Barn to Boardroom 2026 might just have been the best yet!
With practical, take-back-to-the-office insight around the theme Influencing with Insight, record-breaking numbers enjoyed a day in the Sussex countryside, networking with peers in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
The Barn to Boardroom event grows each year and with spaces selling out quickly for 2026, we are opening up early registrations for 2027. Secure your place to get exclusive access to information about next year’s event as soon as it becomes available.
Thoughts from our attendees
99%
say it’s a relaxing and friendly environment
97%
say it has interesting and varied talks
93%
say there is the chance to connect with peers
90%
say there are fresh ideas
89%
say there is the chance to share challenges
What to expect from the day
11:30
Barn to Boardroom is held in a converted barn in Lurgashall, just outside of Haslemere. Attendees will find it best to arrive around 11.30am, with plenty of parking you can drive here, get dropped off or with Haslemere Station nearby, lifts can be arranged.
12:00 – 17:00
Expect fog clearing insight and practical solutions in a space where you can share your knowledge, learn and collaborate with others. We’ll hear from some incredible speakers on their different perspectives on influencing with impact. And we’ll get hands-on in practical workshops where you can learn new skills to put into practice when you get back to the day job.
17:00 onwards
The Surgery’s famous HamburgerBarn® BBQ will be ready at 5pm for all you meat eaters and plant lovers, with a bar & local tipple tasting too!
Our speakers for 2026
Our speakers this year gave incredible insight on Influencing with Impact.
Get to know Barn to Boardroom a little better
Hear from our attendees
Heidi Bartholemew
Communications specialist, easyJet
POV: you open my phone after Barn to Boardroom 2026. 👀 Thank you for having me The Surgery, Carly Murray! #KeepingHeidiHungry
Amy Thomson
Internal Communications Manager, PerkinElmer
Another wonderful Barn To Boardroom completed – made even more special by recieving my diploma results 🎉 Somewhere between frantic notetaking during fabulous speaker sessions, eating ice-cream and running around a farm, I opened the email I’d been anxiously awaiting to find out I achieved a Distinction in my Level 6 Diploma in Internal Communications! 🤯
Julia Samway
Internal Communication Lead, Anglian Water Services
There’s not many things I’ll voluntarily drive 3 hours to attend (aside holidays) but my trip down to Surrey to attend #barntoboardroom this week was well worth the effort. Not only was its location stunning but the content was brilliant. The presentations were insightful, relevant and delivered with just the right amount of humour to keep the room engaged. Story telling at its best.
Louise Creighton
Care Communications & Engagement Lead, McCarthy Stone
This week I attended my first #BarntoBoardroom event hosted by Carly Murray and The Surgery team. We packed a lot in to a very short space of time! The theme was Influencing with Impact, with some fantastic speakers. I particularly enjoyed the Finding your Influencers talk given by Rebecca Lindsay , the tips on building an effective AI agent, the Influencer tactics workshop hosted by @Si Andrew and the treasure hunt in an idyllic barn location which enabled you to connect with people who have similar internal comms challenges to you, while having a bit of fun at the same. Can’t wait to return next year!
Keren McCarron
Director and Communications Consultant, KJM Comms
Earlier this week I attended my first #BarntoBoardroom conference run by The Surgery. It was absolutely brilliant! Great sessions from the speakers Rebecca Lindsay, Shan Chatoo, Molly Malone and Simon Andrew, who shared lots of really practical tips that are definitely going to come in handy very soon. The farm / barn setting was amazing and it was great to meet and chat to lots of new faces, as well as friends from the world of comms. I’ll definitely be back next year!
Ciara Kearns
Internal Communications Manager, Haven
It’s always a great day when you get together with other “Comms People”. Thanks to The Surgery for organising another fun-packed #BarntoBoardroom event. Seeing some friendly faces and meeting new ones – it was filled with amazing speakers and discussions on Internal Influencers and AI, and of course the infamous Treasure Hunt! I came away with so much energy and inspiration!
Catherine Kernot
Senior Internal Communications Manager, Frontiers
There’s a reason Barn to Boardroom is one of the hottest tickets in the internal comms event calendar and it’s not just the incredible location or the onsite ice cream van (although that is an attraction). The real draw is the level of expertise in the room and the generous willingness to share it. This year the focus was on the role of influence in internal comms – how we build it, how we leverage the influence of others, and how integral it is to everything we do.
Jennifer Ball
Communications and Engagement consultant, Moss
Yesterday, I attended my second Barn to Boardroom and, once again, it was a great reminder of the value of stepping away from our desks to think differently. Set in the beautiful Sussex countryside, it was also lovely to catch up with former colleagues and reconnect outside our usual working environments. This year’s theme, Influencing with Impact, really resonated with me. As communicators, we often need to influence without authority, build credibility quickly and demonstrate the strategic value of communications. As a consultant, building relationships quickly is especially important, so one of my key takeaways was that influence starts with listening, understanding culture and building trust.
Smriti Krishna Kumar
Independent Communications Consultant
I’m writing this post to change how you think about influence. Which means I need to admit: I’m trying to influence you right now. There, I said it. Isn’t that the truth? Most people don’t admit that. They pretend their wisdom is neutral. It isn’t. The theme for this year: (Not just) Influence, but Influence with Impact. And boy, it delivered.