2. Welcome
NOEL DUNNE
Company Director
In England, 67% of all pupils achieve A* to C
in English and Maths GCSEs and only 39.2%
of pupils on free school meals do. (1) Poverty,
not potential, impacts all aspects of health,
life expectancy and earning potential. Indeed,
Britain’s social mobility is getting worse and
top jobs remain dominated by the elite.
What all research reports tell us is that the
organisations creating that content, from small
digital marketing start-ups to internationally
renowned theatre companies, are still struggling to create workforces that include
people of diverse backgrounds, experiences and abilities. Just two of the dozen or
so reports produced over the last six years or so are quoted below:
“We’re not getting it right: we might think we’re a fair- and open-minded sector
where talent and merit are rewarded but the statistics tell us otherwise. If you
look, sound, think or behave differently from most of the workforce then you’ll
struggle to get in, fit in and get on in the sector.”
Panic! Social Class, Taste and Inequalities in the Creative Industries,
Lead authors: Dr Orian Brook, Dr David O’Brien, and Dr Mark Taylor. 2017
This doesn’t make sense. The creative industries should reflect the diverse
society that we live in and this is more likely if that content is produced by
people and organisations with staff who don’t look, sound, think and behave all
the same.
Creative Alliance is a small, not for profit social enterprise, and we are
passionate about addressing this in balance in our industry, and enabling young
people from all backgrounds to achieve their potential and enter sustainable
employment in the creative industries. We create opportunities for people. We
want to create more. We look forward to working with you to make that happen
in 2020.
(1) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-nation-2017
“These problems start with the entry level workforce. We have deeply ingrained
recruitment mindsets and practices about the educational background, the
acquisition of experience and the nature of paid work that excludes many young
people from getting their foot in the door.”
Building a Creative Nation
Pauline Tambling: CEO Creative & Cultural Skills
3. 1
We work across the Midlands and beyond. Our catchment area includes the
postcodes in the bottom 30% of areas of multiple deprivations. For example, the
Birmingham parliamentary constituencies of Hodge Hill, Ladywood, Erdington,
Yardley, Hall Green, Northfield, and Perry Barr which are rated amongst the 10%
most deprived constituencies in England.
These constituencies have very large populations of Black and Minority Ethnic
Communities as well as working class white communities. The majority of the
people we work with are 18-25. We are a social enterprise which means any
profit we make is invested back into the company.
We believe passionately in creating a level playing field where every
young person has the opportunity to reach their potential and thrive.
Courses are aimed at people that are furthest from the job market,
who are unemployed, underemployed or in low paid work at risk of
future automation or redundancy.
4. Who We Are
Creative Alliance is an OFSTED inspected
Independent Training Provider that helps
people get into and then get on in creative,
digital and marketing roles. We believe
passionately in creating a level playing field
where every young person has the opportunity
to reach their potential and thrive.
We do this through:
Careers education &
pre - apprenticeship training.
Apprenticeships: we’re specialists
in creative, digital and marketing
apprentices.
Digital media and digital marketing
training courses.
We are a Work Based Learning
Provider.
This means we work closely with
employers and our learners to
ensure they spend as much time
as possible in the work place.
We are inspected by Ofsted
and all our training is nationally
accredited.
We trade as a social enterprise
which means any profit we
make is invested back into the
company. For those without
the entry level skills to apply to
apprenticeships, we want to
expand our programme of high-
quality training courses.
5. 2This means we help the next generation
of copy writers, designers, digital content
producers, event & front of house assistants,
lighting & sound engineers, digital marketers,
photography assistants, software developers
and webs developers get their foot in the
door, whatever their background.
What We Offer
We offer training developed
with them, tailored to what
they need someone to
know, be able to do, that
meets their standards.
We offer expert advice
and guidance, training and
mentoring that enables them
to achieve accreditation and
move into sustainable paid
employment.
For Learners:
For Employers:
6. What We’ve
Done
72 Apprentices started and stayed on
their apprenticeship during the 2018/19
academic year.
14% were aged
18
were aged
19 -24
were aged 25+
were aged
16 or 17 23%
55% 7%
We look at where people live according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation
(IMD).
44% of people who apply for
our apprenticeships live in the
30% most deprived areas of the
Midlands according to the Index
of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)
26% of these go onto start
apprenticeships, of whom 23% complete.
Increasing this to 30% is one of our 2020
goals and reaching 40% is part of our 3
year plan.
We started a new Digital Marketer apprenticeship that includes a number of new
seminars and a qualification in Understanding Code. All 16 apprentices passed
this qualification and are ready for their full assessment in 2019/2020.
35 apprentices have attended
English, maths and ICT sessions and
exams.
