What is it like working with us?
Our approach and values
We know and love theatre. We understand life backstage from both a practitioners’ and HR perspective, and appreciate the pinch points and the opportunities.
Our work hinges on effective relationship-building. We will take the time to work with you and your teams to understand your needs and challenges.
We are honest, respectful and straight-talking and we live in the real world. We know that this work can be challenging practically and emotionally and we bring resilience, courage, empathy and pragmatism.
We will take a coaching approach to build the trust required to help you to achieve your goals, and we will work in partnership with you, rather than just consulting and advising and then leaving you to get on with it.
We aim to lead without ego, and we value humility and the importance of recognising strengths and limits, including our own. We create safe spaces to reflect, learn and develop.
Our belief in equal opportunities and social justice is at the heart of what we do. Theatre People exists to help make the sector a more diverse, inclusive and fairer place to work.
We are change-makers. We are committed to nurturing and creating momentum for far-reaching, long-term change.
We like to put the human back into Human Resources. We take our work seriously, but we bring informality and a lightness of touch along the way.
Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what others have said about working with us...
“I have seen first-hand the positive difference Bendy and Greg’s inclusive recruitment approaches have made to an organisation, particularly in relation to the introduction, growth, and sustainability of apprenticeships. At the Royal Opera House they ensured this important route-to-work was used to attract new and diverse talent that ROH may have ordinarily overlooked, and in doing so started to change recruitment cultures and attitudes more broadly across the company. Their approach became an exemplar for the sector on how to get apprenticeships right.”
— Sara Whybrew, Director of Policy and Development, Creative & Cultural Skills
“I’ve had the enormous good fortune to work with Bendy and Greg over the last eight years as ROH CEO. They both bring exemplary professionalism, deep sensitivity and remarkable determination to all that they do. Most importantly they really understand what it takes to create an environment and structures in which people can be supported and developed to be their very best selves, creating truly exceptional work in a high performing creative workplace. They’re also great fun to be around!”
— Alex Beard CBE, Chief Executive, Royal Opera House
“Greg leads through his humanity, empathy and compassion which are in perfect balance with his ability to hold people accountable while providing support for their learning, allowing him to be effective and respected while always maintaining the highest of standards. The alchemy of his expertise in human resources, his institutional knowledge not merely of the Royal Opera House but the people within, wed to personal understanding and dedication to inclusion, diversity, equity and anti-racism not only made our work together highly impactful but also a joy to perform.”
— Theresa Ruth Howard, Founder and Curator of MoBBallet (Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet)
“Greg and Bendy were trusted and highly valued colleagues. Both have a deep insight into people and how to get the best out of staff. They have a robust understanding of HR practice and I particularly appreciated the way they coached and guided. Over the years we built up a strong partnership thanks to their warmth and wisdom.”
— Jillian Barker, Director of Learning & Participation, Royal Opera House
“I have been working with Bendy for nearly ten years on all aspects of backstage careers, training and especially apprenticeships. Bendy was a key part of the Employer Steering Group which was involved in the creation of the National College for the Creative Industries, and became co-Chair of Skillscene in 2019. From a White Light perspective, Bendy has been a valuable ally and colleague in both the creation of new apprenticeship standards as well as working with us on exchanging apprentices between different employers to improve their experience.”
— Bryan Raven, Managing Director, White Light
“Greg took over as HR relationship manager for The Royal Ballet at the most difficult time in our recent company history, just as the Covid pandemic struck. He was the most wonderful support to me in the ensuing 15 months – calm, unflappable and immensely supportive. He gave me the confidence to undertake some very difficult conversations, while at the same time being a completely reliable critical friend whose wise counsel helped the company successfully navigate a hugely challenging time.”