Some brands get noticed. Great ones get remembered.

For National Mentoring Day, we’re opening the doors to Virgin HQ and bringing together some of the people behind Virgin, Gymshark, SHEERLUXE and Slazenger.

We’ll get into how great brands earn attention, build loyal audiences and stay culturally relevant as they grow. And, just as importantly, how they evolve without losing what made people care in the first place.

Expect honest lessons, practical ideas and plenty you can take back to your own business.

What we’ll get into

1. Getting remembered. What makes a brand distinctive enough to stick.

2. Staying relevant. How do you move with culture without chasing every trend?

3. Building real connection. How do brands turn audiences into loyal communities?

4. Growing without losing yourself. What should change as you scale, and what should stay put?

5. Making heritage relevant again. How do you bring fresh energy to an established brand without throwing away what made it special?

Your afternoon at Virgin HQ

11.30am: Come on in
Grab a drink, meet some founders and find your seat.

12pm to 1.30pm: Building a Brand People Remember
Sam Kelly, Virgin’s Chief Experience Officer, shares how Virgin has stayed relevant while remaining unmistakably Virgin.

Then Georgie Coleridge Cole, Founder of SHEERLUXE, and Steve Hewitt, former CEO of Gymshark, get into earning attention, building connection and growing brands people care about.

1.30pm to 2.15pm: Lunch and drinks
Refuel. Compare notes. Meet someone new.

2.15pm to 3.15pm: From Heritage to Relevant
Alexei Hamblin, Creative Director at Slazenger, joins Andy Fishburn MBE, Managing Director of Virgin StartUp to explore how you make a heritage brand feel fresh to a new generation.

3.15pm to 4pm: Make some new connections
Stick around, swap stories and meet fellow founders. A good conversation might be the most useful thing you take home.

The important bits

Date: Tuesday 27 October 2026
Time: 11.30 Doors Open. Event starts 12pm-4pm
Where: Virgin HQ, Soho, London

Why attend?

Marketing remains one the biggest barriers founders face in their business. If this is you then you'll want to be in this room. You'll be able to soak up ideas and get clearer on how to build your brand, topped with meeting other founders from the Virgin StartUp Community and beyond.

Know a founder who should be in the room? Pass it on. Brilliant communities grow one brilliant founder at a time.

This event is proudly supported by National Mentoring Day, the not-for-profit putting brilliant mentoring in the spotlight and celebrating the people and initiatives making it happen around the world.

On the panel