CEO Club

For larger businesses, leaders meet to cocreate solutions and access expert input from Brookes.

What is the CEO Club?

CEO Club is a peer to peer online action learning group for Chief Executives (or equivalent) of larger Oxfordshire organisations with a limited group size of 6 members per group.

The Club aims to act like a “high performing non-exec board giving support and challenge”, that will support all members equally and confidentially.

A pilot group helped design and trial the programme in the Autumn of 2020, with the first full cohort run in 2021, and with multiple cohorts running from early 2022 onwards. The feedback on the operation and impact of the Club has been excellent, demonstrating real influence over organisational leadership issues and decision-making.

Next CEO Club: TBC. Apply now to join waitlist

Further information

How it works

Each Club has 6 business leaders who meet 6 times over the course of half a year.

A strong foundation session sets the tone for the Club, builds trust and helps participants get to know each other.

Each session has two distinct elements. The first is where members co-develop solutions to common leadership and growth issues. You get the opportunity to bring a live issue for you to a session and harness the thinking and insight of your peers.

To instill high-level analysis and thinking and to introduce members to new business insights, we invite an expert academic in Brookes to have a discussion with you around their area(s) of expertise. Previous topics have included: Business Model Innovation for Resilience and Growth; Gender and Diversity in Organisations; Competitive Success in a Disruptive Environment; Developing a coaching culture.

Sessions are typically 2 hours long and in the morning.

Who’s invited?

CEO Club Members tend to come from organisations that employ 30 people or more. The Club is aimed primarily at Oxfordshire based organisations.

Costs

£650 for basic membership
£850 for ‘scale up supporter’ membership: basic membership plus sponsorship of our Scale Up Network, enabling us to provide subsidised places to small growing business based in Oxfordshire. Your company will be acknowledged as a supporter and logo displayed on relevant pages.

Feedback from previous cohorts

“The CEO club creates a trusted environment supported by individuals of high integrity, business acumen and analytical minds. Trust being in the centre of the values that the group uses to be able to discuss real business and operational challenges in an open forum without judgment or assumption. Because of these factors, each participant gains the maximum return which encourages the afore mentioned and the 'beneficial wheel' just keeps turning. It’s a pleasure and a gift to be part of the group”

Paul Ballinger, Managing Director, STL Communications

“The CEO group has been absolutely brilliant. The action learning setup means you get as much from thinking about other people's problems as you do from putting your own problems out there and inviting feedback. You sit there and you say, in a month of Sundays, I would never have thought to ask that question or to approach it that way. It is nonstop stimulation and Oxford Brookes bring in their own experts to give us really good stimulus material. It's been invaluable, and I want to keep going.”

Dominic Hare, Chief Executive Officer, Blenheim Palace

FAQs

If I can’t make a session, can someone else senior in my organisation substitute for me?

The trust that builds within the group is an important part of its success. For that reason we don’t allow substitutions.

What if one of my competitors is in the same Club?

We run an application process for the Club to ensure that this won’t happen. Each Club is designed to ensure diversity with no two organisations working in the same sector as competitors being in the same club.

What other support is available to me?

You may also be interested in the Help to Grow: Management programme.

CEO Club

What is the CEO Club?

Further information

How it works

Who’s invited?

Costs

Feedback from previous cohorts

FAQs

If I can’t make a session, can someone else senior in my organisation substitute for me?

What if one of my competitors is in the same Club?

What other support is available to me?

You may also be interested in

Help to Grow

Scale Up Network

About us

Contact us

OBBS Business & External Engagement