Steve Phillips on building Zappi
By Duncan CheatleOur members featured in
Who is actually in the room
The people you would be sitting with
400+ founders and CEOs, averaging £21m turnover. Curated by design, so the advice around the table comes from people who have already done it.
Adam Blomerley
Quick Release
Founder and CEO of the product-data consultancy employing 350+ experts across seven countries. Integrated into ALTEN Group.
Global merger
Stuart Miles
Pocket-lint
Founded Pocket-lint in 2003 and grew it to roughly 1.6 million monthly visits before selling to Valnet in July 2022.
Acquired in 2022
Clare Harris
Talking Tables
Co-founder of the B Corp certified party-ware brand turning over £25m, and a 2023 King's Award winner for international trade.
King's Award winner
Dominic Joseph
Captify
Co-founded the search intelligence platform analysing 40bn+ search events a month, then sold a majority stake to private equity (SFW Capital Partners) in 2021.
PE exit, 2021I can very quickly and very easily have a conversation that adds value.
Side by side
Business Leader and Helm, compared line by line
Business Leader pairs a peer forum with one-to-one CEO coaching and its 9 Steps framework. Helm is built around a smaller Forum and the dinners, socials and summits that sit around it: 180+ events a year on top of Forum. Every line below is taken from each organisation's own published information.
| Feature | Business Leader | Helm |
|---|---|---|
| The peer group | ||
| Who it is for | Founders and CEOs of UK-registered companies with £3m+ turnover and 15+ employees | Founders and CEOs of businesses with £3m+ revenue |
| Group size | You plus nine other CEOs | Six to eight per Forum |
| Sessions a year | Eight forums a year, three hours each | Ten meetings a year, same room |
| Who runs the room | A Business Leader coach and forum facilitator | Always an exited founder |
| Coaching and mentoring | Included. Four personal coaching sessions and a CliftonStrengths profile | Neither coaching nor formal mentoring. Helm is peer-led by design |
| The programme around it | ||
| Masterclasses and workshops | Monthly, in person and virtual, built around the 9 Steps growth framework | Yes, led by operators who have done it |
| Company visits | Curated visits inside high-performing companies | Not part of the Helm programme |
| Summits | Annual summits | Yes, part of the national programme |
| Roundtable dinners | Not part of the published programme | Yes, curated in London |
| Special guest dinners | Not part of the published programme | Yes |
| Socials | Not part of the published programme | Yes, every quarter |
| Events a year | Not published as a number | 180+ events a year on top of Forum, one national programme |
| The room itself | ||
| Between meetings | An exclusive digital platform for members | Private member community |
| Introductions | Not a published feature of the programme | Help finding the right member |
| Selling to members | No published excluded categories | Curated so nobody is sold to |
| What it costs | ||
| To join | £495 deposit, then £8,000 before your first forum | Discussed on a call |
| Ongoing | £8,495 + VAT a year, billed annually | Discussed on a call |
| Year one | £8,495 + VAT | Discussed on a call |
Sourced from Business Leader's published Growth Programme and membership FAQ pages, businessleader.co.uk. Correct at time of writing, last reviewed 9 August 2026. "Not part of the published programme" means the format does not appear in Business Leader's own published description of what membership includes.
If you want structured one-to-one coaching and a framework to work through, Business Leader do that well and Helm does not offer it. If what you actually need is a smaller room of founders who know your business properly, and a calendar full of reasons to keep seeing them, that is what Helm is built for.
The bit most comparisons miss
The Forum is ten days a year. This is the other 355.
Most peer networks are a forum with a mailing list attached. The reason members stay at Helm is what sits around the Forum, and all of it is included in the membership.
Ten times a year
Your Forum
Six to eight founders at a similar stage, in the same room, chaired by someone who has already exited. The core of the membership.
Regularly, in London
Roundtable dinners
Eight to twelve founders in a private dining room, drawn from across Forums. One anchoring question, then three hours of the real conversation.
Through the year
Special guest dinners
A founder or operator worth hearing from, over dinner rather than from a stage. Small enough that you actually get to ask your question.
Every quarter
Socials
The wider club, off-agenda. No panel, no pitch, no name badges. This is where most of the cross-Forum relationships start.
Through the year
Summits, masterclasses and workshops
Practical working sessions led by operators who have done the specific thing you are about to do, plus the flagship summits.
Weekly
Curated introductions
Not a directory. A person who knows the room deciding which two members should meet, and making the introduction.
Built for the founder's journey
Scaling a business is lonely. It doesn't have to be.
Everything in one membership, with nothing else to buy once you are in.
Forum Groups
Chaired peer groups of six to eight founders. Ten meetings a year. Confidential, practical, direct.
Dinners, socials and summits
180+ events a year on top of Forum in London. Roundtable dinners, guest dinners, quarterly socials, founder-only sessions.
Network
400+ founders and CEOs, curated by design. Weekly introductions to the people you actually need.
No Sales Ethos
No pitching. No deal-flipping. No hidden agendas. Enforced to protect the trust in the room.
Direct Expertise
Quick input from members who have hired exec teams, expanded internationally, raised capital or exited.
Real-time Support
Ask the room and get responses fast, through member messaging and curated introductions.
Curated by design
Be honest about the fit
Helm is curated to protect the quality of the room. We turn people down, and we would rather do it now than after you have paid.
