Who we are

We are a charity with a purpose 

At The Whitehall & Industry Group (WIG), we believe society works better when people in business, government and the not-for-profit sectors can learn from each other and collaborate, for the greater good. 

As an independent, non-lobbying charity, we make that happen. We encourage people across these sectors – and sometimes from different parts of the same sector – to come together and develop mutual co-operation, understanding and learning.

We’re governed by our trustees, supported by our expert patrons, and run by a passionate team.

We are a membership organisation 

We’re proud to be a membership organisation, and we count around 245 organisations among our members.  These include top FTSE companies, professional services firms, Whitehall departments, charities, universities, local authorities and arm’s length bodies.  

Despite being from different sectors, these organisations have much in common, and often face similar challenges. At the same time, no single organisation or individual has all the answers.  

That’s why we help leaders to come together in a safe space where they can learn and collaborate across sectors. Here, they can discuss mutual challenges and share knowledge, skills and experience, while working together toward the good of society as a whole.     

"WIG has developed a unique position, whereby they are able to draw together both public, private and third sector organisations, to bring a broader perspective when and where it’s needed." - Nicola Wright, Head of Leadership and Professions, Crown Prosecution Service

We offer different ways to collaborate 

To help encourage open-minded conversations across sectors, we find creative ways to bring people together within our trusted environment. 

These include: 

• Our rich and busy events programme – which includes more than 130 briefings per year from senior thought leaders and decision makers in all sectors, plus roundtables, workshops and networking events. The idea is to help people in every sector to learn from outside their field of knowledge, while responding to the big issues of the day. 
• A suite of cross-sector leadership programmes and development masterclasses for all career levels – which help leaders and future leaders to learn actively from peers across different sectors, and to develop a range of skills. 
• Opportunities for people to experience life in another sector, via our services which include non-executive and trustee recruitment, secondments and mentoring.

We’ve been around for nearly 40 years 

Although we’re now an independent charity and membership organisation, we started life in the 1980s as a Cabinet Office initiative with industry to support secondments for civil servants. Find out more about our history – and how we’ve developed over the decades. 

Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann, CEO, on the importance of WIG's work to achieve meaningful collaboration