Sir Peter Bazalgette is one of the most influential figures in the UK’s creative industries.
As the former chairman of Endemol UK and creative director of Endemol Group Worldwide, he was responsible for some of the most successful and recognisable television shows of the past 25 years, including Big Brother, Ready Steady Cook, Ground Force and Changing Rooms.
Sir Peter, who was also chairman of Arts Council England and non-executive chairman of ITV, was recently appointed as the new chancellor of the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol).
In an interview with Dan Martin, he discusses his career, the support needed from the new government to grow the UK’s creative industries, how to improve the sector’s diversity, and why he has taken on the role of UWE Bristol’s new chancellor.
For an extra insight, read to the end to discover Sir Peter’s favourite TV show of all time!
Sir Peter Bazalgette officially took up his role as chancellor of UWE Bristol at the university’s graduation ceremonies in July, which were held for the first time at Bristol Beacon following a new partnership between the two organisations.
“Until 1955, there was only the BBC, and until 1982, there was only the BBC and ITV. Then there was Channel Four, and then Channel Five came along in the 90s. So even by the 1990s, there were very few channels. Sky Television and Virgin weren’t there at that point, but subscription TV came along when they arrived.
“Fast forward to recently and when I was chairing ITV, we launched ITV X and to be listed we had to negotiate with more than 30 platforms.
“In terms of production, that has changed a lot too. We used to just have public service media putting money into television production, but now we’ve got Netflix alone spending more than a billion in the UK, not to mention Apple, Amazon, Disney and so on.
“It’s changed massively, and people are consuming their TV when they want and how they want.”
“As much as documentaries are wonderful things, try to have a repeat series, whether it’s factual or fictional, but one that can be repeated and can come back again because that gives you certainty and turnover.
“You should also have a range of clients among both the streamers and the public service media.”
“None of us ever know the night before a show goes out for the first time whether it’s going to be a complete flop or a big hit.
“Big Brother had already become a massive phenomenon in Germany, Spain and Holland before it came to the UK, but not every format works in every country. For example, Survivor has never really taken off in the UK, but it has been a hit in America since the 1990s.
“When Big Brother launched, it was like trying to ride a bucking bronco. It got bigger and bigger. It was on the front page of every newspaper every day, and we had the press on our doorsteps.
“In most of the early Big Brother houses in other countries, the key talking points were two housemates getting amorous with each other. But true to form in Britain, we instead had a class struggle, with working class Craig defeating middle class Nick, who became known as Nasty Nick. Lots of people couldn’t believe we hadn’t set the whole thing up, but we had no idea any of that was going to happen, none at all.”
“It was massively controversial wherever it was broadcast. People thought it was exploitative and invasive, but actually it was interesting in that it had a transsexual woman, a gay man, someone who suffered from Tourette syndrome, and all sorts of extraordinary people who at the time were demonised. But they won because people saw their lovely character shining through, and so it did have a positive element.
“It was also an example of early fusion technology because it was on TV as an edited programme, it was on the internet, people watched it live, and you could vote on the telephone. It represented a convergence of media, and it was part of the process of the generation, who today on their mobile phones shoot and edit videos, becoming media literate. They used to watch the live transmission, and then watch the edited programme, before complaining we hadn’t put certain bits in, or we’d been unfair to certain characters.
“They then realised that the programme was an edited piece that was entirely subjective and what the director thought the story was. There was a big element of the viewer developing media literacy which was groundbreaking.”
“The creative industries, as they say on The X Factor, have been on a journey. We were the first country in the world in 1997 to define an industrial sector called the creative industries, but we then had to catch up because we didn’t have any data about our GVA, our employment etc. In time we had the Creative Industries Council, and we then established an advocacy body that is now called Creative UK, but in many ways, Britain is still playing catch up with the creative industries. With the new government, I hope that the journey and process will continue.
“The creative industries are 6% of the UK’s GVA, but we get 1% of public investment. Clearly that is not aligned with the creative industries as a priority sector for growth which we have been told is the case by both the former Conservative government and the Labour Party.
“Private investment is currently not good enough. The British Business Bank, which encourages investment in small and medium sized enterprises, is not really attuned to the way the creative industries run, the way small creative businesses work, and the criteria by which they have to be judged and invested in. We need to make progress on public and private investment.
