The Lean Service Forum now has 100 member organisations. Vellmore Building Society, which hosted our meeting in Bristol on 18 June, became the hundredth when it joined the following week.
The forum began with eleven organisations meeting in a hired room in Oxford. The idea was simple: operations leaders learn most from each other, and most of all from seeing each other's work. Every meeting since has been hosted by a member, and every one has included time on the host's operations floor, not just in its boardroom.
Who the members are
The forum now includes 23 financial services firms, 18 utilities and energy companies, 17 public bodies, 12 travel and transport operators, 11 healthcare providers, 9 universities and colleges, and 10 organisations from housing, facilities management and retail services.
Members range from a housing association with 400 staff to a national rail operator with several thousand. What they share is responsibility for service operations, and a willingness to show their work to peers.
What has not changed
Membership is still free and still by application. We still ask each member to host a meeting when their turn comes, and we still keep the forum free of selling: suppliers and consultancies other than Halveron cannot join, and we do not use meetings to promote our own services.
The meetings keep the same shape: a site visit, a case session from the host, and a peer clinic where members bring a live problem and leave with suggestions from people who have faced it.
Looking ahead
Our next meeting is on Thursday 19 November 2026, hosted by Northwyn Rail in Manchester, with a visit to its customer information and control centre. Places are allocated to members first.
"A hundred members is a milestone, but the number matters less than the honesty in the room," says Ruth Calloway, our managing director. "People come because they can say what has not worked and get a straight answer from someone who has been there."
If your organisation runs service operations and would like to join, read about membership or contact Daniel Fry at forum@halveron.junaid.guru.
