As well as Elizabeth Mills, the founding members of Éminence Grise are Isabel Walker, Sue Blackmore and Carole Wanless, all of whom have considerable experience of voluntary sector planning, development, management, communications and evaluation.

Elizabeth Mills said: "We realised that as a group we were in a better position to offer charities our wide range of skills but we wanted to provide a cost-effective solution so we are still freelancers in our own fields as well. This way we can keep abreast of current thinking and changes in practice, continue networking and provide bespoke solutions to organisational problems."

Several of the clients that the team has worked with have been at the forefront of the research into the ageing process and age associated disability, so the name Éminence Grise, a powerful decision maker, or "grey power", was chosen to highlight this particular strand of expertise.