What is At the Table?
At the Table is BFI’s monthly subscription service for HR, Employee and Industrial Relations professionals, and their teams. This annual subscription, every third Tuesday of the month, provides ninety minutes of expert-led intelligence, peer learning and live Q&A. It is anchored to the legislative calendar and shaped by the people who know both sides of the table.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 is the most significant overhaul of UK industrial relations law in a generation. It is not a one-time update. It is a rolling programme of reform running through 2026, 2027 and beyond. Every month, something changes. Every month, unions adapt their strategies to the new landscape. And every month, most HR directors and ER leads try to keep pace without a standing resource to help them.
At the Table is shaped and quality-assured by an editorial board drawn from across the industrial relations landscape. The board includes employment lawyers ranked at the top of their field, former senior trade union officials, and HR and ER practitioners from some of the UK’s most complex, multi-union organisations. Together they ensure the content is legally accurate, union-literate and grounded in the realities of the employer’s position.
Session | Date | Theme |
2 | Tuesday 20 October 2026 | The October Wave: Union Access Rights, the Duty to Inform and What It Means on the Ground |
3 | Tuesday 17 November 2026 | Recognition Risk: Using the New Rules to Assess Your Exposure and Prepare Your Response |
4 | Tuesday 15 December 2026 | The January Reset: What Changes on 1 January and How to Prepare Your Organisation |
5 | Tuesday 19 January 2027 | The New Landscape: Managing the Workforce Under Day-One Rights |
6 | Tuesday 16 February 2027 | Industrial Action One Year On: What Employers Have Learned and What Unions Have Changed |
7 | Tuesday 16 March 2027 | Pay Bargaining Strategy: Preparation, Psychology and the ERA 2025 Negotiating Environment |
8 | Tuesday 20 April 2027 | The Fair Work Agency One Year In: Enforcement Priorities and Facility Time Under the Microscope |
9 | Tuesday 18 May 2027 | Recognition, Organising and Modern Union Tactics: What’s Happening in Your Sector |
10 | Tuesday 15 June 2027 | Mid-Year Compliance Audit: Are You Where You Need to Be on ERA 2025? |
11 | Tuesday 20 July 2027 | Collective Consultation: Avoiding the Doubled Protective Award in Restructuring Season |
12 | Tuesday 17 August 2027 | Year in Review: What At the Table Has Taught Us and What 2028 Looks Like |
Ongoing | Third Tuesday of every month | At the Table runs in perpetuity. Session themes are set quarterly in response to the legislative calendar, case law developments and subscriber priorities. |
Time | Element | What happens |
0–10 min | Legislative update | Expert legal update, analysis and actions from Lewis Silkin. Everything significant since the last session: regulations in force, CAC decisions, ET and EAT rulings, ACAS guidance updates, government consultations. |
10–30 min | Monthly focus session | A themed deep-dive into the most pressing industrial relations issue of the moment. Delivered by the host with a practitioner guest. Practical and employer-focused throughout. |
30–45 min | Practitioner tips | A senior practitioner shares three or four concrete, usable tips relevant to the month’s theme. Not frameworks. Things you can use this week. |
45–65 min | Live Q&A | Open Q&A chaired by the host. Questions submitted in advance and live via chat. |
65–84 min | Industry breakout groups | Delegates self-select into sector-specific rooms for 15 minutes of peer discussion. Sectors: manufacturing, healthcare, transport and logistics, education, retail, financial services, local government, utilities. |
84–90 min | Close and preview | Three actions for the coming month, next session theme, and relevant BFI news. |
The Editorial Board
At the Table is shaped and quality-assured by an editorial board drawn from across the industrial relations landscape. The board includes employment lawyers ranked at the top of their field, former senior trade union officials, and HR and ER practitioners from some of the UK’s most complex, multi-union organisations. Together they ensure the content is legally accurate, union-literate and grounded in the realities of the employer’s position.
The presence of former Prospect officials alongside senior employer-side practitioners is deliberate. Understanding how unions think, plan and apply pressure requires people who have done it. At the Table brings both sides of the table into one room, in service of the employer.
