New Citizen Project

What New Citizen Project does

New Citizen Project is a London-based participation strategy and innovation consultancy founded in 2014 by Jon Alexander and Irenie Ekkeshis, operating through the legal entity Orbell & Company Limited. The firm helps government bodies, charities, mission-led businesses, and commercial brands shift from consumer-centric to citizen-centric engagement models, using creative strategy, social psychology, behavioural theory, and design thinking to design participatory strategies, build internal participatory culture, and deliver participatory processes such as Citizen Assemblies, public dialogues, and co-creation workshops. Its service portfolio comprises three interconnected lines — Strategy, Culture, and Delivery — supported by branded intellectual property including the #CitizenShift report and movement, RAPID Democracy, and the Purposeful Participation Toolkit authored by Strategy Partner Anna Maria Hosford.

The business operates as a project-based professional services consultancy, typically engaged through direct sales, referrals, and inbound interest generated by thought leadership. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. The firm is B Corp certified (since 2018) and has built credibility through co-founder Jon Alexander's book 'CITIZENS', which received McKinsey and World Economic Forum recognition. Named clients include the Singapore Government (Forward Singapore), RSPB, National Trust, The Body Shop, Historic England, National Autistic Society, Q Community, MND Association, Moorfields Eye Hospital, and the London 2012 Paralympics.

The company runs with a lean team of approximately 6–7 named individuals, including the two co-founders, a Business Director, a Client Partner, a Strategy Partner, and a Projects Co-ordinator. There is no evidence of external institutional investment, and the firm operates from a co-working space at Better Space, 127 Farringdon Road, London. Geographic reach spans the UK and selectively into Asia Pacific via the Singapore Government engagement, and distribution relies primarily on publications, social media (X, LinkedIn group with 8,100+ members), newsletter, and earned media.

Name

New Citizen Project

Legal name

Orbell & Company Limited

Website

https://newcitizenproject.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

New Citizen Project is a London-based participation strategy and innovation consultancy that helps governments, charities, and mission-led brands involve people as citizens rather than consumers through strategy, culture-building, and participatory process delivery, supported by its #CitizenShift and RAPID Democracy frameworks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Participation Strategy Consultancy

NAICS

Public Relations Agencies (54182), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Democratic Governance & Public Administration Reform (BPADAGAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Technical Cooperation, Capacity Building & Policy Advisory Programs (BPADABAO)

Keywords

• Participation strategy consultancy
• Citizen assembly design
• Deliberative democracy services
• Co-creation workshops
• Public sector engagement

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Consultancy Services: Strategy and innovation consultancy services delivered to organizations including local government, national charities, mission-led businesses, and commercial brands. Projects include participation strategy development, culture building programs, and delivery of participatory processes.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

New Citizen Project is a participation strategy and innovation consultancy that helps organisations involve people as citizens rather than consumers. Its core offering comprises three integrated service lines: Strategy (participatory strategy development), Culture (training and capacity building for participatory ways of working), and Delivery (designing and running participatory processes such as Citizen Assemblies, public dialogues, online conversations, and co-creation workshops). Services are delivered to government bodies, charities, mission-led businesses, and commercial brands.

Product overview

New Citizen Project is a participation strategy and innovation consultancy offering a unified service portfolio rather than a software platform. The core offering comprises three interconnected service lines: Strategy Services (participatory strategy development), Culture Services (training and capacity building for participatory ways of working), and Delivery Services (designing and running participatory processes). These services are supported by branded frameworks and publications including #CitizenShift (the mission and report), RAPID Democracy, and the Purposeful Participation Toolkit. The consultancy works with all types of organisations to help them involve people as citizens rather than consumers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategy Services Consulting services helping organisations put participation at the heart of their aims, identifying opportunities for impactful involvement and the practical steps needed to realise them. Delivered to government bodies, charities, mission-led businesses, and commercial brands.
• Culture Services Building the belief, confidence, and capacity for working in more participatory ways; running training and sustained learning programmes to build the participatory muscle of organisations inside and out.
• Delivery Services Designing and delivering participatory processes from Citizen Assemblies to public dialogues, online conversations, and bespoke co-creation workshops to kickstart greater involvement.
• #CitizenShift A report and movement focused on catalyzing a shift from a consumer-led to a more participatory, citizen-led society, serving as the overarching mission framework for New Citizen Project’s consultancy work.
• RAPID Democracy A publication and programme focused on rapid approaches to democratic participation, helping organisations implement participatory processes quickly and effectively.
• Purposeful Participation Toolkit A toolkit authored by Anna Maria Hosford providing frameworks and resources for implementing purposeful citizen participation within organisations.

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Better SpaceminorOthersCo-working space provider hosting New Citizen Project's headquarters at 127 Farringdon Road, London.
• Empathy WeekminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducation festival using the power of film to develop empathy skills in students worldwide. Andy Galloway serves on the Empathy Week board.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• People Powered: Global hub supporting participatory democracy and citizen-led governance, particularly in climate action. Shares New Citizen Project's mission focus on shifting from consumer to citizen and uses similar participatory methodology.
• mySociety: UK civic technology charity building digital tools for citizen participation and government transparency. Adjacent to New Citizen Project's mission but emphasizes technology platform delivery rather than consultancy-led process design.

Broad incumbents

• Royal Society of Arts (RSA): Long-established UK think tank and fellowship organization running citizen engagement, deliberative democracy and social purpose programmes. Overlaps with New Citizen Project's public participation mission but operates across a much broader agenda.
• Forum for the Future: International sustainability non-profit using stakeholder participation and multi-stakeholder dialogue methods for systems change. Comparable in mission-led positioning and participatory process methodology, but applied to sustainability rather than civic engagement.

Direct peers

• Sortition Foundation: UK non-profit promoting the use of sortition (random selection) for citizens' assemblies and other democratic processes. Operates in the same deliberative democracy niche with comparable client and methodology overlap.
• The Democratic Society: UK-based civic participation consultancy advising governments and institutions on democratic innovation. Overlaps directly with New Citizen Project's strategy and delivery work for government and public sector clients.
• Involve UK: UK charity specializing in deliberative democracy, citizens' assemblies and public engagement. Closely comparable to New Citizen Project in both client base (UK government, charities) and service offering (participatory process design and delivery).
• DemocracyNext: International organization advancing deliberative democracy and citizens' assemblies through partnerships with governments. Comparable to New Citizen Project in mission, methodology and target government clients (e.g., similar to its Singapore Government work).

Others

• Decidim: Open-source participatory democracy platform used by governments and organizations to run citizen assemblies, consultations and co-creation processes. Enables the type of work New Citizen Project delivers, representing both a potential partnership and a competitive technology substitute.

Regional players

• d|part: German-based participation design consultancy providing research, training, and process design for participatory governance. Highly comparable methodology and service mix but primarily serves European (especially German-speaking) markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NewCitProj
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/newcitizenproject

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 New Citizen Project