“We also need to make progress on research and development tax credit definitions. The UK has a narrow definition of R&D, which is different to the one in other countries in Europe which includes the creative industries so creative businesses can claim tax credits for the innovation that they carry out.
“We need a more flexible apprenticeship scheme because small companies find it difficult to use the apprenticeship levy.”
“The creative industries are naturally and organically arranged into clusters. When I made a proposal for public investment in clusters in 2017, which was enacted in 2018 in the creative industries sector deal, it was going with the flow of where clusters typically are. For example, there’s the fantastic screen cluster in Bristol, an advertising cluster in Manchester, fashion in Leeds and games in Dundee. All of those things were happening organically and I suggested that we got behind it.
“The investment was £56m in nine creative clusters and each of them had an anchor partner of a university which could feed the value of applied research into local SMEs. It was fantastically successful over five years. It was matched by about £260m from industry and other sources. It’s a very good example of how you use small amounts of public money to generate growth and investment. It connected applied research with more than 2,500 SMEs, and created lots of new jobs, products and services.
“We found it incredibly difficult to get clusters two funded, despite the extraordinary success story which underlines my point about public investment not being aligned with the national policy to grow the creative industries.
“In the end, we did get it funded, but it still depends on UK Research and Innovation honouring the commitment in the next Spending Review, which has to be agreed by the new government.
“That’s another example of how Britain has not caught up with the creative sector, and isn’t backing it in the way that we are organised.”
“We need to do a lot better in this area. If we claim that the creative industries is not just an economic powerhouse, but a social and cultural powerhouse, and that what we produce, our music, theatre, films, TV, books and so on, touches the pulse of the nation, then it has to represent the whole nation and all of the communities. It can only do that if all of them find easy career pathways.
“One of the key things to do is defining better career pathways, which was set out in the former government’s creative industries sector vision last year. When I work with Speakers for Schools, the charity set up by Robert Peston, and speak to first year sixth form students, I ask them ‘what’s your favourite music?’, ‘what’s your favourite fashion?, ‘what’s your favourite film?, ‘what’s your favourite TV show?, ‘what games do you play?’. It always leads to a big discussion about who has the best taste.
“I then ask them to tell me about the jobs that all of those products represent and there’s dead silence. As an industry, we have not defined the career pathways properly. If we do, we’ll have a much more diverse sector.
“We also need much better outreach. When I was deputy chair of the National Film and Television School, we greatly increased the money we put into finding people of talent from all communities, such as having bursary funds dedicated to Black and Asian people. These are the sorts of things you can do to make a difference, but we have a way to go.”
🤝 This morning at #UWEGraduation Sir Peter Bazalgette was presented as the new chancellor of UWE Bristol – succeeding Sir Ian Carruthers OBE who has performed the role with distinction for the past 13 years 👏
Welcome, Sir Peter! pic.twitter.com/K6DSUZ5D5u
— UWE Bristol (@UWEBristol) July 18, 2024
“The role higher and further education plays in training, inspiring and producing the next generation of talent in the creative sector is critical.
“The particular thing that interested me about UWE is that the creative industries is one of the key areas in which they specialise.
“Activities that impress me about UWE include The Foundry which encourages collaboration, new ideas and development of technical knowledge. I also like the fact that they have a student ventures centre which encourages graduates to set up businesses, I like the university enterprise zone, and I like that more than 50% of graduates tend to work in the surrounding area after they’ve graduated. This is a very good statistic, and shows the contribution that UWE is making to Bristol and its surroundings.
“Finally, as a TV producer and chair of the Arts Council, I visited the city many times and I love what Bristol has already and its potential for growth.”
“Antiques Roadshow. I can’t get enough of it!
“I love the combination of the personal histories and regional histories that are linked to an object. You learn so much about history, and individual stories of brilliant heroism. There’s also the arts and culture, the wonderful locations they visit and the element of greed when it’s revealed what the item is worth. It’s the perfect TV show. I wish I’d invented it myself.”
Nine Tree Studios in Bristol celebrated their opening earlier this month with an event that saw over 150 attendees from across the creative sector.
The 10,000sq ft facility includes two soundstages for film and photography plus a podcast suite, office space, green rooms and a fully-equipped kitchen studio.
