for partners
join us and be part of the change
The programme for partners
What is involved for partners?
Join us and Higher Education, Arts, Cultural,
and Not-for-Profit sector partners in investing in the next generation of board talent by hosting a board apprentice.
Outcomes
“University governance should reflect modern societies with its richness of lived experience and talent in order to deliver missions with conviction and authenticity. More needs to be done to create truly diverse, inclusive and representative HE boards. Who has a seat the table is one part of this, requiring much further work. Perrett Laver’s GAP initiative is therefore timely and welcomed.” - Victoria Holbrook, Assistant Director (Governance), Advance HE
Timeline for Partners
Months 1-2
Client engagement: Perrett Laver engagement with Host Boards, preparing them for the programme.
Months 3-4
Candidate engagement: Perrett Laver builds a network of potential apprentices. Potential apprentices will fill in a standardised application form for upcoming vacancies.
Months 5-6
Shortlisting and interviews: Host Boards will invite applications from our network. Apprentices will apply for roles. The Host Board will invite 2 to 3 Apprentices to interview.
Months 7-8
Apprentices join boards: your apprentice will be provided with a sector guide and you will be asked to assign one of the board members as a mentor to the apprentice. As a Host Board, you will conduct relevant inductions.
Month 9 onwards
Perrett Laver
supports ongoing
development for apprentices
After one year on the Board
Apprenticeships conclude: apprentices recieve a reference from their Host Board to include in their CV and future board applications. Apprentices remain part of the GAP network and alumni.
What makes us different?
Through the work delivered by Perrett Laver's Board Practice, we have been able to make significant change across a number of sectors in terms of board representation and diversity.
We believe that using our platform as an executive search firm, with the resource and capacity we possess, means that we are in a powerful position to drive this initiative. Our knowledge of, and strong relationships across, the Arts, Cultural, Non-profit, and Higher Education sectors will help us in bringing these sectors together and delivering GAP.
visit perrettlaver.comWe have the necessary experience, expertise, networks, and a dedicated team, all of whom are deeply committed to diversity and inclusion. We are expert in identifying and engaging with talented individuals in a multitude of sectors who are interested in joining higher eduaction boards. We will deliver on quality and assess each member of the network using our tried and tested assessment methods.
Perrett Laver further has a great depth of experience in running large-scale programmes focussed on diversity. Whilst the GAP initiative is different given its focus on developing board talent for the future rather than identifying board talent for now, there are many learnings we have developed about running inclusive board campaigns at scale. We denote two examples below.
Case studies
Sport England & UK Sport
Goal
Identify 180 "board ready" candidates from groups underrepresented in governance by 2021.
Results
Over 40 appointments made to sports boards across the sector so far.
In order to address the lack of diversity on sports boards across the UK, Perrett Laver is currently engaged by Sport England and UK Sport in an unprecedented initiative to identify 180 "board ready" diverse candidates by 2021, offering them development and exposure to opportunities, and supporting boards with their recruitment strategies. This has required us to search for high calibre non-executive and executive leaders from underrepresented minorities in every geography, with a range of skillsets, motivations, and previous board experience.
Perrett Laver has been delivering this initiative alongside a consortium of partners, including the Sport and Recreation Alliance, Birkbeck University, Women on Boards, Stonewall, Rimjhim Consulting and Activity Alliance.
The initiative has been a huge success with over 30 appointments made to sports boards across the sector so far (74% female and 61% BAME).
"Sport England’s Board initiative with Perrett Laver is a very timely and effective intervention to address what has been a perennial challenge in terms of attracting new, diverse talent into the sporting sector." - Tim Lawler-CEO, SportsAid
UKRI
Goal
Appoint Council members to all 9 UKRI Research Councils with an emphasis on diversity.
Results
32 appointments made so far.
In 2020, Perrett Laver was engaged to support UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) on a campaign to appoint more than 30 new Council Members across its nine Councils. In addition to senior and strategic leadership experience in a relevant area of research and/or innovation, candidates were expected to demonstrate an understanding of, and commitment to, the mission and priorities of UKRI and the respective Council. The campaign also sought explicitly to support UKRI’s diversity goals, with a clear brief to deliver genuinely diverse candidate fields for each Council, including with respect to gender, ethnicity, sector, career stage and geography.
The first phase of the campaign concluded with 53% of the appointees female and 22% BAME.
Sport England & UK Sport
Goal
Identify 180 "board ready" candidates from groups underrepresented in governance by 2021.
Results
Over 40 appointments made to sports boards across the sector so far.
In order to address the lack of diversity on sports boards across the UK, Perrett Laver is currently engaged by Sport England and UK Sport in an unprecedented initiative to identify 180 "board ready" diverse candidates by 2021, offering them development and exposure to opportunities, and supporting boards with their recruitment strategies. This has required us to search for high calibre non-executive and executive leaders from underrepresented minorities in every geography, with a range of skillsets, motivations, and previous board experience.
Perrett Laver has been delivering this initiative alongside a consortium of partners, including the Sport and Recreation Alliance, Birkbeck University, Women on Boards, Stonewall, Rimjhim Consulting and Activity Alliance.
The initiative has been a huge success with over 30 appointments made to sports boards across the sector so far (74% female and 61% BAME).
"Sport England’s Board initiative with Perrett Laver is a very timely and effective intervention to address what has been a perennial challenge in terms of attracting new, diverse talent into the sporting sector." - Tim Lawler-CEO, SportsAid
UKRI
Goal
Appoint Council members to all 9 UKRI Research Councils with an emphasis on diversity.
Results
32 appointments made so far.
In 2020, Perrett Laver was engaged to support UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) on a campaign to appoint more than 30 new Council Members across its nine Councils. In addition to senior and strategic leadership experience in a relevant area of research and/or innovation, candidates were expected to demonstrate an understanding of, and commitment to, the mission and priorities of UKRI and the respective Council. The campaign also sought explicitly to support UKRI’s diversity goals, with a clear brief to deliver genuinely diverse candidate fields for each Council, including with respect to gender, ethnicity, sector, career stage and geography.
The first phase of the campaign concluded with 53% of the appointees female and 22% BAME.
Sign up as a Partner
The investment from Partners at this point is simple and straightforward. We request an upfront fee of £4,000 per apprentice. This fee is a commitment to take on one apprentice for one calendar year, with access to our network of candidates.
Some Partners may choose to take on multiple apprentices to join their board/committees. If this is the desired approach, we weigh the pricing as follows:
- £4,000 for one Apprentice
- £7,000 for two Apprentices
- £9,000 for three Apprentices
There are no additional costs involved unless you chose to permanently appoint your Apprentice at the end of the year. In which case we request an additional £4,000 introduction fee.
Already a Partner? How to post an opportunity
In order to post an apprenticeship opportunity with our network please get in touch with Anna Sloan (she/her) at Perrett Laver.
