Invitation-only community · Entrepreneur networks · CEO groups
Helm
Founders and CEOs of UK scale-up businesses past about £3 million in revenue
A profile page holds what the organization publishes and what named sources report: who it admits, what it costs, how it is structured, where it operates, and how it has changed. Every figure carries the date it was checked. A dash means the organization does not publish that fact.
Founding — Founded as The Supper Club in 2003 by Duncan Cheatle; rebranded to Helm. Helm's own site states the 2003 founding on every page footer line and in its FAQ.
Helm is a private UK membership club for founders and chief executives of scale-up businesses. It was founded in 2003 as The Supper Club, a dinner-based network for founders, and rebranded to Helm to reflect a hybrid model combining in-person meetings with a digital platform. The core product is Forum: a chaired peer group of six to eight founders that meets ten times a year plus a retreat and functions as a second, informal non-executive board. Forum Chairs are experienced or exited founders drawn from the membership. Around the Forum sit roughly 160 events a year across London and regional UK hubs - dinners, roundtables and founder-only sessions - a digital community for crowdsourced advice, and a membership team that makes introductions. Published eligibility is a founder or CEO title, about £3 million in revenue (or more than £3 million raised) and a team of roughly 20 full-time staff. Admission runs through a short application, a 30-minute call and committee approval. Helm is a certified B Corporation and operates a no-selling "give and get" ethos.
How it works
An applicant fills in a short form and takes a 30-minute call with the membership team to test fit. Once approved, they can book events and join the digital community immediately, and are placed into a Forum group within one to three months after an introductory conversation with the prospective Forum Chair. Forum groups are constructed for peer-sized businesses, comparable experience level, personality mix and relevant Chair expertise, and meet monthly for about three hours.
Typical member
Members are founders and CEOs of UK scale-ups, with average member turnover of about £21 million according to Helm's own comparison page. Businesses span SaaS, deep tech, biotech, property, manufacturing and retail. Non-founder executives, advisers and service providers are explicitly not admitted.
Membership requirements
Requirements in detail, with history →Requirements are the tests the organization itself publishes — an age ceiling, a company-revenue floor, a net-worth minimum, a role. Where a figure straddles a range, the organization's own assessment decides. Local chapters can apply stricter tests than the published standard.
| Criterion | Published requirement | Provenance |
|---|---|---|
| Role or title | Founder or CEO of the business | Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗ |
| Minimum company revenue | £3m+ revenue, or more than £3m raised | Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗ |
| Minimum employees | Team size around 20 full-time equivalents | Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗ |
| Geographic restriction | United Kingdom scale-up businesses | Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗ |
| Other criterion | Every application is reviewed for fit; members must accept the confidentiality and no-selling ethos | Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗ |
Published criteria as verified on the dates shown. Final eligibility and admission decisions belong entirely to Helm. See how you compare against these criteria →
Initiation fees are paid once on joining; dues recur. Chapter dues, retreats, travel and events are usually additional and are listed separately when the organization discloses them. Figures are as published or reported on the date shown — not quotations.
| Cost | First year | Three years | Provenance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual duesa year | £1,450 | £4,350 | Verified September 2026Medium confidenceSource ↗ | |
| Annual duesa year | £4,250 | alternative tier, not added | Verified September 2026Medium confidenceSource ↗ | |
| Monthly duesa month, counted ×12 | £5,940 | £17,820 | Verified September 2026Low confidenceSource ↗ | |
| Initiation feeonce | £495 | £495 | Verified September 2026Low confidenceSource ↗ | |
| Estimated total, disclosed figures only | £7,885 | £22,665 | Not counted: Annual dues (alternative tier, not added). | |
Structure and programming
Where it operates
2 cities with a page on this site| Chapter or location | City |
|---|---|
| Helm London hub | London |
| Helm Manchester hub | Manchester |
Independent context
Helm answers a specific question - where does a UK founder go who is past the start-up stage but does not want a coach-led model or an age-capped organisation - and it is explicit about what it is not: advisers, service providers and non-founder executives are refused, which is the main defence of its no-selling ethos. The pricing is unusually open by UK standards, but not consistent: the joining page lists £1,450 a year for Club membership and £4,250 for the Founders' Club, while a competitor-comparison landing page quotes "£495 Joining Fee + £495 per month", or about £5,940 a year. Anyone applying should get the current schedule in writing. Two other cautions: Forum places are not immediate, with placement quoted at one to three months, and Helm's regional presence outside London is asserted rather than enumerated - there is a Manchester landing page but no published hub list.
Editorial analysis by Peer Group Guide editors. It is separated from the record above and follows the editorial policy.
Similar organizations
Alternatives, grouped by need →History and changes
Site-wide change log →- milestoneFounded by Duncan Cheatle as The Supper Club, a dinner-based network for founders to share advice without being sold to ↗
- renameRebranded from The Supper Club to Helm, adding a digital platform alongside in-person meetings; the ScaleUp Institute's 2022 directory entry lists the organisation as "helm… ↗
- milestoneHelm certified as a B Corporation ↗
- milestoneHelm reports 400+ members with average turnover of about £21 million and 160+ events a year, and is a certified B Corporation ↗
Milestones as published by the organization or reported by a named source. “Record” entries are changes to this site’s own record of the organization, kept in the public change log rather than overwritten.
Take the next step
Check how you compare
Run the published criteria against a profile given in ranges. Nothing is stored.
Open the qualification toolRequest membership information
We pass on only what you agree to share, and only where the organization participates. You see exactly what is sent before you send it.
Request information Apply on their site ↗Follow this organization
One email when its requirements or fees change.
Sources
- Helm: The Club for Scale-Up Founders & CEOs, Helm. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
- Our Story - Helm, Helm. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
- Our Members - Helm, Helm. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
- Forum - Helm, Helm. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
- How Helm Works - Helm, Helm. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
- Helm's Founders Network Membership, Helm. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 2
- Get Started - Founders' Club Membership - Helm, Helm. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 2
- YPO Membership Fees? Compare Helm, Helm. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 2
- PRELUDE TO BUSINESS LIMITED (04161814) overview, Companies House. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 5
- Helm: Meet the founders-only club that's powering London's entrepreneurs, City A.M.. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 6
- helm (previously The Supper Club), ScaleUp Institute. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 8
Source tiers follow the published hierarchy: 1 official site · 2 official membership materials · 3 application documents · 4 annual reports · 5 government filings · 6 reliable business publications · 7 credible interviews · 8 other reputable secondary sources. Sources and data policy.
Is something wrong or out of date?
Represent Helm? Verified representatives can submit corrections to fees, criteria, chapters and contact details, and add approved material. Submissions are reviewed by an editor and shown as organization-supplied; they never overwrite independent research.