Hopkins Van Mil

What Hopkins Van Mil does

Hopkins Van Mil (HVM) is a London-based social research and public engagement consultancy founded in May 2005 by Henrietta Hopkins and Anita van Mil. The firm designs, facilitates, and reports on deliberative engagement processes — including public dialogue programmes, Citizens' Juries, stakeholder workshops, and co-designed research — that bring together citizens, scientists, policymakers, and sector stakeholders to deliberate on complex, often contentious societal issues. HVM operates exclusively as a professional services firm rather than a software or platform business, with no proprietary products, APIs, or technology integrations disclosed in the source material; its core "technology" is its deliberative methodology and facilitation expertise. The firm employs approximately 12 people and is headquartered at Coppergate House, 10 Whites Row, London E1 7NF.

HVM's service portfolio spans social research and deliberation, stakeholder engagement, training and organisational design, evaluation, community engagement, and post-project support. Topic coverage is broad: health and social care (NHS England, Genomics England, Nuffield Council on Bioethics), data ethics and governance (National Data Guardian, Health Research Authority, Ada Lovelace Institute), environmental science and climate (UKRI/NERC, WWF), food systems (Wellcome Trust, FFCC), emerging technologies including AI governance (Connected by Data, AI Safety Summit), heritage and culture (British Council, National Lottery Heritage Fund), and active travel (Sustrans, Canal & River Trust). The firm has delivered recognised flagship projects including the Spectrum 10K consultation (engaging 500+ participants including 409 autistic people) and the whole genome sequencing newborn screening public dialogue, the latter winning the MRS 2022 Award for Public Policy and Social Research.

HVM generates revenue through commissioned, project-based professional services fees negotiated directly with UK government agencies, research councils, healthcare organisations, and major charities. Its go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven, with no traditional marketing infrastructure beyond its website and industry recognition; business flows through trusted client relationships and procurement processes anchored in the UKRI Sciencewise public dialogue programme. The firm operates as a privately held, owner-operated boutique with no external funding rounds, no parent company, and no subsidiaries. Henrietta Hopkins remains the primary director following co-founder Anita van Mil's departure in October 2019.

Name

Hopkins Van Mil

Legal name

Hopkins Van Mil

Website

https://hopkinsvanmil.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hopkins Van Mil is a London-based social research and public engagement consultancy that designs and facilitates public dialogue programmes, Citizens' Juries, and stakeholder engagement for UK government agencies, research councils, and major charities on contentious policy issues.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Research and Engagement Services: HVM generates revenue through commissioned research projects, public dialogue programmes, stakeholder engagement exercises, and training services for public sector clients including government agencies, research councils, healthcare organizations, and charities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Hopkins Van Mil is a social research and public engagement consultancy that designs, facilitates, and reports on deliberative processes such as public dialogue programmes, Citizens' Juries, and stakeholder engagement workshops. Services are commissioned by UK government agencies, research councils, healthcare organisations, and charities to gather citizen input on complex, contentious policy and science issues. The firm also offers training and organisational design, evaluation, community engagement, and post-project support.

Product overview

Hopkins Van Mil (HVM) is a social research and public engagement consultancy, not a software product company. They offer professional services including social research and deliberation, stakeholder engagement, training and organisational design, evaluation, community engagement, and post-project support. Their work focuses on facilitating public dialogue and deliberation processes on complex societal issues such as health and social care, data ethics, environmental science, food systems, and genomics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Social Research and Deliberation Designing, facilitating and reporting on public dialogue programmes, Citizens' Juries, and deliberative research to help government, research, healthcare and charity clients gather citizen input on complex societal issues.
• Stakeholder Engagement Working with clients to identify, convene and consult stakeholders on policy, programme and infrastructure decisions across health, environment, transport, and heritage sectors.
• Training and Organisational Design Building client capability in deliberative engagement, research and co-design through tailored training and support for organisational design of public engagement functions.
• Evaluation Evaluating the impact and effectiveness of public engagement, research, and programme activities for public sector, charity, and research clients.
• Community Engagement Designing and delivering community engagement projects to inform service design, programme planning, and local decision-making for public and third sector clients.
• Post-Project Support Ongoing client support after project completion, including embedding findings, supporting dissemination and follow-through on deliberative engagement outcomes.

