Meet the Speakers: Built to Last Leadership Panel at Elland Road

Running a business is hard. A lot of SMEs right now are running on the same unspoken strategy: get through this month, then the next one, then figure out the rest.

That’s understandable. But survival mode has a ceiling. Stay in it long enough and it stops being a response to difficult conditions and starts becoming the default. Decisions stop being about where you want to go and start being about what you can afford to lose.

The better question isn’t how to endure the hard period. It’s how to come out of it in better shape than you went in. Leeds knows something about that. It’s a city built on institutions that have weathered reinvention more than once and kept going anyway.

Every institution on this panel started somewhere. Leeds United was once a new club. Leeds Rhinos was once a new team. North Studio was built from scratch. What makes something last isn’t how long it’s been around. It’s the decisions made early, the choices made under pressure and the ability to keep moving forward when the path isn’t clear.

Leeds Rhinos, Leeds United and Rachel Woolford’s North Studio have all faced moments that could have defined them for the wrong reasons. Setbacks, uncertainty, reinvention and the pressure to adapt. But the organisations that endure aren’t the ones that avoid challenges. They’re the ones that learn from them, back their people and emerge stronger on the other side.

That kind of success isn’t luck. It’s culture. It’s decisions. It’s people. And it’s a refusal to let short-term pain redefine long-term purpose. They didn’t always have the answers. They kept making decisions, backed their people, and showed up. If you run a business in Yorkshire, you’ve done the same. Probably more times than you’ve counted.

That’s the conversation Employment Hero is bringing to Elland Road on 18 June. 

“Built to Last: Lessons from Leeds’ Greatest Institutions” brings together small business owners and senior leaders for an afternoon session with four people who know what leading through adversity, reinvention and real growth actually looks like. Employment Hero works with thousands of businesses across the UK on exactly these questions, because how you hire, manage and lead your people is what determines whether you last.

The session is hosted by Maisie Goss, UK VP Marketing at Employment Hero and a born and bred Leodensian who has made it her mission to champion the businesses driving Yorkshire’s growth.

Jamie Jones-Buchanan, CEO, Leeds Rhinos

Jamie Jones-Buchanan spent over two decades as a player at Leeds Rhinos before stepping into the CEO role. He’s seen the club from every angle, through relegation battles, financial pressure and hard rebuilds. He understands what it costs to protect culture when the easier path is to cut it, and what it looks like to hold a long-term vision together when short-term survival is the loudest voice in the room.

Rob Oates, Managing Director, Leeds Rhinos

Rob Oates has been at the commercial and operational heart of one of rugby league’s most storied clubs through some of its most difficult chapters. Building a sustainable business around a sport is no different from building any other business: you’re managing costs, revenue, people and brand, often simultaneously, often under pressure. Rob brings the operational reality of what institutional longevity actually requires.

Robbie Evans, Managing Director, Leeds United

Leeds United has been operating for 106 years. That run includes administration, relegation and one of the most dramatic returns to the top flight in English football. Robbie Evans has been part of navigating the commercial and strategic side of the club through its recent reinvention, protecting what matters while rebuilding what needed to change. That’s a leadership story most business owners will recognise, even if the scale looks different.

Rachel Woolford, Founder, North Studio and Winner of The Apprentice

Rachel Woolford built North Studio in Leeds from the ground up after leaving a career in finance to pursue her passion for fitness. Launching during the uncertainty of the pandemic, she has grown the business into a thriving Yorkshire brand while staying focused on sustainable, long-term growth.

After winning The Apprentice in 2024, Rachel’s entrepreneurial journey has become a powerful example of resilience, adaptability and backing your vision when the odds are against you. Her experience of building a business through challenging conditions offers valuable lessons for any leader looking to create something that lasts.

Join us at Elland Road on 18th June to learn how to build something that lasts

Together, these four bring something genuinely rare: honest experience of leading through adversity, protecting culture under pressure and building organisations that outlast a difficult cycle. These aren’t lessons that belong to sport. They’re the same challenges facing every business owner trying to build something that lasts.

Built to Last brings together business owners for a leadership session with some of Leeds’ greatest institutions as a lens for the challenges you face every day: resilience under pressure, building a team that outlasts you, and staying true to your identity when everything is pulling you in different directions.

Join us at Elland Road on 18 June.