We have had a 97% pass
rate combined across all three
functional skills exams.
7. 3We’ve looked at how our Development Coaches
support apprentices. It’s a very individual service,
each learner gets weekly support and around sixty
1:2:1 communications during the year.
“James keeps me up to date with news and other sources
related to digital marketing, which is engaging and also
continues to help me develop my knowledge. He always makes
sure to check up regularly on how I am doing and feeling in my
apprenticeship and I am happy.”
Shekinah Yuhanna
Digital Marketing Apprentice
DanceXchange & Birmingham International Dance Festival
“Just following up on last nights event. Can I firmly just say a
massive thank you to you and Noel for allowing me to attend
such an eye opening and career driving event. I really enjoyed
networking with so many amazing creatives.”
Joe Pickering
Digital Content Producer Apprentice
Birmingham City Football Club.
“I myself felt during my final couple of months of my
apprenticeship (and hopefully the next one) much more assured
and confident. I felt as if I was speaking to someone who was
always on the same wavelength as myself and could see how
keen I was to complete work and progress. I also felt that I
could rely on you with communications and was assured that I
could contact you if needed.”
George Miller
Digital Marketing Apprentice
Impetus
“”
8. What We’ve
Achieved in 2018/19
What we want is for people to achieve their
apprenticeship. More importantly we want
people to use their apprenticeship as a foot
in the door into paid work in creative, digital
and marketing roles.
38people completed their
apprenticeship during
2018/19.
82%
14%
68%
3%
5%
5%
5%
went into
employment
unemployed
at the time
Part time
Employment
Full time
Employment
went
travelling
Higher
Education
Untraceable
9. 4
Video makers
with IDM Media
Graphic Designers
with HDY Agency
Digital Marketers
with BBJ&K
Company Administrators
with Black Country Touring
Art Workers
with Eastnor Pottery
Digital Content Producers
with GNU Films
Former apprentices are now
working as:
These are companies within the advertising and marketing,
arts and culture and screen sectors within the creative
industries as well as people working in creative, digital
and marketing roles in other types of business. Half of all
creative, digital and marketing roles are in these types of
businesses.
10. 88%of apprentices recommend Creative
Alliance to their friends.
88%of apprentice say the support they
receive from Creative Alliance helps
them improve.
88%of apprentices say the course was well
taught and has prepared them for the
next step of their career.
85%of employers report that Creative
Alliance works well with them to review
progress and plan training for their
apprentices.
85%of employers agree that the training
creative alliance provides is up to date
and relevant.
And for 2019 – 2020
we’re working on
improving how we
communicate with
employers and
ensuring that all
apprentices receive all
the support they need
11. What We’re
Doing in
2019/20
5
Software
Developer
Cultural
Learning &
Participation
officer
Events
Assistant
We are introducing three new
apprenticeships this year.
These will complement the Creative Venue
Technician, Digital Content Producer, Digital
Marketer, Front of House Assistant and Business
Administrator apprenticeships we already provide.
We’re running more creative careers events and we’re looking to recruit
a new Outreach and Development Worker to increase the number of
people successfully applying for and completing apprenticeships from
the top 30% of most deprived areas.
We’ll be offering digital media for business and
digital marketing for business training courses.
These will be for people who want to gain the
knowledge and skills for their work but without
going down the apprenticeship route.
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12. What Our
Employers Say
“Bailey has come on leaps and bounds,
his confidence has grown, along with
his ability to do tasks without being
asked.”
Laura Goodridge
Home Instead
“George has made massive strides
in his ability to use the various
Adobe creative cloud programmes,
in particular he has gone from
knowing nothing about InDesign to
now being able to use it to create
materials for our clients. He has
grown into an important member
of the team and has now got
the confidence to suggest ideas/
solutions.”
Christopher Staincliffe
Impetous Automotive
We gather feedback from our employers
and gather this information to improve our
relationships with employers and ensure we
are delivering to the highest standard we can.
13. 6
“Joseph is a complete asset to our business. He is
a strong employee who thrives to learn more and
contributes as much as he receives. He is an active
social member of the team and gets on well with
visiting companies.“
Tim Mackrill
Redditch Palace Theatre
14. What Our
Apprentices Say
We gather feedback from our learners
and reflect on what we’re doing well
and what we need to get better.
This help us make sure we’re always
improving what we offer.
“Since beginning this apprenticeship
with Blueprint Design & Graphics,
I feel that I have become a lot more
confident both in myself and my
creative decisions (both inside and
outside of the workplace).”
Hannah W
Blue Print Design and Print
“There is a clear structure in terms of
what skills I will develop and the ways
and means in which this will be done.
