Sabina Strachan is a consultant and trainer with 25 years' experience working in management consulting, research development and heritage management across multiple sectors in culture and the creative industries and in higher education.

Sabina founded how2glu in 2018 (www.how2glu.com) which develops and supports collaboration between individuals and organisations through consulting, training, facilitation, organisational development and bespoke resources. Sabina is skilled at helping people get to the root of issues and working in partnership to find innovative solutions. She uses how2glu tools and step-­by-­step processes developed through design thinking and graphic facilitation to help people navigate complexity.

Recent clients include V&A Dundee, Sheffield Culture Collective, Hartlepool Museum & Art Gallery, The Alasdair Gray Archive, and Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books. Projects include cultural strategies for Glasgow and Sheffield, a design sector strategy for Scotland, a partnership business model review and investment strategy, a coaching programme for Creative Economy post­doctoral fellows, innovation first steps programme for healthcare researchers and clinicians, and business development training for West Yorkshire creatives.

Previously Sabina headed up BOP Consulting’s Scotland office, an international creative economy research and management consultancy. There, her projects included the £13.2 million Glasgow Commonwealth Games Cultural Programme evaluation, Edinburgh’s Festivals 10-­year strategy and Stage 1 business plan for the £68 million Burrell Collection redevelopment. She has also worked as a partnership developer for the University of Glasgow/Glasgow Life and in various heritage management roles at Scottish Canals/British Waterways and Historic Environment Scotland.

Sabina is a trustee of a SWAN Autism (Scotland), trustee/director of Out of the Blue Arts and Education Trust and a researcher development mentor

John Anderson is an experienced and successful senior manager whose strong leadership and management qualities have been acquired working within the public, private and voluntary sectors. During this time, he has gained significant project and general management experience, an ability to lead teams with a varying range of skills and experience, and the commercial acumen and organisational abilities to manage regional charities, public sector departments and major regeneration programmes.
Since becoming a freelance consultant in 2013, John has supported a variety of charitable, private and public sector organisations with business planning, implementing effective governance and team structures and fundraising activities, as well as delivering several individual projects. Some of the projects and initiatives delivered include:

• The coordination and delivery of a major business and enterprise support programme for creative organisations on Merseyside, and worked with a range of arts organisations across the region on neighbourhood regeneration programmes.
• Worked with Daniel Adamson Preservation Society after the charity received a £3.8m Heritage Lottery Fund grant to restore a historic steam ship by implementing their business plan and supporting the organisation to make the transition from a group of enthusiasts to a commercially minded social business.
• Facilitated the merger between the Scarborough Museums Trust Creative Business Centre, Woodend.
• Undertook a short review of the arts centre, the Blackwood Miners Institute and its role in this South Wales town's evening and night-time economy.
• Worked with a variety of arts and heritage organisations through the various Creative United programmes, e.g. Heritage museums, a Children's Entertainer and an Arts Centre in West London.

John was previously the Chair of Northwich Town Centre Heritage Lottery Initiative and a member of the Institute of Economic Development

Jane Rice-Bowen is a Yorkshire based Arts Management Consultant who works across artforms supporting individuals and organisations with visioning, strategic planning, fundraising and good governance.

Jane believes in the transformative power of creativity and has spent her working life creating opportunities for people of all ages to play. She was the Chief Executive of The National Centre for Circus Arts in London for over a decade and the Joint Principal of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama which provided world class vocational training for young actors, dancers, theatre technicians and circus artists.

Jane is a trustee of Eureka! the charity which operates the National Children’s Museum in Halifax and Eureka! Science + Discovery on the Wirral and was the Chair of the Board from 2022 to 2025.

Emma is a business growth coach, working with businesses to help them grow using their current assets, identifying new products and services or identifying funding.

After over 20 years working in the Tourism, Cultural and Heritage industry for SMEs and public sector bodies, Emma set up her own business to provide support and guidance back into the sector she had developed her career through. Her business provides consultation, mentoring and guidance specialising in cultural, heritage and events/festival markets, recently completing a project to create commercial bookable experiences in places of faith across England.

Emma is based in the midlands but travels the length and breadth of the country and has even travelled to the US to support projects.

Over the past 6 years Emma has been part of the business support programme in Staffordshire working on a 1-2-1 basis with around 100 businesses to work with them on marketing, communications, staff development, funding, business planning and vision setting, each business was very different but we spent time together it identify their goals and the path needed to get there. Within this project and with private clients Emma has worked with a number of funding bodies to bid for and successfully receive funding for capital and revenue projects, from rural funding to heritage lottery funding to Arts Council Funding.

Andrew is an experienced leader of organisational change with particular experience of strategy, business development and fundraising across the charity, voluntary and social enterprise sector. As well as skills in coaching, mentoring and business advice he brings huge energy and enthusiasm for building, scaling and growing organisations to enable organisations and individuals to be more resilient and to fulfill their vision.

His key skills and experience include:

• Business Development
• Funding, Finance and Risk
• Governance and Policy
• Digital
• Marketing and Communication
• Experience in dealing with HNWIs and senior people across all sectors in the UK and internationally

Vanessa is a Director of Cultivate, the cultural organisational development agency and a freelance consultant. She was the first General Manager at Perth Theatre and went on to hold senior marketing and audience development and management roles at major UK companies including Traverse Theatre Edinburgh, Birmingham Rep, Nottingham Playhouse and Leicester Haymarket.

She worked with Arts Council England for 13 years specialising in marketing and audience development and business planning for major capital projects. During this period she continued to deliver business and organisational consultancy to an extensive range of cultural and heritage organisations throughout the UK and abroad as well as for Arts Council England and Arts Council Wales.

Vanessa specialises in governance, business planning and implementation, advocacy and developing skills and strategies for marketing, audience development fundraising, philanthropy and income diversification. She has developed a range of toolkits, templates and training workshops on governance, business and strategic planning, marketing and audience development. Her publications include "Subscription What Now" following research in the USA and UK.

She has facilitated and created events and conferences on audience development, capital development and philanthropy and managed a range of training programmes for Cultivate, Arts Council England and Arts Council Wales

She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, was Chair of Origin Dance Company from 2012 to 2017and has served on a range of arts boards including Riverside Studios, Dance 4 ,Audiences UK and the American theatre company, Fusion in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Vanessa recently led the UK partnership with Arts Manager International with Michael K Kaiser on the ACE Building Resilience Fundraising and Diversification of Income programme.