The Charter

These are the rules. They will not change between editions without a vote of the listed.

What the Index is

A once-a-year reference book of UK and international owner-operators, organised into three sections by stage. Edition I is capped at five hundred entries. Each entry carries a permanent number, a printed citation, and a vote on Edition II.

The Index is not a network, though there is a room attached. It is not a directory, though it can be read as one. It is a record — the only one of its kind — of the people in this country and a few others who built something real in a given year.

Who is listed

Anyone who meets the standard in section three of this Charter, regardless of sector, age, background, accent, school, postcode or politics. The filter is operational. We are looking at what you did, not what you said about it.

The Index is open to:

• Tier I — Owner-operators. £500k to £10m turnover, two to fifty staff. You are still central to sales, hiring and operations.
• Tier II — Scaled founders. £10m to £100m+ turnover, fifty to five hundred+ staff. You have moved past founder-led hustle into organisational complexity.
• Tier III — Globally recognised. £100m+ revenue, or a meaningful exit, or a public profile attached to a business of consequence.

These thresholds are not negotiable. They are also not the only signal — a founder of a high-margin agency at £3m sits in Tier I alongside a manufacturer at £8m, and the room treats them as peers because they are.

The standard

To be listed, every applicant must satisfy four conditions:

1. You employ people, or have. Headcount is the cleanest available signal that you have taken on responsibility for somebody else's wages.
2. You have shipped or sold real product. Service businesses, product businesses, software, hardware, retail, hospitality — the form doesn't matter. Pre-revenue concepts do.
3. Your revenue is verifiable. Companies House, audited accounts, bank statements, or a reference call with somebody we already trust.
4. You will speak candidly in the room. The Index includes occasional, off-record gatherings. The standard for those gatherings is honesty. If you are here to pitch the other members, you will not be invited.

Who is not listed

The following are out of scope, irrespective of revenue:

• Coaches, consultants and creators whose primary business is selling into entrepreneurs
• Personal-brand operators whose main asset is an audience
• Pre-revenue founders, including well-funded ones
• Anyone whose listing would lower the trust level of the room

This is not a comment on the merit of those activities. It is a comment on what the Index is for. We are trying to make one room small enough that the people in it can actually talk.

How decisions are made

Editor's decision is final on inclusion in Edition I. From Edition II onward, every listed member receives one vote on each applicant — public knowledge inside the room, anonymous outside it. A two-thirds majority is required for a contested entry. Quiet entries — uncontested, with two endorsements from listed members — pass without a vote.

The Editor retains the right to remove an entry between editions for material misrepresentation or for behaviour incompatible with the room. Removal requires written reasons and is not appealable in the first instance.

What it costs

A one-time application fee, payable only if listed. No renewals. No tiers above you, no upgrades to buy. The physical annual is sent to every listed member without further charge.

The Index is not a subscription. It is a record.

What we promise

We will not sell your details. We will not introduce you to anybody without your specific consent. We will not partner with any organisation whose presence in the room would compromise the standard.

We will print your name correctly.