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On 24th September, the Prime Minister announced plans to change apprenticeships to provide greater flexibility – in response, we had a great roundtable at the Engine Shed, with inputs from all aspects of the apprenticeship picture. This article focusses on support.

There are important steps leading up to apprenticeships, from work experience to more formal bootcamps. Jane Coulter previously worked for IntoFilm, and now runs the West of England Film/High-End TV Workforce Development Programme from The Bottle Yard studios. It is designed to de-mystify the industry and open up those craft roles that range from camera, lighting and locations to set building and costume. It’s just started its 3rd round with an Intro Webinar on October 7th with 100 participants, and a process that whittles those down to provide a 5-week course for the 20 top candidates, hosted online and at The Bottle Yard. So far, 15 people have been taken on by the production companies working at the Studios or other businesses servicing production in the region .

The programme is funded by the West of England Combined Authority, but this funding ends in March 2025 and other sources are currently being explored. Can we identify the natural next step for public-sector support?

Jane Deane and Katie Green from the Western Training Providers Network connects training and education providers across the West of England to share opportunities, best practices, and collaborate for maximum impact. It also operates the region’s Levy Share scheme, in which companies with a payroll more than £3m and thus subject to the Levy can gift their payment to other companies.

They will support the crucial 5 steps to success :

Research: identifying apprenticeship standards and crafting a bespoke Apprenticeship Development Plan tailored to the company needs.

Find a Training Provider: arranging meetings, facilitating handovers, and assisting with paperwork once the provider has been selected.

Advertise: helping to write ads to attract diverse applicants, creating promotional materials, and sharing vacancies via the WTPN network and social media.

Funding Options: exploring available funding based on the apprentice’s age.

Set Up for Success: Supporting with shortlisting, interviews, and contracts to ensure a smooth start

And they’re easy to find – based in Engine Shed, and with regular drop-in sessions :

Engine Shed, Temple Meads, Bristol – Every Wednesday, 9am – 1pm

Future Space, Stoke Gifford, Bristol – The first Thursday of the Month, 10am – 12.00pm

The latest addition to the WTPN support network is the BBC! – Louise Brown is their Industry Partnership Manager.

Funding covers the training cost, but not the apprentices’ wages. The final thought from the meeting was “Why Not?”

 

On 24th September, the Prime Minister announced plans to change apprenticeships to provide greater flexibility – in response, we had a great roundtable at the Engine Shed, with inputs from all aspects of the apprenticeship picture. This article focusses on the industry.

James Ellis, Business Development Manager at Creative Alliance talked through their approach. They have a team of 30 people operating from Birmingham, and providing blended learning for the apprentices they support – 1:1 coaching, seminars and peer learning as well as training. It’s part of a “spiral staircase” approach, where each step for the individual leads to an opportunity. James’ slide deck is below.

They provide particular support to neurodiverse people – those with lateral thinking and creative brains that may not fit conventional education.They work with corporates who pay the Apprenticeship Levy as well as microbusinesses, with schemes at Level 3 (A Level), Level 4 (Foundation degree) through to Level 7 (Masters) to cover Production Management.Apprenticeships are a great way to develop your established team – local companies such as Our Media currently focus on this benefit. You can watch James’ presentation below.

Lydia Thornton from Professional Apprenticeships talked through how apprenticeships can address issues of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and are especially relevant in areas of defined deprivation such as South Bristol. Their apprenticeships focus on Content Creation, Marketing and more technical pathways. They focus on 18-24s, many of whom have studied film and photography. Their advice includes things such as the value of having a driving licence – something many young people don’t consider – or can’t afford.

Nick Young-Wolfe moved for the Creative Youth Network to set up MUTI Live – providing apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps across a wide range of professions in the live arts & events sector, for people at all stages of their career. He made the point that most careers guides in schools and colleges simply don’t know about the type of jobs in the industry, and that apprenticeships are the only route into the industry that is not debt-laden.

Infact, whilst apprenticeships may lead to university (or university-equivalent qualifications) whilst people are also earning a living, attending university shuts off access to apprenticeships!

Rachel Drummond Hay and Kibibi White from Drummer TV brought the industry perspective.

Rachel pointed out that creative microbusiness need to have 18 months of funded business ahead in order to host an apprentice (something that could be helped by the “flexi-job” approach, with multiple hosts, but is very challenging to organise). Drummer have years of learning from a strong work-experience programme as the first step in the “staircase”, and take on apprentices from that talent pool because they can learn their craft in “the Drummer Way”, when many graduates have to “unlearn” their practices to make their way inside the industry.

A strong learning culture within the company is a key to success. Kibibi is their latest recruit, supported by Cirencester College, and learning both inside and outside the office on an 80:20 model with roughly 1 day per week in the classroom. Duncan Fraser from A Productions pointed out that the “classroom time” can be front-loaded into the apprenticeship period with a 2-week block that can help get the apprentice work-ready.

Carmela Carrubba from Real SFX is also a passionate advocate for apprenticeships. Headquartered in Cardiff but now setting up at The BottleYard Studios, they have adapted the Level 3 Creative Digital Media apprenticeship to include special effects. Bizarrely, this can be done with the Welsh CDM course, but not the one in England… They have an 80% retention rate for their apprentices.

These are the people that are making apprenticeships work for our sector, and their companies are benefitting hugely. With the government also looking to energise skills development, we’ll look at the support that’s available in next week’s article.

 

It’s clear from a straw poll earlier this summer that companies who like the idea of an apprenticeship have a real struggle connecting to the right talent, and the opportunity to bring in new thinking and lived experience collapses – it’s just too much to organise.

In any other situation, the response would be to drop back, brainstorm the issues and form a plan.

