The Haberdashers’ Company and the Haberdasher family of schools

Did you know a 700-year-old City of London guild educates 12,000 young people today? The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers’ began in the 1300s as a trade association for merchants dealing in silk, velvet, and hats. Today, it’s the driving force behind a family of schools spanning independent and state sectors across England and Wales — […]

Mentorship That Matters: Abdul’s Habs Aspire Story

Abdul didn’t come to Habs Aspire with a plan. He came, by his own admission, because he was bored of the same old routine and wanted something more. But even he wasn’t quite sure what he’d signed up for. Speaking at Haberdashers’ Hall as part of a Habs Aspire celebration, Abdul reflected on his first […]

Equipping young people for a changing world of work

Now more than ever, young people need support from professionals like you. The subject of the 2025 Haberdashers’ Futures Careers Conference was ‘Careers for 2030’, intentionally chosen to respond to the changing nature of the world of work and to support students to be adequately prepared. The need for this was proven by students who […]

What do schools owe their communities?

Teachers are ranked among the five most trusted professionals in Britain at 85 per cent – against politicians at 9 per cent. In a fractured civic landscape, schools are among the last institutions communities still genuinely trust. On 4 June, over a hundred governors, staff and Haberdasher members gathered in West Smithfield to spend a […]

Liz Sidwell – the woman behind the schools

As Hatcham College marks 150 years and Haberdashers’ Academies Trust Southcelebrates its 20th anniversary, Dr ElizabethSidwell CBE — the woman who founded the federation — reflects on what it took. When Elizabeth Sidwell arrived at Hatcham in the early 1990s, there was a sit-in protest outside the gates. Hatcham had been designated a City Technology […]

Ben’s Habs Aspire story: Transformative and motivational

When Ben signed up to Habs Aspire, he wasn’t quite sure what to expect. What he found was a mentor who helped turn a niche career ambition into a clear, confident plan for the future. Diving in with an open mind “When I first signed up to Aspire, I had no clue what to expect […]

Why Habs Aspire needs you: what our students are telling us

Baseline data from this year’s Habs Aspire mentees shows exactly where the gaps are – and exactly what a mentor can do to close them. Every student who joins Habs Aspire completes a baseline survey as part of their onboarding. It’s not a formality. The questions map directly onto our theory of change, and the […]

Aske Accounts 2025

Find here the Aske Charity accounts for 2025. The object of The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Charity (“the Charity”) is ‘to promote in Greater London and the neighbourhood thereof the education, including social and physical training, of boys and girls and in particular but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing to conduct and maintain schools […]

Laying the groundwork

In June 300 Year 5 pupils from across the family of schools joined us at Haberdashers Hall. Split across four days, pupils were in mixed groups from the beginning of the day – gaining the opportunity to meet one another as well as take part in sessions to better understand the work of the Company […]

The civic roles of schools and trusts

On 4 June 2026, school leaders, governors, trustees and practitioners from across the Haberdashers’ family gathered at Haberdashers’ Hall in West Smithfield for the annual Education Symposium. This year’s theme — The Civic Role of Schools and Trusts — posed a question that ran through the whole day: what do schools owe their communities, and what does it […]