Quantifiable outcome

• Engaged over 500 participants in Spectrum 10K consultation including 409 autistic people
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

24 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Genomics EnglandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing collaboration on public dialogue programmes. Major project included whole genome sequencing for newborn screening dialogue that won MRS 2022 Award.
• UKRI SciencewisecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDelivery partner for Sciencewise public dialogue programmes. Sciencewise funds and supports public dialogue on science and emerging technologies.
• UK National Screening CommitteecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on public dialogue exploring implications of whole genome sequencing for newborn screening.
• Wellcome TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultiple collaborations including food systems dialogue, genomics engagement, and Human Developmental Biology Initiative public dialogue.
• Royal SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned dialogues on genetic technologies, neural interfaces, and resilient data systems.
• NHS EnglandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublic engagement partnerships on health data use and NHS policy development.
• Health Research Authority (HRA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThink Ethics public dialogue on research ethics committees.
• National Data GuardiancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPutting Good into Practice dialogue on health and social care data use.
• Nuffield Council on BioethicscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCitizens' Jury on assisted dying and pandemic ethics dialogues.
• Ada Lovelace InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on Citizens' Biometrics Council and fair partnership on NHS data dialogues.
• Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultiple environmental science public dialogues including digital environment and contemporary issues in environmental science.
• Understanding Patient DatacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on multiple health data public engagement programmes.
• British CouncilminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational museum and cultural engagement projects.
• Voyage YouthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with social justice charity working to tackle racial inequalities. HVM works with 4-5 young people each year as interns.
• Canal & River TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStakeholder engagement on water safety zones on the Lee Navigation.
• SustransminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDialogue on walking and cycling for active travel in Sandwell and Southampton.
• National Lottery Heritage FundminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHeritage engagement and evaluation projects.
• National Lottery Community FundminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHelp through Crisis programme support and Wales community engagement.
• Human Developmental Biology Initiative (HDBI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoundational UK public dialogue on human embryo research published October 2023.
• Food, Farming & Countryside Commission (FFCC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational Conversation About Food dialogue in 2023.
• UK Pandemic Ethics AcceleratorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultiple public dialogues on ethical implications of Covid-19 and pandemic preparedness.
• Connected by DataminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPeople's Panel on AI deliberative process for AI Safety Summit 2023.
• What Works Centre for WellbeingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCross-cutting themes wellbeing public dialogue.
• University of CambridgeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpectrum 10K consultation partnership with Autism Research Centre.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos UK Public Affairs: UK arm of global research group with a public-affairs and deliberative engagement practice. Competes for the same government and research-council procurement lots but with broader service lines and much larger scale.
• NatCen Social Research: UK social research charity conducting large-scale surveys and qualitative research for government and academia. Adjacent in client base and methods, but larger and broader in scope than HVM.
• Kantar Public UK: Public-sector research practice of Kantar, delivering social research and stakeholder engagement for UK government. Comparable in customer segments though with much broader methodology and global footprint.
• YouGov UK: UK-based global research and polling firm with public-affairs work for government and brands. Competes for adjacent research budgets but operates at materially larger scale and uses different core methodology.

Direct peers

• Involve: UK charity specialising in deliberative democracy, Citizens' Assemblies and public engagement, often delivering projects alongside UKRI Sciencewise. Directly comparable methodology and funder base to HVM.
• The Democratic Society: European-headquartered organisation working on democratic participation and public engagement, with overlapping UK public-sector clients. Comparable in mission, methodology, and emphasis on deliberative processes.
• Thinks Insight & Strategy: UK research and strategy consultancy with a deliberative and co-design practice serving charities and government. Closely comparable to HVM in approach, scale, and client types.
• BritainThinks: UK-based deliberative research and public engagement consultancy serving government, charities, and research funders. Highly comparable to HVM in client mix (Wellcome, UK government departments), methodology (Citizens' Juries, public dialogues), and team scale.
• Traverse: UK public engagement consultancy delivering deliberation, co-design and stakeholder engagement for public sector, health, and infrastructure clients. Closely comparable to HVM in service offering and customer segments.

Emerging players

• Citizens UK: UK community-organising coalition running citizen-led assemblies and public dialogues on social issues. Comparable in citizen-engagement methodology, though with a community-organising rather than consultancy model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HopkinsVanMil
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hopkins-van-mil-creating-connections

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hopkins Van Mil