Sometimes it's gone really well and sometimes you've felt they didn't quite deliver what you needed - that might be because the work started from a template, or from what worked somewhere else rather than what might work for you, now. We don't arrive with a model and try to make you fit it. The first conversation is always about what's actually happening - not what your strategy document says is happening, and sometimes what we already do will be exactly right, sometimes we'll tweak and adapt it, and sometimes we'll build something just for you. We'll tell you which, early.

Probably because it was designed to satisfy a requirement rather than change anything. Sharon's work starts with what's getting in the way - not what you want to achieve. That's a different question, and it leads to different outcomes. Compliance work that actually works is rare. That's the gap we're in.

Sharon and Matt have spent a combined 25+ years working inside the institutions you work in. Matt spent eight years as a Researcher Developer at Cambridge - formally recognised for his contribution to early career researcher development - before spending years delivering the sessions you're now trying to commission. Sharon has been in the room when gender equity strategies succeed and when they quietly died. You won't be explaining the basics.

We both understand institutional politics well enough to know that the person commissioning the work is rarely the person signing it off. If you need supporting evidence, a business case framing, or just someone to think it through with before you go upstairs - that's part of the conversation. We're not going to hand you a proposal and leave you to fight for it alone.

That depends entirely on what you need. A standalone workshop. A multi-year programme. A GEP that meets Horizon Europe requirements and actually does what it promises. A writing retreat researchers talk about months later. We start with what would genuinely be useful - not what fits neatly into a catalogue. We'll also tell you if what you're asking for isn't quite the right thing.

We've been working with some of the same institutions since 2017. That's not an accident. We work with you to make sure the work is responsive to your need, and we help you set up the evaluation tools to measure the change and see the difference. We can be there not only from start to finish but beyond - where together we can reflect, review, adapt and progress.

We've worked with institutions across more than 50 countries - research-intensive universities, post-92s, teaching-focused institutions navigating new research ambitions, European networks, international programmes. Matt has worked with everything from elite doctoral schools to institutions where the PhD programme is two years old. Context isn't the obstacle. It's the point.

We started working together in 2017 because we kept solving different parts of the same problem for the same kinds of institutions. We still find it genuinely interesting. We still disagree about things - which keeps both of us honest. We've been told we're warm, occasionally funny, and very good at reading a room. The institutions we work with longest feel less like clients and more like collaborators. That's the kind of relationship we're looking for.

Sharon chose this work because she believes research cultures can be more just, more human, and better for everyone in them. Matt chose it because he's seen what happens to researchers when the support isn't there - and what's possible when it is. Neither of us is doing this for lack of other options. We chose it in 2017. We'd choose it again.