The Federation of Archaeological Managers and Employers has decided to transfer delivery of the Chief Executive Officer role from our existing contract with Headland Archaeological Services to Cognaterra Ltd, effective 1st August 2026.
The CEO role is provided on a consultancy basis, to action the vision of the board and to ensure the efficient management of the organisation, and FAME’s board of directors is grateful to the contribution made by Kenneth Aitchison of Headland over the past 16 months, and to Landward Research Ltd previously, in the supply of this essential function.
The move to appoint Chris Brayne of Cognaterra has been made after a market testing exercise, which recognises the changing nature of the working environment facing FAME members. Cognaterra’s specialist combination of cutting-edge information technology and experience in management consultancy will enable FAME to develop advice and services to help the membership navigate the fast-moving technological challenges and opportunities over the next three years. The new CEO will focus on FAME’s offer as a Trade Association within the contemporary marketplace, develop its contribution to the heritage sector, and help position the organisation as a leading advocate for the industry within the UK and Ireland.
We are happy to announce the 2026 FAME Forum programme.
The AGM will occur on Thursday, 18th of June at 6pm. Before then, there will be a workshop: Collaborative Approaches to Bioarchaeology and Biomolecular Archaeology in Commercial Archaeology to be delivered by Professor Michelle Alexander and Dr Jessie Hendy of the University of York’s BioARCH team. This will also take place in Merchant Taylors’ Hall, starting at 4pm and continuing until 5pm.
On Friday 19th June 2026, the FAME Forum will be held at Merchant Taylors’ Hall, Aldwark, York YO1 7BX with a series of presentations of matters relevant to archaeological business practice for discussion.
Coffee will be available from 09:00, and the Forum will begin at 09:45. Lunch will be provided, and the day will conclude at 16:15.
09:45 Welcome
Tim Malim (Chair of the Board of FAME Directors)
10:00 Mergers, Acquisitions and Exit Strategies for Business Owners
Andy Heald & Tom Rees (AOC)
10:30 Buying Business Continuity at PCA
Chris Mayo & Mark Hinman (Pre-Construct Archaeology)
11:00 Meet FAME members – SUMO Geosurveys
Claire Rose (SUMO Geosurveys)
11:15 Teas & Coffees
11:45 Political Outlook for Archaeology
Rob Lennox (CIfA)
12:15 The Second National Highways Environmental Framework
Jim Hunter (National Highways)
12:45 Lunch
13:45 Buried Archaeology & Solar Farms: the new practice guide
Rob Sutton (Cotswold Archaeology)
14:15 FAME H&S Standards Advice – life after CSCS
Luke Brannlund (Cotswold Archaeology)
14:45 Teas & Coffees
15:15 Direct and Grassroots Advocacy for Associations
Amanda Stratton (ACRA)
15:45 Ground Truths: commercial archaeology in 2026
FAME, the Federation of Archaeological Managers and Employers, is the trade association for companies working in development-led archaeology in the UK and Ireland.
Every year, we hold a FAME Forum event, and this year it will take place over two days (18th and 19th June 2026) in the Merchant Taylors’ Hall, York. On the first day (Thursday 18th), we will have an afternoon workshop session focusing on Health, Safety and Environmental management, covering current, topical matters of importance to our members. The FAME AGM will then take place on Thursday evening (18th), which will be followed by post-AGM refreshments.
On the second day (Friday 19th), we will have a full day of relevant presentations from FAME members and other interested partners, providing news and relevant, up-to-date information, advice and guidance that will support archaeological managers and employers in the running of their businesses.
To support this event, there are a range of sponsorship opportunities available:
Being “The 2026 FAME Forum Sponsor”, which will provide you with
a Table (as below under item 2), registration for two people and the opportunity to make a presentation to the entire FAME Forum for up to ten minutes.
You would be identified as the 2026 FAME Forum Sponsor on FAME’s website, in the FAME Forum Programme, and in any email communications we have with our membership before the FAME Forum and in any follow-up emails (informing members of any post-event follow-up). You would also be identified as the sponsor in any videos of the presentations that we produce. The Chair would publicly thank you at the start and end of each day of the FAME Forum. This would be for a sponsorship contribution of £10,000 (+VAT).
