The Master's Weekend is one of those livery traditions that does more than it appears to. Most Masters use their year to gather members somewhere away from the City for a residential weekend: part fellowship, part shared endeavour, and a chance for people who usually meet over dinner to actually work on something together. The format varies by company. The intent rarely does.

This year it returned to Cambridge, from Friday 8th to Sunday 10th May, hosted by the Master Entrepreneur, Alderman Alastair King DL, and the Master's Consort, Mrs Florence King. Given the setting, Florence devised something the weekend does not always include: a thread of structured academic work, built around a single question and run with help from the Cambridge Judge Business School.

The question was a plain one with no easy answer. Why aren't there enough scale-ups in the UK? The aim was to put entrepreneurial experience to work through a proper action research approach, and produce something useful rather than another round of abstract debate. The findings are currently being written up.

Florence takes up the account:

As Mistress Entrepreneur, alongside the Master Entrepreneur, Alastair King, I had the privilege of hosting a weekend in Cambridge dedicated to exploring the challenges and opportunities facing entrepreneurship and economic growth in the UK. A serious amount of effort was put in by all who attended, and the discussions were fascinating. Sustained by a wonderful curry on Friday evening and a memorable black-tie dinner at Wolfson College on Saturday, participants collaborated to develop a piece of action research that is currently being written up. We were also honoured to welcome Lord Karan Bilimoria, who shared the initial findings from his PhD research examining leadership among minority religious communities around the world, providing valuable insight and inspiration.

Friday: craftsmanship in St Neots

The weekend opened at Gallyon in St Neots, courtesy of Past Master Gunmaker Richard Hefford-Hobbs. Gallyon is the UK's oldest extant gunmaker, and Richard is the managing director of both it and the engineering firm Cambridge Precision. The tour combined 18th-century heritage craftsmanship with 21st-century precision engineering, which turned out to be a fitting place to start a weekend about how good companies grow.

From St Neots, Greys of Ely, operating coaches in Cambridgeshire since 1947, carried the party and its weekend bags into central Cambridge. There was just time to settle in before Evensong at King's College Chapel at 5.30pm.

Dinner that night was informal and pay-as-you-go at Namaste Village, a vegetarian Indian restaurant in the city, and the source of the curry Florence mentions above. A good way to set up for a full Saturday.

Saturday: the work, and the dinner

Saturday was the heart of it. Members made their way to the Cambridge Judge Business School on Trumpington Street, founded and endowed by Past Master Entrepreneur Sir Paul Judge, for the first of the day's research sessions. Coffee on arrival, a day of facilitated work led by Martijn Sjoorda and Florence King, and a sandwich lunch at midday.

The afternoon broke for a couple of hours, long enough for punting on the Cam or a visit to the Fitzwilliam Museum, before the group returned to CJBS for the second session. As part of that session, Liveryman Lord Bilimoria shared the early findings of his doctoral research into leadership among minority religious communities around the world.

The evening moved to Wolfson College. The Vice-President, Dr Kevin Greenbank, welcomed the party to the Combination Room for sherry from 7pm, black tie preferred. A four-course late spring menu followed, with wines from the College cellars. Over cheese and port, Dr Greenbank spoke, and the Master proposed the health of the guests and hosts in reply.

The College Bar then stayed open until midnight, which, as these things tend to, seemed like a fine idea at the time.

Sunday: conclusions, and a Yorkshire pudding

Sunday morning was left open. Some ran, some found the gym, some went to Selwyn College Chapel, and at least one party located a suspiciously cheap breakfast. Every level of physical, spiritual and digestive fitness was catered for.

The final research session took place at midday in the Roger Needham Room at Wolfson College. Martijn Sjoorda and Florence King drew together the threads from Saturday and led the group through the last of the work and its conclusions.

For those who could stay, the weekend closed with a Yorkshire pudding wrapped Sunday lunch at the Red Bull in Newnham. The write-up of the action research will follow.