Backed by Bristol-based commercial production company JonesMillbank, the studios have been designed to support both small-scale and broadcast-level productions.
“This has been a long road, but it was amazing to see so many new and old faces, all coming together to support and celebrate our launch.” said Russell Jones, Co-Founder of Nine Tree Studios.
Located in Brislington (BS4), the studios are perched near the centre of Bristol allowing them to service productions mixing studio and on-location filming, aided by its 8,900sq ft secure yard for trucks and trailers.
The studios are now Bristol’s largest independent studio, joining a raft of creative spaces throughout the city including neighbouring virtual production stage Distortion Studios and the established Bottle Yard Studios.
“Like restaurants on a high street, the more there are, the better they are, the more their reputation builds. We’re proud of everything Bristol has to offer and stands for, and the more facilities, talent, crew and creative companies that are based here only goes to benefit the region as a whole” Russell continued.
Nine Tree Studios features:
For more information and bookings please visit www.ninetreestudios.co.uk, call 0117 3706 372, or email [email protected].
Come and try the resident space at our Brunswick Square location for one week, free of charge, no strings attached…
Created by creatives for creatives, Gather Round is more than a co-working space, it’s a growing network of like-minded professionals that go to work everyday and sit, write, design, consult and hang out.
Our residents room at Brunswick Square features beautiful Georgian windows that let in heaps of natural light. Our resident members benefit from their own fixed desk and a space to call their own whilst also having full access to the rest of the building (plus of course the packed events schedule!).
As a creative co-working space, we’re unique in the fact that we’re purposely built to cater for freelancers and businesses in the creative industries.
Fill out the form in the link below tell us a bit about yourself and one of our community managers will be in touch to book you in for your free trial in our resident area at Brunswick Square. We can’t wait to meet you!
For more info on our Brunswick Square location check out our locations page on our website.
Attention all creative canines and artistic aficionados! The much-anticipated Gromit Unleashed 2025 is on the horizon, and this is your final call to submit your portfolio. This is a unique paid opportunity to be part of an iconic public arts trail while supporting Bristol Children’s Hospital. Head to The Grand Appeal website to register your interest.
Gromit Unleashed
Gromit Unleashed is created by The Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children’s Hospital Charity, in partnership with Aardman Animations. Since its inception, Gromit Unleashed has raised millions for Bristol Children’s Hospital and St Michael’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and you could help The Grand Appeal raise more.
Nick Park’s Academy Award®-winning character, Gromit, first took to the streets way back in 2013. Now, over 500 sculptures, four trails, and 10 years later, Gromit Unleashed has inspired a legion of fans across the globe.
With the release of the new Wallace & Gromit film, Vengeance Most Fowl, this Winter, Gromit Unleashed is sure to be a hotly anticipated event.
Why participate?
Gromit Unleashed 2025 promises to be a tail-wagging triumph and will include sculptures designed by local artists, celebrities, and major brands.
Participating is not just about showcasing your talent. It’s about being part of an award-winning event that makes a difference to the lives of sick children and their families. Your design could even be one of the standout sculptures that draw visitors from all over the world.
How to apply
Register your interest as an artist on The Grand Appeal website. The Grand Appeal’s design team will be reviewing artists’ applications over the coming months.
Join Gromit Unleashed 2025 and let your creativity off the leash while helping Bristol’s bravest children. For more details, head to grandappeal.org.uk. Let’s make Gromit Unleashed 2025 the most pawsome trail yet!
On a warm June night, we launched our brand new event series with an inspiring and timely talk on “Building Creative Resilience”. Our inaugural event sold out in no time, and it was so motivating to see such a creative and varied group gather with marketers, writers, photographers, agency owners and designers making up the enthusiastic crowd.
To explore this hot topic, we brought together the great and good of the Bristol creative scene to share their rich knowledge and varied experiences on creative resilience. Our panel featured experts from freelance and small and big agency backgrounds to share a wide perspective. With plenty of time to mingle, enjoy complimentary drinks and eat delicious pizza, the atmosphere was lively, open and excited for the evening ahead.
Spencer Buck, the talented co-founder of Bristol-based design agency Taxi Studio, inspired and entertained the crowd with advice on the importance of remaining resilient in tough times. In an uncertain economic climate, it is easy for clients to be hesitant and opt for an easier path, but Spencer called on creatives to be bold, to stay true to themselves and to believe in the power of their creative integrity.
