Business leaders need a lot of qualities. The ability to think on your feet comes to mind, as does operating in high-pressure, high-scrutiny situations. Then there's compromise and delegation with other leaders. Most of these situations don't arise when you're pitching boozy cheese ice cream to your friends' bosses.

Futurehub has been running since 2013, developed as an amalgamation of MDHUB's leadership development work that stretches back over 20 years. The programme targets future senior leaders - people identified by their MDs as likely to step into more senior roles within the next 12 months.

I was one of three people playing the role of 'dragon' at this year's finale, alongside MDHUB's members Alan Margetts - MDHUB's Leader of the Year - and Pete Burden. Our Futurehub cohort were finishing their course with a challenge to use all of their newfound skills: they had a single day to develop a brand, a product range, an operational plan and financial projections.

They landed on the slightly leftfield concept of a luxury ice cream company built around flavours like blue cheese and bloody mary sorbet, each served in a 'naughty' or 'nice' version, with the former coming with additional alcohol or extra toppings. The flavours, against all rational explanation, were enjoyable.

The pitch itself was slicker than you'd expect, given the team only had a single day to pull it together. Helena Tehrani of Heritage Parts Centre and Ian Jones of My Food Ideas led proceedings with real confidence; however, what was especially impressive was the camaraderie among individuals who had not met at the start of the course, with very different skill sets drawn from a range of businesses, from landscaping to events to engineering.

Helena reflects: "I have been on many courses that rely heavily on theory and slide decks, but this one is completely different. The course teaches by 'doing', engaging you in practical activities, meaningful teamwork exercises and discussing 'real time' leadership challenges."

The programme's director, Phil Green, says this is intentional: "The cohort gain in confidence, business understanding and are exposed to other businesses in a way that they simply do not get in their own company."

Futurehub covers the building blocks of business: financial literacy, legal responsibilities, team leadership theory. But it's watching the leaders develop their soft skills which is one of Phil's real delights.

"The core people skills are still - or even more - vital," he says. "The big changes over the years have been technology, automation and AI to smooth the operational side. The human side remains unchanged."

The results from previous cohorts make a quiet but powerful case for Futurehub. Two delegates from the first programme and one from the second were promoted to the board and have since bought out the founders of their businesses. Three from the second cohort hold senior director positions. Two others from the first programme went on to run their own businesses after helping their original employers sell up. "I have no doubt this current cohort will be doing the same thing soon."

One of the cohort's MDs was there to see the final pitch, and commented that his nominee had grown in stature and confidence tenfold as a result of Futurehub. One of Phil's more memorable anecdotes from last year's programme involves an MD who pulled him aside at the Spring Equinox event to tell him off. A formerly shy delegate now "won't shut up" in senior meetings. "He did say that his contribution was very good though," Phil adds, with a smile.

Mark Wood-Davis of TKS Group, a current participant, notes something more specific: the relief of discovering that the uncertainty he'd felt about his role was perfectly normal: everyone else in the room felt it too.

Ian Jones of My Food Ideas knows the feeling. "When you run your own business, you usually do so because you are especially good at a particular skill that customers want. The skill of successfully running that business, however, is an entirely different matter. Futurehub has given me a level of confidence in running my company that I had never felt before. Phil has been instrumental in my personal growth throughout the programme, giving me the confidence to navigate running a company in 2026 with real clarity and purpose."

MDHUB, as a collective, is built on the idea that leaders are at their best when they’re surrounded by others facing the same challenges. The peer groups that sit at the heart of the main membership - where CEOs and directors meet regularly with others who understand exactly what it's like to carry that weight - are built on years of trust and candour. Futurehub offers this to those earlier in the journey.

Steve King of Cheesmur Building Contractors describes MDHUB as "the best kept secret in Sussex." After an afternoon watching a group of future directors hold their nerve against three unusually stern dragons to make a blue cheese ice cream seem like a reasonable business proposition - it's a secret that deserves wider acclaim.