Strategy Group |

The Strategy Group brings together people from the sector, industry experts, advocates and trusted contributors who help guide the direction, priorities and integrity of Cheese Hub. Its role is to provide advice, challenge, feedback and sector perspective, so the Hub remains useful, responsible, sustainable and connected to the real needs of the community.

The Strategy Group is not here to run Cheese Hub day to day. It exists to help shape the bigger decisions, test assumptions, identify risks, support collaboration and make sure the Hub grows in the right way. In simple terms, the Strategy Group helps Cheese Hub do the right thing.

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Why the Strategy Group exists

Cheese Hub is built to support collaboration, share useful information, provide practical guidance, create shared opportunities and give members access to tools that help them grow, improve and work more confidently. For that to work, the Hub needs more than content, tools and good intentions. It needs informed guidance from people who understand the cheese sector, care about its future and are willing to challenge ideas constructively.

The Strategy Group helps ensure that decisions about the Hub’s direction, priorities, partnerships, public-facing activity, reputation and long-term model are shaped by people with relevant experience and a genuine interest in the community. Its purpose is to help the Hub stay useful, trusted and connected to the people it exists to support.

What the Strategy Group does

The Strategy Group advises on significant decisions relating to Cheese Hub’s vision, objectives, model and strategy. It may contribute to discussions around:

The strategic direction of the Hub.

Long-term sustainability.
Member needs and priorities.
Public-facing activity and outputs.
Partnerships and collaborations.
Community reputation and trust.
Access, inclusion and representation.
Future themes, resources and pathways.
Risks, opportunities and sector challenges.
How feedback from members and wider stakeholders should be understood.

The group brings creativity, challenge and practical insight. Its job is not to agree with everything. Its value comes from asking useful questions, sharing sector knowledge and helping the Hub avoid becoming disconnected from the people it exists to support.

How Strategy Group members help

Strategy Group members help Cheese Hub by:

Shaping the strategic direction and sustainability of the Hub.
Advising on major decisions, priorities and opportunities.
Providing feedback, creativity, challenge and sector insight.
Helping ensure the Hub remains useful, responsible and relevant.
Encouraging and modelling collaborative behaviour.
Identifying risks and opportunities.
Suggesting ways the Hub should respond to sector needs.
Considering feedback from members and wider stakeholders.
Championing the Hub’s purpose and objectives.
Supporting connections, resources or partnerships where appropriate.
Helping protect the reputation and integrity of the community.

The role is advisory, constructive and strategic. It is about helping the Hub make better decisions.

Who can join the Strategy Group?

The Strategy Group is designed for people who care about the future of the sector and want to contribute constructively to the development of Cheese Hub.

This may include:

People working inside relevant cheese, food, retail, education or membership organisations.
Cheesemakers, cheesemongers and sector practitioners.
Industry experts.
Advocates and campaigners.
Funders or supporters.
Digital, marketing, learning, engagement or operations specialists.
Community builders.
Researchers or insight specialists.
Consultants or suppliers with relevant expertise.
People with lived or professional experience that helps the Hub make better decisions.
The most important qualities are judgement, generosity, curiosity and a willingness to challenge constructively.

The group should include a range of voices, roles, organisation types and perspectives. Cheese Hub should not be shaped by one narrow view of the sector.

What we look for

Strategy Group members do not need to have all the answers. We are looking for people who can bring one or more of the following:

Practical experience of the cheese sector.
Understanding of small business challenges.
Knowledge of digital, marketing, data, learning or community building.
Experience of collaboration, partnerships or sector development.
A commitment to access, inclusion and fair representation.
Useful challenge and independent judgement.
A willingness to listen to other perspectives.
An interest in helping shared resources become more useful over time.

The best Strategy Group members will be thoughtful, practical and generous with their perspective.

What Strategy Group members are not

Strategy Group members are not expected to manage Cheese Hub.

They are not responsible for moderating every discussion, writing every resource, providing free consultancy or making every operational decision.

They are not sales representatives for the Hub, and the role should not be used mainly to promote their own organisation, services or products.

Strategy Group members may have their own businesses, organisations, partnerships or commercial interests. That is normal. Where a member has a commercial, supplier, funding or partner relationship with Cheese Hub, that relationship should be declared clearly. Trust and transparency are essential.

Relationship with Ambassadors

The Strategy Group and Ambassadors play different but connected roles.

