About Hoggett Bowers

Feedback on Our Events

Hoggett Bowers regularly hosts breakfast, lunch and dinner events for leaders of organisations, specifically Chair/Non-Executive Directors, Chief Executives, Chief People Officers and  Chief Financial Officers.

Some events are speaker led followed by a Q&A, others are a gathering of a number of peers including some which are sector or function specific to debate a current topic.

We continue to host events online, however, as a result of client feedback, we have resumed our face-to-face events.

Below you can see some of the brilliant feedback we have received from guests who attended recent events. If you are interested in joining one of our future events, please contact events@hoggett-bowers.com.

This was my first HB lunch and it was very useful to attend and hear the viewpoints around the room. Thank you for the kind invite and I look forward to following up NED opportunities in due course with a member of the HB team.

Paul Lewney

It has been enjoyable and fruitful, right size to allow time to connect and discuss properly with the majority of the attendees and outstanding venue!

Aldo Govi

Lovely company and thank you again for the invitation.

Sue Hayes

I always enjoy the opportunity to speak with people from other industries and hear their perspectives in the after lunch discussion. Format works very well from my perspective.

Jon Dye

I felt that Richard gave a really interesting talk. The more I hear talks like this the more I find that differentiating success at senior executives level is not about the big things like developing strategy but the small things, those personal interactions and the “moments that matter” along the journey. It also reinforced that whilst hybrid working has helped us open up roles to a greater talent pool, senior HR leadership is a contact sport which needs leaders to spend time together.

Mike Hay

It was another great evening, from the venue, to the food, the company and the fantastic guest speak Richard, who I could have listened to for hours with his fantastic insight which was shared with great humility.

Ian Diment

A really enjoyable evening, meeting other senior HR leaders with similar challenges and hearing from the inspirational speaker. Thank you for the invitation.

Keri Handford

Very good - and like the addition of Berkeley Partnership - a very impressive bunch of people.

Karen Rooney

As always, it was a good networking opportunity and Richard was a thought provoking speaker.

Brian McLoughlin

I really enjoyed the event - lovely people, nice food, good networking.

Sophie Gelsthorpe

A thought provoking discussion that provided great career insight from Richard and opportunity to think deeply about how that learning might play into my own future career development.

Nick Donovan

Richard Pennycook provided great insight and some thought-provoking but very practical hints and tips. Richard’s comment on being quiet/listening and asking “How can I help this company/organisation to be a great success?” will be one of my guiding principles as I build my non-executive portfolio. There was not enough time for us to unpack Richard’s comment that… companies are well run, government is not well run (but people are very intellectual), and third sector organisations are badly run. Having just been appointed as a Trustee and Chair of the People committee for a large charity it would be good to understand from Richard “how can I help this charity to be a great success?”. With more time, I would have liked to explore Board diversity and how Richard ensures he has diverse boards in terms of gender, ethnicity and diversity of thought. As a senior executive moving to a portfolio career of non-executive directorships, the Hoggett Bowers peer-learning breakfast on becoming a NED is a must. I gained many insights and learned so much about what it takes to add value as a non-exec and how I can help companies to succeed.

Valerie Todd

It was a privilege to hear Richard sharing his FTSE, founder and pro-bono non-executive knowledge and experience first-hand. My key takeaway was Richard’s ‘right to roam’ example and reflecting on how thoughtful NED questioning and active listening beyond the boardroom can be leveraged to raise and address issues, ultimately creating value for the economy, society and the environment.

Garry Dryburgh

I thought it was great - a very practical conversation brought to life with Richards broad experience. I particularly liked his 4 quadrants model which I’ll unashamedly copy.

Ian Radley

I always enjoy the sessions organised by Karen and her team and the one led by Andrea Blanche raised the bar. As a seasoned NED, she had significant experience and insights to share. It was helpfully personal but made cleverly relevant for a diverse group, from different sectors and different stages of their careers.

Carol Richmond, CRO, AJ Gallagher

The recent event was great. The speaker, Andrea, was very approachable, her introduction and answers to questions extremely informative and her views straightforward and honest. A very enjoyable session led by Andrea for new and early stage NED's providing great insight into the role of the NED, potential approach to obtaining that elusive first NED role and, thereafter, constructing a rewarding portfolio of NED roles. The session was extremely informative and has provided me with lots of food for thought for the next stage of my NED search.

Alison Goold

I enjoyed the recent event; thank you. Andrea gave us some useful steers on how to approach the NED field and combine that with our existing Exec Roles. Her style of delivery and level of detail in answering questions were exactly right for the audience. The meeting was, of course, also useful for generally expanding my network.

Justin Young Partner, COO, Knight Frank

I really enjoyed the breakfast and session – thank you so much for inviting me. The insights from Andrea’s discussion on commencing a NED career were practical, tangible but at the same time led to some real a-ha moments for me. She provided a humble and understated view on the factors contributing to her own initial and subsequent successful NED appointments. And she married this with a rich experience of both being candidate and selector for board positions.

Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, CEO, Foresters

Andrea brought to life the realities of a NED role by sharing her experiences and answering several very insightful questions at the breakfast session. A very informative session for attendees considering a portfolio career or acquiring that first NED role whilst still serving as an exec (me!). Andrea’s honest and succinct account was incredibly useful, stimulating my curiosity. I have since adapted my approach to my NED role search – thank you Andrea!

Karen Lewis, Group HR Director, DOHL

This event was excellent, others I have attended in the last 12 months have been virtual. It was great to have the round tables and the interview style. Looking forward to the next event already.

Phil Inskip

Having the opportunity to spend quality time networking and listening to a good speaker is great. The food is always good.

Craig Pocock

Had a great evening, was fantastic networking with other HRD's and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Nick, who I found really inspiring. Many thanks!!!

Russ Simpson

Different, bigger and more people. Nick was tremendous. Great example of authentic and natural leadership. Fab food. And other guests great too.

Simon Copp

Good venue and relaxed setting, interesting and senior attendees for networking and interesting session.

Sam Laurie

I think events that have the right number of people are the best. Too many and it feels over crowded and the Q&A's are more to the point. I think the number of attendees was just right in terms of being able to network and the Q&A session feeling more like a discussion. Also I think a sit down dinner is better than drinks and canapés as it enables you talk to individuals for longer.

Pete Hill

Lovely venue and great surroundings to have this type of session.

Karen Brookes

I appreciated the format of the evening, it was a good balance of informal and informative, sometimes either is lost.

Fiona Claybrook

Very much enjoyed the evening and expanding my network.

David Shakespeare

I enjoyed the dinner and the speaker with the Q&A as well as the networking.

Kate Lyne

Very satisfied and appreciative of the invitation. Thank you!

Diahann Williams