The Lifelong Learning Labs are here and we’re inviting you in.
They’re a national experiment exploring what learning unlocks for adults at work, at home and in our communities.
Because adults deserve better.
Have your say: thewea.info/4axvRCH #WEALabs
Nice to end February on a high - being named as the UK's Charity Consulting firm of the year, in the Corporate Excellence Awards.
www.corporatevision-news.com/winners/adri...
"This is not a 'how to build a business' manual.
It is a lived, scraped knuckles, learned the hard way kind of book.
Part memoir, part guidance, part 'I probably shouldn’t admit this but here we are'."
= possibly the best description of my book, 'Flushed!', from a reader.
amzn.eu/d/0hHvOIMA
We may be facing the prospect of it being nearly the end of February already, but there's still plenty of the year left to play my 2026 bingo card...
drive.google.com/file/d/1zTwR...
In the years since my first book, 'Loving your doubt', was published I've noticed a spike in sales of it each spring - is there a correlation between imposter syndrome and the ending of the winter months that I've somehow missed in my researches on this subject..?
amzn.eu/d/022Xw1bU
Very chuffed to be (re)named as the corporate consultancy of the year in the global M&A Today awards.
17.02.2026 07:31 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Very excited to see myself in the pages of the
@financialtimes.com at the weekend, sharing some of my hopes and fears about what the impact of #MakingTaxDigital will be - not only on individual businesses like mine, but also the wider ecosystems and support services we rely on...
When confusing one Adrian for another can lead you to some very unexpected adventures...
open.substack.com/pub/adrianas...
As a accredited 'Good Business' myself, it's always exciting to see how others are harnessing their respective enterprises to make dents in the world that help all of us, during this #GoodBusinessWeek.
#GoodBusinessMatters
Proud to be able to share the outputs of this fast research report about unpaid carers with volunteer/paid roles in social economy groups with @mcrcommcentral.bsky.social
While no surprises about inclusion, some concern about impacts to wider community
manchestercommunitycentral.org/blogs/create...
Feeling a little mischievous after managing to get the august @isbecommunity.bsky.social to showcase the bingo card I've made for my business this year...
www.isbe.org.uk/isbe-member-...
After being 'flushed with success' last year, I'm now trying to avoid being 'brassed off' in this one...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
It's international Lego day today - and did you know that these magic bricks form one of the squares on the 2026 bingo card about me, that you can play along with this year?
drive.google.com/file/d/1zTwR...
It's #ReclaimTheEconomyWeek! Around the world, people are coming together to demand an economy that puts people and planet first - and showing how it's already being done.
Sign the petition calling on leaders to redesign our economies to put people and planet at the centre: vist.ly/4p5xr
Excited to see my reflections and insights on how to accidentally create a business that outlasts over 90% of all others is back in the Amazon top100 best seller list!
www.amazon.co.uk/Flushed-firs...
For anyone who claims travel expenses as part of their work - did you know it's been 15 years since HMRC last reviewed the amount you can claim for business mileage (and the costs of driving have risen by about 40% since then...)
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
What if your imposter syndrome isn’t a flaw, but evidence of care, conscience, and intelligence?
(the time I asked Dr Who what they thought about my take on the subject - thirdsectorexpert.blogspot.com/2026/01/how-...)
Always exciting when the latest issue of Freelancer Magazine lands on my doormat - but doubly so this time as I've spotted myself in no less than 3 different places in it (and all for separate reasons!).
20.01.2026 07:42 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0I know that a lot of people rate the on-line (and in-person) training courses and workshops I deliver - but I've just had an enquiry from Australia to lead sessions in that time zone!!
19.01.2026 07:11 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Each year I try something in my business I've not done before (you may recall that for 2025, this involved a lot of toilets...) - for 2026, that means it's a bingo card that I'm offering people to play along with!!
drive.google.com/file/d/1zTwR...
Excited to be invited to "duck about" in sharing ideas as to how far in-person facilitation practices and techniques can be stretched to be done on-line, with the Facilitator's Cafe later this month - www.tickettailor.com/events/thefa...
12.01.2026 07:31 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
"Villains are always the ones who are absolutely sure they’re right - Daleks don’t doubt; Cybermen don’t doubt; Time Lords stopped doubting (and look how that went)."
Dr Who makes a cameo in my book about imposter syndrome, so it's only fair they get to review it?
substack.com/@adrianashto...
“Doubt isn’t a weakness. It’s a moral compass.”
- what might Dr Who might make of my book exploring imposter syndrome, if they added it to the TARDS library?
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Bar chart showing FTSE 100 CEOs are paid a year's median full time wage in just 29 hours, compared to £594 for median workers after 29 hours.
As you're reading this — literally right now — FTSE 100 CEOs have just been paid as much as an entire year's wage for the median full time worker. After just a couple of days back. I haven't even cleared my inbox yet.
06.01.2026 11:30 — 👍 25 🔁 25 💬 1 📌 4
Some say that with a family bloodline that tracks back to Rochdale, it was inevitable I'd end up supporting coops - but my university years and early working life almost meant I didn't...
Looking forward to sharing some stories with @ukcoopstudies.bsky.social soon:
www.ukscs.coop/events/co-op...
Instead of templates, worksheets, or challenges to start your 2026, how about reflections and insights from someone who accidentally started a business which has now outlasted 90% of all others, won lots of awards, and has changed laws and influenced national polices?
amzn.eu/d/dqgfRfn
When was the last time you spotted someone wearing a monocle on a zoom call?
(for the full story - www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...)
In-between mince pies and leftover Brussel sprouts, I've been dipping into the just released latest research into the state of social enterprise in the UK.
(and bracing myself to be on the naughty list for next Christmas as a result...)
substack.com/home/post/p-...
An alternative way to reflect on the year that was - asking an AI bot to tell me what it thought of me, based on my 2025 LinkedIn activity...
(with thanks to CoAuthor)
full post at: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
Proud to have been able to share some of my stories and insights into the self-employed who are also unpaid carers for multiple family members, to inform the wider work of the national Working Families charity.
If this also sounds of interest to you:
workingfamilies.org.uk/about-us/par...