The work assigned to me is highly
applicable to my role at Water Direct”
Stephen B
Water Direct
15. 7
“I think I have learnt so much since working
for Think. They have trained me really well and
welcomed me as part of the team. I still feel like I
have a lot to learn but I love going to work so I’m
willing to learn and listen.”
Sophie N
Think BDW
16. Our Ofsted
Report
Apprentices love their jobs and enjoy learning from industry
experts, and knowledgeable development coaches and line
managers. Apprentices welcome the precise feedback on their
work, and this encourages them to produce a high standard of
work that helps their employers and clients.
Apprentices consider an apprenticeship to be their peferred
option compared to a university degree, as they gain extensive
knowledge of the creative industries. Most apprentices move
into rewarding jobs and careers, or into higher education.
“”
“”
Inspectors reported that:
17. 8
Development coaches are highly skilled and experienced
professionals from their field. They work very closely with the
employers to design a curriculum that develops apprentices’
knowledge of the markets, consumer behaviour and technical
skills to enable them to work in the sector. Coaches work very
flexibly with the employers to arrange the order of curriculum
and assignments to suit the business needs.
The director runs high-quality weekly information and careers
guidance. In these sessions, apprentices gain a detailed insight
into what it is like to work in the sector as well as the range of
career opportunities.
“”
“”
Read the full report: https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/
v1/file/50127003
18. Meet our
Apprentices
Josh Burnside
Creative Venue Technician Apprentice
With The Birmingham Rep
My job as an apprentice for
Unique Venues Birmingham
varies from day to day.
I would say that my general
role is to set up for small scale
conferences and dinners and
to be on hand if the client
needs any support with the
technical equipment.
The reason I
went down the
apprenticeship
route, rather
than going to
university, is
because I am a
very practical
learner.
This means I
learn better
doing something
someone has
asked me to
do, rather than
doing a load of
assignments
where I might
not see the point
of what I’m
learning.
This suits the
apprentice way
of learning
completely.
Before I started my apprenticeship I was studying
at college doing a music technology course to learn
about the sound industry in terms of live sound and
recording sound. I was, and still am, helping out at a
local recording studio so that I can still learn the tips of
the trade from people who are in the industry.
To get my apprenticeship I was originally looking on
job sites for something I could do after my college
course. I saw this apprenticeship and applied. The
interview process seemed very strange to start with
as this was my first time applying for anything. There
were two parts to the interview process. The first was
a group interview where there were several different
people in the room being interviewed at the same time.
The second part was a 1 to 1 interview so that the
employer could find out a bit more about me and see if
I was right for the job.
Over the course of my apprenticeship I have learnt
many different pieces of knowledge that I did not know
before. One thing I have learnt is the process of lighting
a corporate event. Before I started my apprenticeship I
knew nothing about lighting at all. Now I am suggesting
lighting ideas to my colleagues and these normally get
19. 9used in the event. Before I started my apprenticeship I did
not know anything regarding stage. An example of this is not
knowing how to properly hang the full black, a piece of black
fabric that is the same size of the space it is being used in.
I think I am different from when I
started my apprenticeship because
I have been encouraged to become
more mature and more professional
than I was when I first started. One
example of this is when I first started
I would not respond to the tech calls, I
did not think I could and if I did I would
use really informal language. Whereas
now I have no fear in going to tech
calls and I use professional and formal
language. A tech call where the client
will request technical support in one
of the conference spaces and we as a
tech team will respond to the call as
quickly as we can. Some professional
language I would use when speaking
to a client is “how are you sir/mam?”
rather than “you alright sir?” It sounds
more professional and the clients
tend to respect you more if you speak
professionally.
I think the thing that has
surprised me most about my
workplace is how down to
earth and relaxed everyone is.
An example of this when I go
and speak to my senior team,
my line manager , I feel like I
can be relaxed around them
rather than being too nervous
and I feel like we get on well
as a team which makes events
run more smoothly.
One piece of advice I would give someone
who is looking to do an apprenticeship is that
if you happy to learn on the job and keep up
with the work that is set then go for it. I have
personally loved my apprenticeship and I think
apprenticeships are a great way into the industry.
20. Meet our
Apprentices
Shekinah Yuhanna
Digital Marketer Apprentice
With Dancexchange
On a day to day basis I will:
• Check social media accounts for messages,
trending topics and news.
• Collect class programme statistics and record
them on excel.
• Curate content from BBC news/arts etc.
• Create content with phone and tech e.g.
recording class footage.
• Check social media plan.
On a week to week basis:
• Weekly marketing meeting to discuss class programme and upcoming events
and schedule marketing, budgets etc.
• Edit and/or add events, news and classes to the website.