The Strategy Group is strategic and advisory. It helps shape direction, priorities, reputation, sustainability and decision-making.

Ambassadors are community-facing. They help bring the Hub to life by encouraging participation, sharing experience, supporting discussions and helping members get more value from the community.

The Strategy Group helps guide the Hub.
Ambassadors help activate the Hub.

Both roles help make Cheese Hub more useful, collaborative and member-shaped.

Relationship with the community

The Strategy Group should stay connected to the wider Cheese Hub community. It should consider what members are asking for, what they are struggling with, what they are using, what they are avoiding and what feedback is coming through the community.

The group helps make sure member voice is not treated as an afterthought. It should be part of how the Hub develops. This may include reviewing feedback themes, discussing common member challenges, considering resource requests, supporting consultation activity or helping interpret wider sector needs.

Relationship with content, tools and resources

The Strategy Group may help shape what Cheese Hub creates next.

For example, it may advise on:

Future learning pathways.
Priority playbooks.
Sector research themes.
Campaign opportunities.
AI Lab experiments.
Toolkit recommendations.
Community events.
Insight reports.
Partnership opportunities.
Accessibility and inclusion priorities.
Member support needs.

The group does not need to write the content. Its value is in helping Cheese Hub understand what matters, what is missing, what could create the most value and where care is needed.

Suggested meeting rhythm

A simple meeting rhythm helps the group stay useful without becoming too heavy.

This may include:

Quarterly Strategy Group meetings.

Occasional short review requests between meetings.

An annual review of the Hub’s direction, priorities and impact.

Optional participation in roundtables, consultations or launch activity where relevant.

The aim is to create enough structure to guide the Hub well, without asking too much from busy people.

Benefits for Strategy Group members

Strategy Group members should feel that their contribution is valued.

Benefits may include:

Recognition as a Strategy Group member.

A profile on the Cheese Hub website.

The opportunity to shape a useful sector resource.

Early visibility of future plans and priorities.

Invitations to strategic discussions or roundtables.

Opportunities to contribute expertise and perspective.

Stronger connections with peers, contributors and sector partners.

A meaningful role in supporting collaboration and continuous improvement.

Where appropriate, Strategy Group members may also be invited to contribute to briefings, events, reports, interviews or sector discussions.

Strategy Group profiles

Strategy Group members may be featured on the Cheese Hub website so members can see who is helping guide the Hub.

Each profile may include:

Name.

Role and organisation.

Area of experience or perspective.

Short biography.

Why they are involved.

What they hope Cheese Hub can help the sector achieve.

Links to relevant professional profiles.

Any relevant commercial, supplier or partner relationship.

The tone should feel credible, transparent and human.

Example profile structure

Name

Role, organisation

Perspective: Audience development and digital engagement

Short profile introducing who they are, what they do and the experience they bring to the Strategy Group.

Why I’m involved

A short paragraph explaining why they want to support Cheese Hub and help shape its direction.

What I hope Cheese Hub can help the sector do

A short paragraph or short list covering the change, improvement or support they would like the Hub to encourage.

Relevant relationships

Any relevant commercial, supplier, funder or partner relationship with Cheese Hub.

Governance and transparency

The Strategy Group should be supported by simple governance guidance.

This should cover:

How members are selected.

How long members serve.

What is expected of them.

How meetings are run.

How conflicts of interest are declared.

How supplier, funder or partner relationships are disclosed.

How decisions and recommendations are recorded.

How member and stakeholder feedback is considered.

How the group’s role is reviewed over time.

The aim is not to create unnecessary bureaucracy. The aim is to protect trust, clarity, fairness and accountability.

Register your interest

Cheese Hub is looking for thoughtful, constructive people who can help guide the Hub as it grows.

You might work directly in the cheese sector, support the sector professionally, bring specialist knowledge, or have experience that could help Cheese Hub make better decisions.

You do not need to represent everyone. You do need to bring your perspective honestly, listen to others and act in the interests of the wider community.

If you would like to be considered for the Strategy Group, please register your interest.

[Register your interest in joining the Strategy Group]

Help shape the future of Cheese Hub

The Strategy Group helps guide the direction, priorities and integrity of Cheese Hub.

It brings together people from the sector, industry experts, advocates and trusted contributors who provide feedback, challenge and practical insight.

Their role is to help the Hub stay useful, responsible, representative and sustainable as it grows.

The Strategy Group helps make sure Cheese Hub does the right thing.