Welcome back to the Peer Suite Agenda, your weekly briefing on what matters for your career, network, and next move.

After a long hot summer (where you hopefully took some time off work and enjoyed a few Aperol's!), September is upon us bringing some renewed enthusiasm for getting out and building relationships. With that in mind, I wanted to share two upcoming events I'd love to see you at.

Our Women's Curated Networking Morning is at The Roof Gardens on 15th September, and a virtual masterclass on ageing well with Jules Anderson is on the 11th. Details and links below.

There's plenty more in this edition, from what's on our radar this week that you should be aware of to several helpful free resources to support your career.

🎭 BOOK THIS NOW The Design Museum opens Es Devlin: Other Worlds on 2nd October, the first European retrospective covering the stage designer's 30-year career, from Olympic ceremonies to Beyoncé's tours to a full replica of her London studio. It runs through April, but London exhibitions like this tend to sell out their opening weeks fast.

🏢 THE OFFICE DEBATE ISN'T COOLING OFF HSBC, John Lewis and IKEA have all tightened their office attendance rules this year, and the list of UK employers doing the same keeps growing. Most cite culture and collaboration as the reason, with many facing pushback from staff who've adjusted to the flexibility.

💰 MARK THE DATE The Chancellor will deliver the Autumn Budget on Wednesday 28th October, and one change is already confirmed, the cash ISA allowance drops from £20,000 to £12,000 for under-65s from April 2027.

🍂 THE SEPTEMBER RESET, EXPLAINED TikTok's calling it the Great Lock-In, a shift away from treating September as the sad end of summer and towards treating it as the actual start of the year. Search interest in "winter arc" is up 180% and it's less about pumpkin spice than digital detoxes, earlier nights and more structured routines. Whatever you make of the TikTok branding, the underlying idea, that autumn suits a reset better than January does.

🧠 THE SKILL TO BUILD NOW Executive coach Liz Tran argues on the Afford Anything podcast that AI has made a high IQ common, so the thing that now sets people apart is AQ, your capacity to handle change, setbacks and uncertainty without freezing. She frames it as trainable skill, with four ways people typically respond to change and a simple framework for building more agility.

NHS Every Mind Matters. A free two-minute quiz that checks in on your mental wellbeing, stress, sleep, mood, and gives you a personalised set of tips based on the results. GET YOUR MIND PLAN​

Reed's Free Interview Masterclass. Controlling nerves, turning rejection into something useful, and the questions candidates are getting asked right now. WATCH HERE​

MoneyHelper. Free, government-backed guidance on pensions, savings and ISAs, by phone or webchat. GET GUIDANCE​

Peer Suite Members: you have access to Building Your Personal Board of Directors Course in the Academy. This is a helpful resource when thinking about deepening your network in September. If you're not yet a member explore membership here.

I'd love to see some of you at The Roof Gardens on the 15th or on the call with Jules Anderson this month. Both are easy ways to make September count and build your network.

Warmly,

Rebecca

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