After graduating university, for the career I wanted to take I needed more
knowledge and training and I didn’t want to study again and choosing an
apprenticeship was the best option for me to have a hands-on approach when
learning something new. Before my apprenticeship, I was working part-time in
retail and then I found my apprenticeship through researching online. I found
Creative Alliance through an Indeed post. I then was contacted for a meeting/
introduction where I met my agent. I then was sent jobs or sent jobs I was
interested in, to my agent. The interview process was familiar to me where I
had to complete a small task and then had an interview with 3 people from
Dancexchange.
21. 10
I am gaining a lot of knowledge on social media messaging and using different
channels to approach different audiences. Before my apprenticeship I would
doubt my abilities, being able to work and be hands-on has allowed me to
become more confident in the skills I already had as well as the new skills I am
learning.
Some difficulties I have come across while on my apprenticeship would be
working with social media and understanding the difference between business
and personal use. I learnt that from a business perspective different social media
channels have different demographic use and language for messaging etc.
What has suprised me the most during my apprenticeship is how quickly you do
grow and learn. I never thought I would have gained the skills and knowledge I
have so fast. This is compared to being in a more learning-based environment
such as university.
Some advice I would give to learners
is that research is key. Explore every
avenue when it comes to looking for
apprenticeship providers, the different
qualifications available etc. It will help
you gain the answers your looking for
and questions you want to ask.
22. Meet our
Apprentices
Ellie Suffling
Creative Digital Media Apprentice
With Warriror Doors
I create visuals for marketing. On a day
to day / week to week basis this is mainly
email designs and social media image posts.
I also film and edit a series regularly. On
a rarer occasion I will also create designs
for brochures/ leaflets/ roll up banners and
other forms of print. Since starting my
apprenticeship I’ve also been able to work with
stand design for exhibitions and planning and
running an exhibition with my company.
I did apply for university as when I was in sixth form, it was something that they
pushed for. I received an unconditional offer to study fine art at UCA Canterbury,
but I took a gap year as I wasn’t sure about it, during that gap year I came across
Creative Alliance and decided on taking the apprenticeship route instead. This
is just my opinion, but I feel that employers in the creative industry are looking
for strong portfolios and experience working creatively within a company which
I don’t think that you really get from university. Working at Warrior Doors I’ve
been able to develop my graphic design skills and portfolio enough that I’ve
already started doing freelance work and building a client base for myself
and I’m half way to a qualification but if I was at University studying fine art
now I would have two years remaining and probably still working part time in
hospitality.
Before my apprenticeship began, I only had knowledge of Adobe Photoshop as I
was studying Photography. I now use Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere
Pro and After Effects regularly which is a lot of role specific technical knowledge.
I’ve also learnt some non-adobe design tools as well such as mailchimp and
typeform for email & survey design. I’ve also learnt a lot about marketing, I’ve
done online courses into digital media marketing and the basics of project
management as off the job training. I’ve also learnt the process of exhibiting
at events from planning through to execution. I’m only 6 months into my
apprenticeship so I still have 7 to go so I’m sure I’ll continue to learn much more.
23. 11
Starting my apprenticeship has positively
affected my social life. I was working in bars
and clubs so I was working all weekend until
about 4 in the morning and you’re swept off
your feet serving people you can have little
chats here and there but you can’t really make
friends and when your friends are out at the
weekend having a catch up you’re working.
Working in an office setting on office hours
means not only that I have time at breaks to
develop new friendships with co-workers but
I also get to spend time with my outside of
work friends as well so I’d say for me that’s
a big positive effect. In terms of me myself
being different, I struggle with phone calls to
people that I don’t know but this is something
that anyone working in an office environment
must be able to do. I’m still not confident in
taking phone calls from print companies etc.
but I’m much more confident with that than I
was when I started and I’m sure throughout
the coming months my confidence in that will
increase.
I wasn’t entirely sure what
an apprentice was about
initially, I knew what I would
be learning but I was under
the impression it was kind
of like shadowing someone
and trying it out here and
there. What surprised me
most is that I’m the only
Graphic Designer at Warrior
Doors and from meeting
other apprentices quite a
few of us are. This for me
was brilliant because I’m a
kinesthetic learner, I prefer
trial and error over anything
else so being hands on and
having that responsibility,
feeling like you are part of
the team (and you are) is
much better than what I
had anticipated it being.
I think if you are looking to start an apprenticeship, you should find
a company like Creative Alliance to help you do that. Not only are
they going to be able to find companies for you, they will be able
to match you based on your skills and provide you with support for
interviewing which you wouldn’t get by just applying to companies
yourself. Also don’t worry if you don’t get the first one you apply for.
The first company that I applied for I never heard anything back from
I wasn’t even interviewed but my second application was successful
and that’s still very fortunate. It may take a few tries to get in there but
once you’re there its worth it.