A memorable quote ‘Beware the lollipop of mediocracy, lick it once and you’ll suck forever’. A powerful metaphor of the perils of complacency!
After Spencer’s inspiring talk, the event transitioned into a dynamic panel discussion featuring Kendra Futcher of Writing + Thinking and Gareth Evans of 18Sixty. This immensely talented panel tackled a range of questions from the audience, delving into topics such as managing budgets, preserving the essence of creativity, maintaining a balance between client demands and creative integrity, and the controversial issue of whether or not to pitch for free. The conversations were genuine discussions, and the panel fostered an open environment for engaging insights.
The evening kicked off with ample opportunity for attendees to mingle and network before the main event. Stimulating conversations soon worked up everyone’s appetites, leading us to call on Bristol favourites, Pizzarova, to provide fresh margarita pizzas for all. Meanwhile, the fully stocked bar served up chilled beers and drinks. A special shout-out to our event sponsors Positive Drinks, for sharing their refreshing alcohol-free IPA and cider to a very grateful crowd!
Our event space is light, airy full of character and flexible. For information on private hire costs and availability get in touch.
Bristol creative agency SIM7 has taken home a prestigious ‘Búho’ award for Brand Strategy at Spain’s Educafestival. The agency was recognised for its work creating the Real Leadership brand campaign for IESE Business School.
The Búhos (Owls) are awarded to the best global creative campaigns in the education sector, welcoming entries from Europe, Latin America and the USA. They are part of Spain’s Educafestival, an annual event (20 June 2024) held in the Centro CaixaForum de Madrid.
Simeon de la Torre, owner and creative director of SIM7 says, “As an agency that works with higher and business education clients around the world, winning a Búho is a huge honour for us. And we did it by creating something really different with a big dollop of humour and heart.
“The Real Leadership campaign for IESE has been a huge strategic branding exercise that brought together all our skills in messaging, design and positioning. It spawned a slightly insane video featuring unicorns and gorillas that has been watched over two million times, a hit podcast, billboard ads in Germany and Spain, and more.”
The Real Leadership brand campaign was conceived as an antidote to the clichéd ‘business speak’ creative that has dominated the sector in recent years. By using an authentic narrative and tapping into the genuine concerns and motivations of business leaders, it resonated with IESE’s
core audiences and has delivered substantial results in the form of awareness, enquiries and admissions.
Oriol Gil, IESE’s Brand & Content – Senior Manager (pictured, above) says: “The world of MBA and executive education is changing fast, with a more nuanced audience profile and expectations. SIM7 created a major campaign for us that pushed the boundaries of our brand guidelines and created a completely new strategy. The Real Leadership campaign features an honest, authentic and human approach that playfully mocks the outdated ‘hustle’ culture.”
SIM7’s Búho award was judged by a panel that included celebrated Spanish film director Daniel Sánchez Arevalo, as well as creative leaders from Google, Coca-Cola and Clear Channel. The Real Leadership campaign was scored for:
• Educational value and content
• Developed strategy
• Idea and execution
• Obtained results
Says SIM7’s Simeon de la Torre, “We knew from the start that this had to be a campaign with cut-through, and that pure creativity wasn’t enough. It had to be built on the foundations of solid strategy and an understanding of the sector. This is what our team does best and it’s superb to see all our hard work recognised. On a personal level, it’s been great working on something that my Spanish father can be proud of and talk to his family in Spain about – he’s always been a bit clueless about what I do for a living!”
Notes
SIM7 is a Bristol-based creative agency that works with clients around the world in sectors including education, property, technology and more: sim7creative.co.uk
Founded in 2017, the agency uses language to empower design and drives growth by creating brands, campaigns and strategy. SIM7 currently employs six people, has increased its turnover significantly in the past 12 months and is set to build its international client base even further in 2024/25.
IESE Business School is ranked #2 in the world (Financial Times).
For interviews, quotes and further images contact: Simeon de la Torre, [email protected]
For more information on the awards, visit educafestival.org/2024-edicion (Spanish language)
Becoming a member of Bristol Creative Industries brings many benefits. We regularly add new opportunities so here is a guide to the latest benefits you can enjoy by signing up. This post is regularly updated.