Table
to have registration for one person and one table at the FAME Forum in York on Thursday 18th June 2026 from 1230 – 1800, and on Friday 19th June 2025 from 0900 – 1600. This will be a table in the hall where the FAME Forum takes place, which will give you access to all the delegates during registration, tea/coffee breaks and lunch, allowing you to network and share information about your services. This would be for a sponsorship contribution of £2,000 (+VAT).
Separately, each of the refreshment breaks can also be sponsored:
Post-AGM refreshments (18th June) – fish & chips and beer, for an estimated 60 people for £2,000 (+VAT).
Morning coffee break at FAME Forum (19th June), for an estimated 90 people, for £900 (+VAT)
Buffet Lunch at FAME Forum (19th June) for an estimated 90 people, for £3,600 (+VAT)
Afternoon tea break at FAME Forum (19th June) for an estimated 90 people, for £900 (+VAT)
Sponsorship of any of the refreshment breaks will also include registration for one person.
Last year’s attendance
88 Attendees
39 Firms
55% of UK archaeological market represented
£187m total gross revenues in attendance
To discuss sponsoring this event, please contact Kenneth Aitchison, FAME CEO ceo@famearchaeology.co.uk
FAME is seeking to review its Chief Executive role to provide the trade association with a strategic lead for the development and delivery of its aims and objectives. The appointee will take responsibility for FAME’s advocacy work and represent FAME with major stakeholders, with effect from July 2026.
This is a role for an independent, senior figure with a detailed understanding of the historic environment sector looking to play an influential part in driving significant improvements in policy and operations affecting commercial archaeology in the UK and Ireland.
The role requires excellent communication and leadership skills, diplomacy and the ability to represent FAME’s diverse membership right across the UK and Ireland without actual or perceived conflict. The proposed engagement is based on a flexible approach, attending events and meetings as required.
On average, this part-time role requires five days a month, including attendance at various meetings around the UK and Ireland, preparation and attendance at quarterly meetings of the FAME Management Board, and organisation of the annual AGM and networking Forum.
FAME’s secretariat includes a Deputy CEO, and the secretariat reports to the Chair, Vice-Chair, Honorary Treasurer, and directors who serve as the management board.
The engagement is proposed on a consultancy fee basis initially for a three-year period with the possibility of extension. As appropriate, availability for some shadowing during June would be beneficial as part of a hand-over process.
To apply for this position, please submit your CV and personal vision for leading FAME forward over the next three – five years to the Chair, Tim Malim, at: hamptonheritageltd@gmail.com
End date for applications 28th February, short-listing and interviews before the end of March.
For a role specification and a confidential discussion on what is involved in this key role in the heritage sector, please contact either:
Following the attendance and contribution of Amanda Stratton, the American Cultural Resources Association (ACRA)’s Chief Executive to our AGM and FAME Forum in June, Kenneth Aitchison, FAME’s CEO, returned the favour (favor) in September by attending and reporting to their Board meeting, and contributing to their annual conference which was held in Raleigh, North Carolina. A brief report from Kenneth on the experience:
“I informed the ACRA board about FAME activities in the last year (a tailored version of the report I gave to the FAME AGM in June), and discussed opportunities for cooperation between FAME and ACRA, and between our members. ACRA Board were particularly interested in learning about the FAME Carbon Calculator for Development-led Archaeology.
At that time ACRA had c110 members to FAME’s 73, with an overlap of three companies that are members of both. FAME and ACRA are now making plans for joint online events, presenting information, advice and guidance that will be of use to archaeological managers and employers on both sides of the Atlantic.
Immediately following the Board meeting, I was the co-organiser and co-chair of two sessions at their annual conference. I spoke in the first of these, ‘We Have A Sister!: The Development of ACRA’s Partnership Initiatives and the Formation of the Canadian Cultural Resources Association’, presenting a potted history of FAME’s role in development-led archaeology in the UK together with information about our activities (see slides below). That session also heard updates from ACRA’s other partner associations and was followed by ‘Innovations in Archaeological Field Methods: ACRA and Its International Partners’, with three papers highlighting cutting-edge methodologies being applied in the US, Canada and the UK.”
Note: FAME was not charged for travel, subsistence or other expenses for Kenneth’s attendance at this conference. His time was charged to FAME for the periods of the Board meeting and the conference sessions he was co-chairing, but all other costs were met by Headland Archaeology.
We are proud to announce the publication of the newest State of the Archaeological Market Report. It presents the results of the survey for 2023-24, in the United Kingdom.
