strategy and communications experience – working with Corporate Comms, Brand and Technical Teams

New Business is vital for every successful and thriving agency and the people who take responsibility for generating opportunities for growth need to be constantly on top of their game. The Alliance New Business group meet every quarter to network and learn from experts and each other. Challenging existing processes and picking up knowledge, insights, and ideas to become even more effective in winning new business and growing existing clients. This group also benefits from the expert guidance from the team at jfdi.

The topic for this session will be released closer to the time, meanwhile please save the date & sign up below.

In October we held a CEO Summit where we were joined by agencies from South Africa & Australia.

It started the conversation about expanding UK agencies into new overseas markets as each business looks to grow. This desire to go international recognises that for a range of reasons (incl: slow down in economy, over supply of agencies etc) whilst it is evident that our world class skills are exportable.

We would like to invite you to the next CEO Summit on 17th April at 9.30am to explore with your peers how UK agencies are succeeding in new markets and even share where the reality has not met the ambition.

So if you are are CEO within an Alliance member agency & working in other territories or have ambitions to do so please register below.

The Wellbeing Action Group is hosted by our Member Lead, Isabel Odlin (Chief People Person at Hub), and we’re excited to share that in our next session we will be joined by Chris Marshall, behavioural scientist, applied psychologist, author, and founder of The Playfulness Institute, a not-for-profit dedicated to unlocking the power of playfulness to inspire human flourishing.

In this session, Chris will explore how playfulness serves as humanity’s most sophisticated adaptability mechanism and a key driver for organisational success. Far from being childish or frivolous, Chris shows that playfulness is our natural state of optimal functioning – one that fosters innovation, accelerates learning, reduces stress, and strengthens collaboration.

Drawing on cutting-edge research in neuroscience, psychology, and organisational behaviour, Chris will look at:

• Why traditional management approaches often suppress our natural capacity for playful engagement
• How playfulness creates psychological safety and fosters genuine innovation
• The remarkable benefits of playful workplaces, from enhanced resilience to improved problem-solving
• Practical strategies for cultivating playfulness in yourself and your organisation
• The architecture of play: building environments where playfulness naturally emerges

In a world of increasing complexity and rapid change, organisations that nurture playfulness don’t just perform better – they create spaces where people genuinely thrive. Join us to discover how embracing playfulness can transform your team’s capabilities while making the journey more meaningful and enjoyable.
This isn’t about adding games or forcing fun – it’s about removing barriers to our natural state of joyful, creative engagement with challenges. Learn how to build a workplace that doesn’t just drive results but enriches lives.

About Chris….
Chris’ research reveals playfulness as our most sophisticated adaptability mechanism, challenging the artificial divide between ‘serious work’ and ‘play’.

Through his experience in investment markets, competitive sport and working with teams and individuals, Chris demonstrates that playfulness is far more than an enjoyable pastime—it’s humanity’s evolutionary superpower for navigating complexity and change. His work shows how teams that maintain playfulness during disruption consistently outperform those who become rigid when facing uncertainty.

Chris is the author of “Decoding Change” (2022), which explores how our world is changing and why we’re entering a period of radical social transformation. His upcoming book “The Playful Advantage” takes the next step, revealing how we can build teams and organisations that thrive in a highly disruptive world by fostering environments where playfulness naturally emerges.

We prefer to call this group the Diversity & Inclusion Action Group because they are committed to taking actions that make a difference. They meet regularly to help us fulfil the vision that our Member Agencies have workforces that are truly representative of all sections of society and each employee feels respected and able to give their best. Previous sessions have covered neurodiversity, how classism impacts our workplaces, inclusion of deaf & hard of hearing talent & so on.

The Alliance is committed to optimising diversity and inclusion in our Member Agencies. We expect all member agencies to be fully committed to the D&I journey because we know it makes great business sense too. The exact topic for this session will be released closer to the time, meanwhile please save the date & register below.

A chance for anybody in membership with a role in strategy and planning to form a community. If you’re a planner, strategy director or similar and could benefit from peer to peer interaction within your speciality then please come along.

Previous sessions have included: a Strategy Bootcamp, WTF is Strategy? – A guide for your agency colleagues, a 2024 Trends session & more.

The topic for this session will be released closer to the time, meanwhile please save the date & sign up below.

We have created a programme for Commercial Directors to meet, learn, share, and debate important issues in the world of agency management. They get together, often with expert input, to cover critical topics like benchmarking trends in profitability, property strategies, remuneration models, negotiation, and budgeting. They are keenly aware of the key performance indicators in independent agencies and share thought leadership in successful approaches to problem solving. The topic for this session will be released closer to the time, however if you’re in a senior Commercial role within a member agency please save the date & register below.

Independent agencies are proud of the output from their creative teams and understand their unique ability to solve client problems in innovative and effective ways and with an agility that sets them aside. Our Creative Group meets to ensure they remain at the cutting edge of the communications process and cover topics as diverse as idea generation, AI uses, award-winning campaigns & more. The topic for this session will be released closer to the time, however if you’re within a Creative role in a member agency please save the date & register below.

New Business is vital for every successful and thriving agency and the people who take responsibility for generating opportunities for growth need to be constantly on top of their game. The Alliance New Business group meet every quarter to network and learn from experts and each other. Challenging existing processes and picking up knowledge, insights, and ideas to become even more effective in winning new business and growing existing clients. This group also benefits from the expert guidance from the team at jfdi.

The topic for this session will be released closer to the time, meanwhile please save the date & sign up below.

The CEO Summits are one of the key events in the calendar for the Alliance that are both targeted at agency CEOs and are by invitation only.

The CEO Summits, that take place every quarter, are restricted to 20 invited guests for each event, who get together along with an invited expert in their topic, sit around one table and hold a single conversation/discussion for 60 minutes.

Previous topics have included Scaling Your Business at Speed, an International Special, Is the Current Agency Model Fit for Purpose, amongst many others that are relevant to that specific moment in time.

It is an open conversation, under Chatham House rules, and provides the opportunity for CEOs to discuss openly with their peers the big issues not only across the industry for independent agencies but also for those matters that are significant in the CEOs own agency. We look forward to inviting you to our next CEO Summits. Closer to the time we will update you on the specific topic for this session.

Hosted by our Member Lead, Isabel Odlin (Chief People Person at Hub), the Wellbeing group meet quarterly to remain constantly informed of the latest tools and resources to assist them in their vital work of maintaining the wellbeing of their agency people. They share, discreetly, the issues they face and mentor each other in best practice. They provide vital input our the Alliance programme of support which includes the annual Festival of Happiness.

The exact topic for this session will be released closer to the time, meanwhile please secure the date & sign up below.