Join Bristol Creative Industries from only £4.95 a month.
Showcase your best work and attract new clients with a company profile in the Bristol Creative Industries member directory. The directory receives lots of visits every month from people looking for services from creative businesses.
Got some business advice or news to share? As a Bristol Creative Industries member you can self-publish content on our website and it will automatically appear on your member profile. We upgrade great content to the newsfeed and homepage, while four posts by members are included in our monthly email newsletter.
To get an idea of the content topics that do well, here are the top 20 most popular posts by members in 2022.
Bristol Creative Industries member Jessica Morgan from Carnsight Communications discussed the benefits of posting content in this interview.
The Bristol Creative Industries jobs board attracts thousands of job hunters every month. As part of your membership, you can post unlimited free job adverts, saving you on average £3,500 per candidate.
Piers Tincknell, co-founder of Atomic Smash, is one of BCI’s longest serving members and he told us in a member profile interview how he regularly uses the jobs board to recruit new employees.
BCI’s monthly members’ lunches are a perfect opportunity for members to catch up with fellow members and the BCI team.
Everyone has a slot of up to three minutes to tell the others a little about who they are and what they do and share any news and/or challenges. You don’t need to fill the full three minutes. We usually find some common themes emerge to discuss over the course of the session. It’s all very informal with no need to stand up and present slides.
The events are free to attend for members. They are a mix of in person and virtual events. The in person sessions are at The Square Club in Bristol and include a free buffet lunch.
Check the events section of details of the next lunches.
Our flagship keynote events and workshops feature world class speakers sharing their expertise. It’s a unique opportunity to access valuable insights for growing your business. Bristol Creative Industries members receive a ticket discount.
An example of a keynote event is the brilliant presentation on social media trends delivered in March 2024 by Drew Benvie, founder of global social media consultancy Battenhall.
Some events, such as our regular freelancer networking drinks, are free for members.
Keen an eye on the events section for the latest events. You can also sign up to the monthly BCI Bulletin to be notified of events.
Big thanks to everyone who joined us at @SquareClifton last night for the Bristol Creative Industries freelancer networking drinks ☀️ 🍷
Sign up to the BCI Bulletin to be notified of new events: https://t.co/5WgBWPoN1C#BristolCreativeIndustries #Bristol #freelancers pic.twitter.com/1BvT60KZFp
— Bristol Creative Industries (@Bristol_CI) June 21, 2023
Wake Up Call is a member exclusive live webinar that takes place every other Friday at 8.30-9am. The content is delivered by members for members.
Attending the free event gives you access to valuable insights from your fellow members and if you host a Wake Up Call, you can share your expertise and attract potential new clients.
See details for upcoming Wake Up Call events in our events section.
If you’re a BCI member and you’d liked to deliver a presentation on a topic of your choice during Wake Up Call, email Sian Pitman.
Research shows that diverse teams are more creative problem solvers, bringing fresh perspectives to solutions, against the echo-chamber effect that results when people in a business come from too-similar backgrounds. With a strong focus on diversity and inclusion, employees feel valued and that they belong.
To help Bristol Creative Industries members achieve this, we have partnered with The Hobbs Consultancy to provide on demand equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) e-learning.
The CPD certified online course consists of modules to help you bring about positive change in your business, understand the key challenges in the way for different groups, and explore your own biases and how to overcome them.
The training modules take an in-depth look at different diversity and inclusion topics: race, disability, LGBTQ+, neurodiversity, gender (split into female leadership, masculinity, gender identity), age and social mobility in the workplace.
The price of the training for BCI members is £120+VAT. All profits will be ploughed back into our youth engagement activity.
To access this brilliant training opportunity, log into your Bristol Creative Industries account and click on the ‘members’ training’ section.
We have to start engagement at school by raising the profile of the creative sector to a wider and more diverse audience. To do this, we’re developing ways to bring together creative business members and future talent through mentoring.
We are thrilled to have launched a partnership with The Early Careers Foundation (ECF), a social mobility charity that works with young people from low-income backgrounds to ensure that talent and hard work are what determine their career success, not background.
Through its mentoring programme, ECF pairs employees from partner organisations with 16-18-year-olds for monthly hour-long mentoring sessions.
Thanks to our new partnership, BCI members can now become a mentor and support a young person in building their confidence, developing their employability skills and offering invaluable professional guidance.