Can we do this ourselves? Are we using the right communication channels? Do we need to bring in a freelancer? Do we need a partner in a joint venture? Do we simply buy-in the service?

These are all professional, creative responses we use all the time.

My aim for the last 15 years has been to better understand the dynamics of creative opportunity – through collaboration, mentoring and brokering, so here are some thoughts :

Build your own talent pool – lots of companies hold open days, portfolio sessions, and with projects like Fiasco’s Tracking, BCI’s Internship programme or Halo’s Werkshop Weekender, we’re even grouping those together to make them stronger.

So, stay in touch with the interesting people, give them thoughtful feedback and they’ll get more employable. They may feel they’ve broken into their dream industry – don’t just drop them.

Get closer to the talent – not just by suddenly launching on TikTok (something akin to “dad-dancing”), but by connecting through the organisations they trust – whether that’s Creative Youth Network, Babbasa, KWMC or the others in the region.

Engage an Expert – evidence from other industries from BAe Systems to Thatchers Cider shows apprentices grow in the company culture and out-compete their graduate intake, so it can be a great investment – and a small creative company is simply the BEST place to learn!

So, work out what you need, how it is easily supported by your company culture – maybe with a junior buddy as well as management mentoring – and what the career path will be.

Engaging with a specialist company such as Creative Alliance, Professional Apprenticeships or Working Knowledge will guide this process, help with screening and provide the training outside the workplace.

Across the next month, there will be more developments, so keep an eye on the BCI website, and join in the discussions – especially if you employed a dream apprentice or have been terminally frustrated! Together we can change the picture.

 

 

Bristol is full of brilliant outreach projects – award-winning wildlife film company Silverback Films held an insight day on July 24th, Fiasco Design are working with Noods Levels on a design project called Tracking, and next week the Werkshop Weekender opens to applicants – it’s managed by Halo with a group of top agencies involved. And the BCI Internship programme with Babbasa is celebrating its half-way point

The new government aims to strengthen the way people are employed, and also move from a shareholder to a stakeholder economy – with staff, clients, management and the wider culture of the city as players. We all recognise that we’re only as good as our staff, and how involved they feel is key to performance.

The challenge for companies is to become places of learning as well as doing – we rely on people who work fast, but describing how you work to someone with less experience (such as an apprentice) really opens up your own thinking, as well as getting a wider range of brains engaged in the project.

Where do apprenticeships fit? They can be the way to get new thinking and lived experience into your company – whether it’s at entry-level or more mature. (The Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development states that 50% of apprentices are over 25)

They are a great means of developing your current staff into new roles – you can get training costs covered through the Levy Share scheme operated by Western Training Providers Network

Large companies from BAE Systems to Thatchers Cider find that apprentices outcompete their graduate intake, having been treated as stakeholders in the company, and developing within the company culture.

BUT the elephant in the room is how you find the right people to achieve this nirvana, when you are a microbusiness constantly pitching for new work. Anyone who works in apprenticeships in our industry knows recruitment is a real struggle, and that’s shown clearly in the poll. There’s no lack of enthusiasm, but a real limit to the time and networks available to recruit.

SO maybe all those engagement programmes could have an apprenticeship as the end goal, organised and funded, with the apprentice provided with a buddy (a great way to develop junior staff) as well as a managerial-level mentor?

In October we’ll take this thinking forward – if you’re interested then do contact Paul Appleby [email protected] or Katie Green [email protected]

As a potent part of the UK economy dominated by microbusinesses and SMEs, the Creative sector has struggled with apprenticeships, but with the new government aiming to re-energise them, it’s time to dispose of some myths :

Apprenticeships are NOT only for young people: Although frequently linked to inexperienced school leavers or young adults, they are available to people of all ages – 50% of apprentices are over 25. They are a way to develop and retain quality staff or transfer skills from other sectors (such as project management) and not just for entry-level recruitment, though an apprenticeship could be the next step after a work placement or internship.

Apprenticeships are NOT just for manual or low-skilled jobs: Creative specialist training providers support a wide range of apprenticeship standards including Marketing Executive, Content Creator, Production Technician, Broadcast Production Assistant and  Business Administrator.

Apprenticeships are NOT less respected than university degrees: Many talented young people are challenged by the cost of a university education and want to get into work – especially if they have a passion! There is a pathway of apprenticeships that can lead to the equivalent to degree-level education, shaped within the employing company, so in-tune and up-to-date.  Buddying or mentoring a learner is also a great way to develop your more experienced staff.

Apprenticeships DO address skills gaps: Apprenticeships are designed by employers to meet industry needs and they are agile – tailored to address the evolving demands of fast-changing sectors like ours. Upskilling existing staff within your organisation via the apprenticeship route provides the opportunity to retain and develop them – a key driver of job satisfaction.

And you can get help with funding – assuming that your company doesn’t have the £3m annual payroll that triggers the Apprenticeship Levy (!!), you can cover all the training cost through the Share to Support Scheme commissioned by the West of England Combined Authority and funded by the UKSPF (UK Shared Prosperity Fund), Over £3m has been gifted by larger companies to support SME’s accessing apprenticeships in the West of England, and it’s available to YOU.

It’s managed by the Western Training Providers Network – to find out more, just get in touch with: [email protected] and [email protected]

Or go along to one of their drop-in sessions

Engine Shed, Temple Meads, Bristol – Every Wednesday, 9am – 1pm Free Weekly Business Apprenticeship Guidance Drop-In Session | The WTPN

Future Space, Stoke Gifford, Bristol – The first Thursday of the Month, 10am – 12.00pm Monthly Future Space Apprenticeship Guidance Drop-In Session | The WTPN