The overall aims of this survey are to provide:
a unique analysis of the archaeological sector as part of the overall economy;
statistics that allow estimation of total value of the sector to the economy;
data on indicative numbers of employed professional archaeologists working in the commercial sector with comparative figures for other areas;
data for analysis of long-term sustainability for the sector;
data that can enable informed lobbying to help protect heritage; and
data to support planning effectively for the future so that the industry is sustainable and results in a benefit for society.
You can find and read the full report here. Occasionally, these reports are updated so please check here for the most recent version :
This year is FAME’s 50th anniversary and at the FAME Forum the attendees were presented with a letter from the first CEO and Honorary Life President of FAME, Adrian Tindall. You can find that letter below:
From January 2025, both FAME’s CEO and Deputy CEO have separately moved to work for new employers, and the contracts to deliver those services in both cases have transferred over to those new employers. Formerly, both Kenneth Aitchison (FAME’s CEO) and Doug Rocks-Macqueen (FAME’s Deputy CEO) worked for Landward Research Ltd (not a FAME member), and FAME had two contracts with that company for those services. The contract to provide FAME with a CEO has transferred to Headland Archaeology Ltd (a FAME member), where Kenneth is International Business Development Manager. The Deputy CEO contract has been transferred to Open Past, a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation, where Doug is Executive Director. Any risks of potential conflicts of interest that might arise from having a FAME member employ the CEO are mitigated by our CEO separating himself from FAME’s decision-making process on any matters that would have a disproportionate positive or negative impacts on Headland or on any other FAME member or members.
The Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Archaeological Managers and Employers Ltd will take place at Merchant Taylors’ Hall, Aldwark, York YO1 7BX, commencing at 6.00pm on Thursday 26th June 2025.
Preceding the AGM, there will be two Health and Safety workshops organised by the Chair of the FAME Health and Safety Group. These will also take place in Merchant Taylors’ Hall, starting at 3.00pm and continuing until 5.00pm, and all delegates are welcome to attend.
Workshop one: Using the FAME Carbon Calculator for Commercial Archaeology Workshop two: “Ouch I’m new here” – mitigating the risks to new starters.
Following the AGM, refreshments will be served, and then an informal social event will take place. The AGM and drinks are sponsored by FAME member, Magnitude Surveys.
On the following day, Friday 27th June, the FAME Forum will be held at Merchant Taylors’ Hall, Aldwark, York YO1 7BX, with a series of presentations of matters relevant to archaeological business practice for discussion.
10:00 Welcome, Tim Malim, Chair of the Board of FAME Directors 10:10 Trowels and Cressida: a love story set in a period of conflict, Peter Hinton, Independent 10:35 Offsite Biodiversity Net Gain and the Historic Environment; Challenges and Opportunities, Nick Overton, Project Officer, Oxford Archaeology 11:00 Meet FAME members – Humber Field Archaeology, Peter Connelly, Manager, Humber Field Archaeology 11:10 Teas & Coffees 11:30 The Association’s Role in Industry, Amanda Stratton, CEO ACRA 11:55 Contract Risk, Tariq Mian, Head of Heritage – Archaeology & Heritage Insurance Division, Towergate Insurance 12:20 Meet FAME members – Colchester Archaeological Trust, Adam Wightman, Director of Archaeology, Colchester Archaeological Trust 12:30 Lunch 13:30 FAME@50 – Leading Health and Safety in Archaeology, Luke Brannlund Safety, Health and Environment Manager, Cotswold Archaeology & Chair, FAME Health & Safety Group 14:00 Historic England and Commercial Archaeology: reflections on current and future priorities, Barney Sloane, National Specialist Services Director, Historic England 14:25 State of the Archaeological Market 2024, Kenneth Aitchison, CEO FAME 14:50 Meet FAME members – Dee Archaeological Services Dan Garner, Director, Dee Archaeological Services 15:00 Teas & Coffees 15:30 FAME at Fifty: how mature is archaeological business? Tim Malim, Chair, FAME Board & Director, Hampton Heritage Design & Consultancy Ltd 15:55 close
All members and partners can claim up to two free tickets to the Forum and AGM. To help support the next generation of managers and employers, FAME offers one additional free ticket to members who bring an early/mid-career member of staff to the Forum and AGM (3 in total).