Applications to become a mentor close on 1 August 2024.
To find out more about how you can get involved, read this post.
The regular BCI Walk & Talk networking sessions are for a group of 12 BCI members who don their walking boots and explore the stunning countryside around Bristol and Bath.
It’s a great opportunity for members to make some new connections whilst getting some much needed fresh air!
Keen an eye on the events section for details of the next outdoor networking event. You can also sign up to the monthly BCI Bulletin to be notified of events.
We host regular roundtables for agency leaders to discuss strategic challenges. These events are vital for us to hear from the member community about the key issues you are facing and how we can help. A roundtable on funding led to us creating this popular and regularly updated guide to the latest finance on offer to creative businesses.
If you are interested in getting involved with future roundtables, email Sian Pitman.
Reductions on co-working spaces, meeting rooms, hotel accommodation, a recruitment strategy review and a coffee subscription are just some of the many discounts and offers we’ve negotiated for members.
We regularly deliver other benefits. To stay updated on the latest member benefits, sign up to the monthly BCI Bulletin.
Join Bristol Creative Industries from only £4.95 a month.
If you have any questions about membership, email Alli Nicholas
We could have also called this blog – Holy Mackerel it is June, JUNE, Already I Can’t Believe It. But we don’t want to incite panic, nor come across like a fish-loving granny. But yes, friends, it is June and we are 6 months into a 12-month stretch. Summer is around the corner and before we know it we will be humming along to Mariah Carey as we peruse carbs and booze in the supermarket aisles. Just us? Don’t lie.
So! Six months are up and it’s the perfect time for a little reflection and alignment; celebrating the wins, learning from the mistakes and keeping an eye on the year-long to-do list. We’ve popped together a short guide on how to have your very own mid-year review.
As creative freelancers and small business owners, reflection is an invaluable tool. After all, how will you know if you don’t look? Take a moment to look back on the past six months and celebrate your achievements, both big and small. Ask yourself:
What were your proudest accomplishments?
What challenges did you overcome?
What did you learn from your experiences?
Did you stay aligned with your values and purpose?
What areas would you like to improve upon?
Did you manage to set goals at the beginning of the year? Now is the time to review each goal and evaluate your progress in achieving them. If not, pretend. We jest, but if you didn’t manage to set goals at the beginning of the year, skip this step. If you did, think about:
Which goals did you accomplish?
What were your obstacles?
Are there any goals that are no longer relevant or need adjusting?
What can you learn from your progress?
It’s time to set new goals. Keep these tips in mind:
Be Specific: Clearly define your goals and make them measurable. Instead of saying, ‘Acquire more clients’ say ‘Acquire five new clients in the next three months.’
Prioritise: Identify the most important goals that will have the greatest impact on your creative business.
Be realistic: Set goals that challenge you but are still within reach.
Align with Your Values: Ensure your goals align with your brand’s core values and long-term vision. This is the sense-check moment, are these goals right for you and your business?
Turn your goals into reality with a solid action plan. Break each goal down into smaller, actionable steps:
Set Milestones: Divide your goals into smaller milestones to help you track progress and stay motivated.
Identify Resources: Determine the resources, skills, or support you need to achieve your goals. This could include professional development, outsourcing or networking with peers.
Schedule Tasks: Allocate dedicated time in your calendar for working towards your goals. Treat these blocks of time as non-negotiable appointments with yourself.
Stay Accountable: Share your goals with a friend or fellow freelancer who can provide support and hold you accountable. Regular check-ins will keep you on track and motivated.
Taking the time for a mid-year review to reflect is an invaluable creative freelancer tool. Giving yourself the space to pause and assess your progress gives you a clearer direction for the months ahead as well as a chance to celebrate those achievements you might have missed :). Oh, we skipped Step Five: Let us know how you do! We’d love to hear if you took part in our mid-year review. Join us at one of our monthly breakfasts and we’ll share goals and reflections over a croissant and coffee.
Keep an eye out for future news and blogs from Gather Round via our website and on Instagram.
Words by Daisy Dobson
SPACES LIMITED BOOK TODAY!