Employer practitioners
Board member | Background |
Lisa Hodgkiss Industrial Relations Manager Severfield | Severfield is one of the UK’s leading structural steel fabricators, operating across major infrastructure projects including Hinkley Point C. Lisa brings front-line employer-side IR experience from a heavily unionised, safety-critical manufacturing and construction environment. |
Paul Tullett Senior HR Leader Birmingham City Council | Birmingham City Council is one of the largest employers in Europe, with a highly complex multi-union landscape spanning tens of thousands of employees. Paul brings public sector IR experience at a scale and complexity few organisations in the UK can match. |
Ian Butler Senior ER Leader Centrica | Centrica operates across energy supply, services and infrastructure with recognised unions including GMB and Unite. Ian brings employer-side experience from one of the UK’s most unionised utility businesses, navigating collective bargaining in an industry undergoing significant structural change. |
Sally Lakin Senior HR Leader Stagecoach | Stagecoach is the UK’s largest bus and coach operator, employing around 25,000 people across more than 100 towns and cities, with Unite as the primary recognised union. Sally brings experience of managing industrial relations in a geographically dispersed, operationally complex, safety-critical transport business. |
Graeme Smith Strategic HR Business Partner Thales | Thales is a global defence and technology business with a significant UK workforce in highly specialised engineering and technical roles, represented by Prospect. Graeme brings experience of collective bargaining in a defence manufacturing environment where union relationships are long-standing and technically complex. |
Bryan Boyd Employment Relations NG Bailey | NG Bailey is the UK’s largest independent engineering and services company, family-owned with revenues exceeding £700m and a workforce predominantly drawn from skilled trades. Bryan brings employer-side ER experience from a major privately-held engineering business where union relationships are embedded in day-to-day operations. |
David Coleman Head of Industrial Relations Bank Of Ireland | Bank of Ireland is one of Ireland’s leading financial services groups, providing banking, lending, investment and insurance services to individuals and businesses. Founded in 1783, it operates primarily across Ireland and the UK, serving millions of personal and corporate customers. The Group plays a major role in supporting households, businesses and the wider Irish economy through a broad range of financial solutions. |
 Lee Whitehill Director Westbrook Strategy | Westbrook Strategy is a UK-based digital and campaigns consultancy specialising in strategic communications, public affairs and political campaigning. The firm supports businesses and organisations with communications strategy, lobbying, crisis communications, media relations and digital campaigns. It also provides bespoke training designed to help teams strengthen their influencing, campaigning and communication skills. |
Legal anchor: Lewis Silkin
David Hopper Partner Lewis Silkin | Chambers UK-ranked and described as “outstanding” in collective employment law. David specialises in industrial relations strategy, trade union recognition, industrial action and collective consultation. He has acted in landmark cases at Supreme Court level, including for Deliveroo in the first statutory recognition appeal to reach that court. He provides the monthly legislative and case law update for every At the Table session. |
William Brown Senior Associate Lewis Silkin | William works alongside David Hopper in Lewis Silkin’s industrial relations practice, advising employers on trade union recognition, collective bargaining, industrial action strategy and collective consultation including TUPE and European Works Councils. He co-delivers the monthly legal content. |
Union-side perspective
Board member | Background |
Garry Graham Formerly Deputy General Secretary Prospect | Over twenty years as a senior Prospect official, the last several at board level as Deputy General Secretary. Garry’s focus was partnership working in safety-critical industries including aviation, defence, nuclear and the public sector. He has presented evidence to Parliamentary Select Committees and engaged with the press and media on behalf of the union. He brings the union-side perspective that no employer-facing training programme can replicate. |
Ian Varnes Sector President Prospect | Ian served on the Prospect NEC, the elected body that conducts the business of the union between conferences. His background spans the defence and engineering sectors where Prospect has significant membership. He brings branch-level and national governance experience of how unions make decisions, prioritise campaigns and allocate resource. |
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Every session is shaped by what HR and ER professionals are actually facing right now. You leave with practical next steps you can apply immediately, and a network of peers who understand exactly what you are dealing with.
This is not a webinar series. It is a confidential, ongoing conversation between people who cannot afford to get this wrong.
What does BFI specialise in?
BFI provides expert-led training in HR compliance, employment law, immigration for employers, union relations, workplace inclusion, and AI and talent solutions.
Who typically attends your courses?
Attendees include HR managers, legal teams, compliance officers, operations leaders, and public sector employers.
Are your trainers practitioners?
Yes. All trainers are experienced specialists; we feature practitioners from the public and private sectors as well as lawyers, policy advisers, former regulators, and consultants.
How do I book a course?
Choose an event on the website and click Register. You can pay online with a credit card or request an invoice.
Do you accept purchase orders?
Yes. Public and private-sector organisations may use PO numbers. These can be added during the registration process, or can be retrospectively added to am invoice if the place has been booked already.
We need to set you up as a Supplier, can you complete a form or send me over your company information?
Yes, we can do either; please contact us via info@bfi.co.uk
Can I get a PO number added to our invoice?
Yes, please send details through to info@bfi.co.uk or reply to us using your confirmation email
Do you offer group discounts?
Yes. Discounts for multiple bookings are automatically applied at checkout. For groups of over ten, it may be more cost-effective to run the course in-house. Call 01983 861133 for details
Can I transfer my place to another date or colleague?
Yes. Substitutions are free, and transfers are typically allowed within a set timeframe.
What is your cancellation policy?
BFI follows standard UK training-industry cancellation terms.
How are online courses delivered?
Training is delivered live via Zoom with interactive Q\&A and case-based discussion.
Will I receive slides and supporting materials?
Yes. Attendees receive slides, templates (where relevant), and many other useful documents and links.
Will I receive a copy of the event recording?
Our monthly subscription and webinar clients receive recordings of the live sessions; otherwise we do not record our courses to encourage confidential discussion and questions under the Chatham House Rule
What time zone are online events delivered in?
All events are delivered in UTC / London time unless otherwise stated
What is included in in-person events?
Full-day training includes refreshments, full documentation which is emailed prior to the event and networking opportunities.
Are your venues accessible?
Yes. All venues are fully accessible.
Is your training CPD certified?
All our courses are either CPD accredited or CPD eligible, so every certificate of attendance can count towards your CPD requirements. Look out for the CPD badge on each course page to see which applies.
Can I ask questions about my organisation’s situation?
Yes. Trainers answer questions during the session and can respond afterward.
Will the training help us prepare for an audit?
Yes, on our audit courses you will learn what triggers visits, what officers look for, and how to evidence compliance.
Will I receive a certificate?
Yes. All attendees receive a digital certificate of course completion.
Do you offer private or in-house training?
Yes. All courses can be tailored for your team. Visit https://bfi.co.uk/team-training/
Can I ask questions about my organisation's situation?
Yes. Our trainers answer questions live during sessions and can follow up briefly afterwards, but we don't offer ongoing case-by-case advice by email. If you need dedicated support on a specific situation, we offer paid consultancy - contact us to find out more.
Do you offer consultancy?
Yes. BFI offers policy reviews, audit preparation, HR compliance support, and workforce advisory services.