No agenda
Nobody in the session is selling you anything. No commission, no upsell, no pipeline behind the advice.
About
A decade of relationships, operating as a platform.
Unlocked is the operating platform for The Experience Bank. We exist to put practical, lived business experience in the hands of the people who need it, when they need it.
Why we exist
Most business decisions don't fail because the information was missing.
They fail because a question went unasked, an option went unseen, or a quiet warning went unheard. The person who would have asked the question is usually out there somewhere: already busy, and unknown to the owner who needed them.
We believe real business expertise should be accessible and affordable to any business at a time of need. Unlocked is the route to that person: a network with ten years of relationships behind it, and a platform that lets you find, book and talk to them this week. Small decisions get small input. Hard decisions get hard-won input.
What we hold to
Four things we hold to.
They decide who we take on as mentors, how we make money and what gets said in the room.
Scars, not just medals
Our mentors talk about what went wrong, not only what worked. No guru polish, no success theatre.
We say the difficult thing
Mentors tell you what they actually think, not what is comfortable to hear. Straight advice, no padding.
We've been there before
Every mentor has faced the problems of running a business themselves. Experience counts for more than qualifications.
Timeline
How we got here.
- 2014
The Experience Bank is founded
Peter Neal begins building a network of senior leaders, founders, NEDs and specialists: ten years of relationships before a single line of code is written.
- 2024
Unlocked is built around the network
The platform is built to make the network easy to find and book, without loosening the standard that makes it work.
- 2025
NatWest Accelerator pilot
21 businesses, 14 mentors, 136 hours of expert support delivered across pricing, growth, hiring, fundraising and operations.
- 2026
Scaling with combined authorities and member networks
Conversations underway with combined authorities, growth programmes and trade bodies to deliver mentoring at regional scale.
In their words
Real decisions, moved forward by relevant experience.
We Are Marka, a Newcastle-based sustainability ratings platform, needed senior cybersecurity, data protection and policy expertise that is impossible to hire for at their stage. Six hours with a specialist mentor delivered exactly that.
We Are MarkaRob BoweyCo-founder, We Are Marka
“Access to genuinely expert advice from mentors is a service that is scarce. We genuinely found this mentoring really valuable.”
The team
Built in Newcastle, by Peter Neal and James Fergus.
Peter spent a decade building The Experience Bank network. James built the platform around it. Together they started Unlocked to put that network, and a decade of real business experience, properly within reach of the businesses who need it. Unlocked Expertise Ltd is registered in England and VAT-registered in the UK.
When you are ready
Relevant experience, unlocked at the moment it matters.
Start with a brief. Meet the people who have done this before. Move the decision forward this week.
Or write to hello@unlockedexpertise.com