Can We Scale Without Breaking?

Macmillan Davies Webinar Series

Macmillan Davies takes great pleasure in inviting you to our next webinar: Can We Scale Without Breaking?

Date: Wednesday 9th September 2026

Time: 13:00 - 14:00 (BST)

Location: Online

Most scale-ups don't break because of bad strategy. They break because the people function couldn't keep up.

We're hosting a webinar for HR, People & Culture, and TA leaders who are done with vague frameworks and want a real conversation about what it actually takes to scale an organisation without everything falling apart.

We'll be covering:

• Why the middle manager layer is where strategy goes to die, and how to fix it

• How to connect your people work to the numbers that matter at board level

• The new operating model putting data and intelligence at the centre of everything

Joining us on the panel:

Justine Whitaker

Chief People Officer and Organisational Psychologist

Justine Whitaker is a Chief People Officer and Organisational Psychologist with over 27 years of experience working at the intersection of people strategy, organisational psychology, and enterprise value creation.

She has held multiple inaugural CPO roles across PE-backed, listed, and founder-led organisations, most recently at Lawfront and Arcadis Gen, and now runs xOrdinary, a boutique advisory practice working with CEOs, boards, and investors on operating model transformation, culture integration, and people risk.

Her academic grounding spans an MA in Organisational Psychology, executive education at Wharton, LSE, and MIT Sloan, and she recently completed Wharton's Leading in an AI-Powered Future programme.

She is best known for being brought in at inflection points, when leadership complexity, people risk, or acquisition-led growth demand something more than conventional HR.

Sarah Tanner

Group Head of People and Organisation 

20+ years across People Director, Organisational and Operational roles spanning VFX/Film/Creative Technology, Retail, Events, and Financial Services. Sarah brings a strong strategic, operational, and commercial focus to fast-paced, scaling businesses, including navigating due diligence and organisational design following private equity investment and acquisition-led growth.

Who should attend:

• CHROs

• People directors

• Senior HR leaders

• Talent acquisition professionals

If you lead people in a start-up or scale-up, this one's for you.

How to join us: Click here to register

Can’t make it? Please feel free to share this event with a member of your HR or senior leadership team who may be interested in attending.

By registering for this event, you are agreeing for your details to be shared with both Macmillan Davies and our event speakers.

Chris Pestell
Director

Tel. 07537 162 947

Anthony Coen
Principal Consultant

Tel. 07537 162 965

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