Helm works if you are
- A founder or CEO of a scale-up, not a functional director
- Running a business with £3m+ revenue
- Willing to say the real numbers out loud to seven other founders
- Someone who values confidentiality and a high-trust room
- Able to protect ten Forum dates a year
Helm is wrong if you want
- Leads. Members do not sell to each other here
- One-to-one executive coaching or mentoring as the main event
- A large conference circuit to move through quickly
- An early-stage startup or investor network
- To dip in and out when the diary allows
One membership. No tiers, no upsell.
Membership is a small monthly business cost that should pay back many times over. Helm talks you through the options on a short call. It covers your Forum, every event in the calendar, the dinners, the socials and the introductions. No premium tier, no sponsor selling to you, nothing else to buy once you are in.
What happens next
Joining Helm
Simple, fast, and designed to value your time.
Apply now
5 minutes
Submit your basic business details and current scaling challenges.
Selection call
30 minutes
A short conversation to make sure you are a fit for the peer room.
Membership approval
48 hours
Our membership committee reviews and approves you for peer matching.
Onboarding call
45 minutes
Finalise your profile, book your first events, confirm your Forum start date.
Questions founders actually ask
Business Leader or Helm?
How is Helm different from Business Leader?
Business Leader is built around a coaching programme: one-to-one CEO coaching, a growth framework and a forum of ten that meets eight times a year. Helm is built around a smaller Forum of six to eight founders meeting ten times a year, chaired by a founder who has already exited, and the community around it: roundtable dinners, guest dinners and quarterly socials, among 180+ events a year. If you want a structured coaching programme, theirs is a good one. If you want a room of founders you will still be speaking to in five years, that is what Helm is for.
What does Helm cost compared to Business Leader?
Membership is a small monthly business cost that should pay back many times over. Helm talks you through the options on a short call. Business Leader publish £8,495 plus VAT a year, billed annually, with a £495 deposit on joining and the £8,000 balance due before your first forum. Helm has no annual lump sum and no tiers.
Does Business Leader offer mentoring, and does Helm?
Business Leader's published programme includes one-to-one coaching rather than mentoring as such: four personal coaching sessions and a CliftonStrengths profile, alongside their 9 Steps framework. Helm offers neither one-to-one coaching nor formal mentoring, and that is deliberate. The support comes from six to eight founders who know your business and have usually already solved the thing you are facing, plus a chair who has exited a company himself. If having one named person mentoring you is the main thing you want, Business Leader's programme is the closer fit.
What is the Business Leader summit, and does Helm run one?
Business Leader publish annual summits as part of their membership. Helm runs summits too, but they sit inside a calendar of 180+ events a year that also includes roundtable dinners, special guest dinners and quarterly socials, all covered by the same membership. The real difference is not the summit itself, it is how often the room gets back together in between.
Does Business Leader run growth workshops, and what does Helm do instead?
Business Leader's published programme includes monthly masterclasses, in person and virtual, curated company visits, and their 9 Steps growth framework to work through. Helm runs masterclasses and working sessions led by operators who have done the specific thing you are about to do, rather than a set curriculum. If working through a structured growth framework is what you are after, theirs is built for exactly that and Helm is not.
Can I try it before committing?
Yes. You can attend a Forum or a dinner as a guest before you join. Apply and say you would like to sit in first, and we will place you in a session that matches your stage.
Will members at a similar stage to me be in the room?
Yes, and it is the thing we work hardest at. Members average £21m turnover, and Forums are matched on stage, sector adjacency and the kind of decisions you are facing, so the advice around the table comes from people who have recently been where you are.
What is the time commitment?
Ten Forum meetings a year, plus whatever you choose from Helm's 180+ events a year. Members who get the most from Helm protect the Forum dates and treat the rest as optional.
Is anyone going to sell to me?
No. Membership is curated to exclude categories that would use the club as a pipeline, and the rule is enforced. It is the single most common reason founders move to Helm from other networks.
What if it turns out not to be right?
Tell us and we will end it. We would rather lose a member than have someone in a Forum who does not want to be there, because it costs the other seven people their session.
Business Leader vs Helm, in short
- Both are for founders and CEOs of established UK businesses. Business Leader require £3m+ turnover and 15+ employees; Helm is for businesses with £3m+ revenue, and members average £21m turnover.
- Business Leader is a coaching programme with a forum attached: four one-to-one coaching sessions, a growth framework, and a forum of ten meeting eight times a year.
- Helm is a club with a Forum at its core: six to eight founders meeting ten times a year, always chaired by a founder who has already exited.
- The bigger difference is what surrounds the Forum. Helm runs 180+ events a year on top of Forum, including roundtable dinners, special guest dinners and quarterly socials.
- Helm curates membership so that nobody in the room is selling to you, and enforces it. Business Leader publish no excluded categories.
- Membership is a small monthly business cost that should pay back many times over. Helm talks you through the options on a short call. Business Leader publish £8,495 plus VAT a year, billed annually and payable before your first forum.
- Helm does not offer one-to-one coaching, mentoring or company visits. If those are your priority, Business Leader's programme is the better fit.
- You can sit in on a Helm Forum or dinner as a guest before joining, and a decision on your application comes within 48 hours.
