The talent you appoint shapes the transformation you deliver. At GatenbySanderson, we partner with organisations across the Arts, Culture & Heritage sector to appoint leaders who can balance cultural integrity, community impact, and commercial resilience. From board appointments to executive hires, our specialist practice helps mission‑driven organisations navigate complexity, and thrive.
Our Work Across the Sector in 2025
This year, we’ve supported appointments spanning strategy, governance, and commercial leadership across the full breadth of the sector:
Strategy & Impact
Impactful Board Leadership
Commercial Focus with Cultural Purpose
Our approach: Boutique Focus, National Reach
As sector experts, we’re transparent, plain‑speaking, and fresh in our approach. We understand what exceptional leadership looks like in complex, mission‑led organisations operating at the intersection of communities, place, creativity, and inclusion.
Our Arts, Culture & Heritage practice is intentionally boutique:
-
Focused & Agile: A specialist team led by Rebekah that works on a limited number of assignments at any one time, so every client and every role receives our full attention.
- Scaled by a Market Leader: Backed by the network, data, and reach of a 200‑strong firm.
Our search outcomes:
- 86% of final panel candidates come from targeted search
- 99% first‑time appointment success rate
- +87 Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Our Impact on EDI
Representation across 2025
|
Group
|
All Applicants
|
Preliminary Interview
|
Final Panel
|
Placed
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Women
|
42%
|
63%
|
63%
|
71%
|
|
Global Majority
|
23%
|
19%
|
17%
|
24%
|
|
Disability
|
7%
|
8%
|
5%
|
6%
|
|
LGBT+
|
9%
|
8%
|
9%
|
7%
|
|
Attended State School
|
63%
|
56%
|
59%
|
62%
|
|
1st Gen / Didn’t attend University
|
44%
|
58%
|
58%
|
56%
|
How we use this data: to identify barriers, refine outreach, adjust assessment, and ensure inclusive, equitable processes end‑to‑end.
Conversations that mattered in 2025
- Marcus Davey CBE, Previously CEO, Roundhouse: Leadership that empowers young creatives and communities.
- Dougie Scarfe OBE, CEO, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra: Sustaining excellence and access in regional ecosystems.
- Leadership in Arts, Culture & Heritage: What it means to lead with courage, collaboration, and curiosity.
We were proud to connect with partners including:
What’s Ahead: Navigating 2026
From our work in the market, we see that increasingly, leaders will need to balance cultural mission and commercial opportunity, with greater scrutiny and expectations around demonstrating governance, inclusion, and impact.
Key sector dynamics shaping the landscape:
- Funding Volatility: Rising costs, donor fatigue, and local authority pressures demand diversified revenue and resilient models.
- Governance Under Scrutiny: Ongoing reviews and reforms emphasise independence, transparency, and community voice.
- Equity & Access: Closing gaps in participation by class, ethnicity, and geography is essential to relevance and legitimacy.
- Community Impact: Aligning programme design with wellbeing outcomes and place‑making alongside artistic excellence.
-
Financial Resilience: Blending digital engagement, partnerships, and ancillary income, plus evolving compliance and reporting expectations.
- Environmental Responsibility: Sustainability as a governance imperative influencing funding and audience expectations.
- Heritage & Place: Leveraging heritage for pride, wellbeing, and local regeneration.
- Creative Risk & Freedom: Safeguarding artistic freedom while navigating reputational risk.
- Reporting Standards: Anticipated updates to charity reporting guidance and frameworks heighten the need for confident governance.
With offices in Manchester, Leeds, and London, we’re immersed in regional as well as national challenges, bringing local insight to national strategy.
What This Means for Leadership
At GatenbySanderson, we recognise arts, culture and heritage as central to social value, wellbeing, and community regeneration, not just artistic excellence.
The leaders we help appoint are able to:
- Champion cultural purpose while driving commercial sustainability
- Engage deeply with communities and stakeholders to build trust and relevance
- Navigate governance reform and regulatory change with confidence
- Embed EDI and environmental responsibility into strategy and operations
- Innovate in audience engagement and income generation, blending digital and physical experiences
- Advocate for freedom of expression and creative risk‑taking in a climate of scrutiny
Upcoming in 2026
- AIM Conference (Association of Independent Museums)
- Our Impact & Transformation: Online panel discussion led by our Arts, Culture & Heritage practice
Ready to Build Leadership That Lasts?
If you’re hiring, succession‑planning, or seeking insight on the evolving Arts, Culture & Heritage leadership landscape, we’d love to talk.
Contact: Rebekah-Herz-Bauman@gatenbysanderson.com
Explore current roles: https://www.gatenbysanderson.com/job-search/
Explore current roles: https://www.gatenbysanderson.com/job-search/