On Friday 9th October 2026, we returned to Wallacespace Clerkenwell for our fourth London edition of Craft & Work.
This year we tried something different with an official pre-event.
Our friends at Recharge kindly donated their space, along with two extra pairs of hands in the form of John and Lewis. As well as providing amazing pizza and a fridge full of cold drinks, they took time out of their days to prepare and make sure the evening flowed without a hitch.
We called it our Amuse Bouche, and it included our first “Salon of Competitive Inquiry” — our very pretentious way of saying “a quiz”.
There were six rounds, some dubious questions and mild anger at the UK-centric references, but we got through it.
Sadly Rob Barr, long-time friend and fearless leader of Recharge EMEA, wasn’t able to make the event, but he was there in spirit thanks to our Rob Barr-o-meter.
There were some great team names, although apparently spelling “Keir” remains a challenge. Credit to the Keir Stormers for getting that right.
Huge thanks to Recharge for hosting us, and of course to Louise for hosting the quiz.
The next morning we convened in Clerkenwell. After the customary excellent breakfast, we headed to the Penthouse for a day of insight and conversation.
Tim Richardson returned to open proceedings with his annual Craft & Work address and shared his thoughts on running and growing a service business in 2026. Drawing on his experience at We Make Websites and now ROIROI, he encouraged everyone to make use of AI in their work, while keeping a critical eye on what it produced. There was plenty of discussion about how to avoid adding to the growing pile of AI slop, and why using the tools still called for your own judgement.
Next up, Lizzie Davey shared her experiences of building a business when you are the face of it. One question from the room was whether everyone needs a personal brand. Her answer? We all have one already, through how we talk about our work, reply to emails and what clients say when we’re not in the room. The choice is whether to shape it deliberately or let it develop by itself. No influencer career required.
Taking the “just before lunch” spot was Michelle Goodall who talked to us about how BS (that’s behavioural science, folks, come on) could influence how and why we built communities. With three decades of experience and more than 6,000 communities to draw on, she had plenty of insight into what motivates people to come together. She explored how understanding those behaviours could help us build better connections and sharpen our marketing. It gave everyone whose work involved bringing people together plenty to think about — ourselves very much included.
After lunch, we headed outdoors for our first ever practical session with Becky Craven where we explored how to create video content with a phone, from framing and lighting to getting comfortable in front of the camera. Becky admirably battled the Clerkenwell wind and managed to wrangle 45 camera-shy individuals in front of the lens. At the end of the day she shared the final edited “day in the life” video. You can watch Becky’s finished video on Instagram.
To round out the presentations, we had a special last-minute addition in the form of Michael Shannon, who explored what happened when his co-founder wanted out. He spoke openly about the transition to leading alone, how the team and culture adapted, and where he found accountability without someone alongside him sharing the decisions. He reflected that whilst the experience hadn’t put him off co-founding again, he was currently enjoying leading the way himself.
Thank you to all our presenters for sharing their experience so openly and giving us plenty to think about.
Between presentations, we put a fresh set of questions to the room and debated what deserved a place in business Room 101. LinkedIn didn’t escape!
We rounded out the day with more chat and arancini (amongst other small plated food items) at the Crown Tavern. There’s no photographic evidence, out of respect for those involved!
Huge thanks to our good friend Marc Thiele for his wonderful photos.
These events depend on people being willing to turn up, join in and share. Thank you to everyone who spent the day with us, whether it was your first Craft & Work or you’ve been coming since the beginning.
And a big thank you to our patrons and supporters for helping make it possible:
A special thanks again to Piers for his wonderful creative direction.
If you’d like to hear about future gatherings, sign up to The Communiqué. We’d love to see you at the next one.