Projects – of all sizes, in all sectors and with various budget constraints can put the most cool headed staff member under pressure. With various stakeholders involved, tight deadlines, organisation management and staff availability alongside budget and time constraints; the presence of a skilled project manager to guide the effort and ensure alignment among all participants is crucial for project success. Organisations employing various project management methodologies excel in sticking to budgets, adhering to schedules, meeting scope requirements, upholding quality standards, and realising the benefit of how a successful outcome can make to a business.
Develop your staff in project management, and drive your business forward through a part funded Project Management Skills Bootcamp.
Course: Skills Bootcamp in Project Management
Option 1 Course start: 13th September 2024 (2 week break in learning for half term 25th of October and 1st November)
Option 2 Course start: 10th January 2025 (1 week break in learning for half term 21st February)
Duration: 10 weeks
Cost for Large Employer: £681.75 per person (30% contribution towards the cost of training)
Cost for SME Employer: £227.25 per person (10% contribution towards the cost of training)
Delivery Location: Bristol Training Institute, 12 Colston Avenue, Bristol, BS1 1XH
Eligibility: Funding is ringfenced for Employers based in the West of England Combined Authority region of Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Course Content: This course is suitable for employers to upskill their staff. The course content is under pinned by the Association for Project Management (APM), Project Management Qualification (PMQ) and will reference the APM Book of Knowledge (BoK) 7th Edition.
Units covered include:
Evidence from employer to confirm that the training provided via the Skills Bootcamp has resulted in either a new job role or an enhanced role for the employee that now utilises their new skills gained via this Skills Bootcamp.
Contact us today to register your interest on [email protected] or visit our previous bootcamp information page: https://www.weston.ac.uk/ProjectManagementEmployers
What were you up to 20 years ago?
20 years ago to the day, and almost to the minute as I write, I was presenting my last show on Bristol University’s student radio station. ‘Burst FM’ was then still in its infancy, broadcasting from a converted water closet (yes, really) on the 5th floor of the students’ union building. Tight budgets and plumbing costs meant one of the toilet pans was still in-situ and, freshers being freshers, each new presenter thought they were the first and only one to try it out, live on-air. As it happened, the flush usually did still work, and I have many tapes to prove it…
Burst was a huge part of my university life and I have it to thank for all that’s followed. I’d been intent on a career in radio since developing an unlikely adolescent love of Radio 2. While at school, I began writing material for Terry Wogan‘s breakfast show and sending it in by letter or fax. This continued throughout my time at Bristol University, when my various characters and noms de plume had a daily spot on Wake Up to Wogan at 8.50am. Luckily for my cred, most of my fellow students were either still asleep or ensconced in lectures so they knew little of it.
Very few students knew about Burst, which was mostly an online-only stream at a time when that was a huge limitation to consumption! It’s hard to believe now, but live streaming was of little use to anybody in 2004; smartphones and tablets were still emerging and listening online required effort. Burst’s listening figures were often in single digits at any one time, doubling or trebling at the flick of a switch downstairs in the Union’s Cafe Zuma, where they selectively pumped out Burst to their customers. We occasionally received calls on-air, usually wrong numbers rather than from listeners, but most of the interaction came via that much missed old friend of the millennial… MSN.
The real value of Burst was for those who got involved. A tiny audience was actually a gift while we were all making our mistakes and misjudgements on-air. I had a go at absolutely everything, even running the station for a year. By the time of my final Burst show, I was already working full-time in radio. I’d had two offers from the BBC and accepted one that meant, sadly, I had to leave Bristol the moment my studies were complete. Nobody knew at the time (at either end) but some of my later shows for Burst actually came down the line from a BBC studio far away!
But, 20 years ago today, I returned to that converted blue and orange bog once more for my very last show on Burst. Following “Bye Bye Baby” from The Bay City Rollers (horrendously predictable) and a few choked words, I played out with an old weepy called “Me And The Elephant”, a song about memories we’ll never forget. Very graciously indeed, the song’s singer had also agreed to appear in person on my show. His name?
Terry Wogan.
Today, Burst is a thriving student station which is never far from winning its next award. 2024’s students are lucky enough to learn their craft in a smart studio, albeit no longer with en-suite comedy… and, of course, everybody listens online. Whether it’s the start of a long career, or a brief flirtation with something a little bit different, I bet they’ll look back with a big smile. 20 years on and some 4,500 radio shows down the line, I certainly do.