Host Susie McFarland - agency mentor and organiser of The Long Lunch - kicks off the very first episode of Between Courses with an honest look at agency life in our current climate: what’s working, what’s tricky, and what’s changing fast.

Joining her are three guests who know agency operations inside out — all sponsors of The Long Lunch and trusted partners to agencies nationwide.

Meet the guests

Jay Neale – The Agency Works

• Founder and Managing Director at The Agency Works (and the original Long Lunch sponsor). Since 2004, Jay and his team have helped more than 500 agencies streamline operations, boost profitability, and get performance back on track with Synergist - often saying the things we might not want to hear, but definitely need to.

Amy Wilkinson – The Wow Company

• Head of Marketing at The Wow Company, specialists in helping ambitious UK agencies and consultancies (turning over £1m) unlock their potential and make sharper financial decisions. The Wow Company also runs BenchPress, the UK’s annual benchmark survey for agencies, giving Amy a rare window into what the best in the business are doing differently.

Rebecca Steer – Steer

• Commercial lawyer and founder of Steer, where creative agencies get fast, no-fuss access to top-tier legal advice, contracts, and policies - without the typical law firm pain. Rebecca’s seen what happens when things go wrong and knows exactly what protects agencies when they do.

Together, they swap stories and insights from across hundreds of agencies - financial, operational, and legal - revealing how the best-run teams are building resilience and recalibrating for the year ahead.

If you’ve never been, The Long Lunch is a twice-yearly get-together exclusively for agency owners and directors.

No slides. No keynotes. Just great food, great people, and real conversation - a rare chance to step back from the day-to-day, compare notes, and realise it’s not just us.

Because sometimes the most valuable partnerships begin with a single conversation over a long lunch.

👉 Find out more at longlunch.co.uk