UWE Bristol will host Showcase, its annual degree show, in June, offering visitors the opportunity to discover a new generation of talent from the College of Arts, Technology and Environment.
More than 1200 students from over 40 courses will exhibit their work at Bower Ashton, Arnolfini, Spike Island and the university’s Frenchay Campus from Thursday 5 June until Wednesday 11 June.
An annual highlight for the university and the city of Bristol, members of the public are invited to attend the free, in-person exhibitions which will include a selection of undergraduate and postgraduate work from animation, architecture, art, creative technologies, design, engineering, fashion, filmmaking, media, performance, photography, product design and writing.
Elena Marco, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Head of College of Arts, Technology and Environment said: “Each year, I’m blown away by the sheer creativity, ambition, and depth of thinking shown by our students. Their work reflects not only visionary talent, but also a deep engagement with the challenges and possibilities of the world around them.
“Showcase 2025 isn’t just a celebration of student achievement – it’s a testament to the passion, expertise, and dedication of the incredible staff who support, guide, and inspire them every step of the way. It promises to be a bold, joyful, and unmissable event – don’t miss it.”
Several of this year’s exhibiting students have drawn inspiration from their own experiences, bringing a personal dimension to their final projects.
Iside Buraga is a BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles student whose designs are influenced by her involvement with the Bristol Northern Soul Club; this has been a catalyst for her creative exploration of subcultures and storytelling through fashion.
Issi said: “My involvement with Northern Soul has made me consider the experiences and emotions that lead people to dress and portray themselves in a certain way. It can be extravagant or covert, and sometimes obscure in a similar way to music.”
Her final project explores the tension between external presentation and internal emotion, drawing on themes of female identity, deviancy, and vulnerability. The dress she’s designed incorporates found and gifted materials, emphasising hand-finished details and hidden elements to reflect the invisible stories within garments and people.
Solomon Khimba, is a BEng (Hons) Architecture and Environmental Engineering student. His final project addresses the rights of nomadic people to a political voice, by creating an architectural design for a dual-purpose building in St Pauls. The concept combines a circus venue with a political forum, inspired by his own experience of living in a van as a child and the plight of Bristol’s Invisible Circus, which vacated its city centre premises due to plans for redevelopment.
Drawing on the traditions of travelling and circus communities, the building aims to give access and visibility to those communities who might feel excluded from civic participation.
“The idea is to bring together an entertainment aspect, drawing people into the building to see the circus, but also to drive connection with politics,” said Solomon. “Having a connection between these really different groups of people would hopefully have an impact on the ideas and choices that they both make.”
Kalli Montigue, a BA (Hons) Product Design student, has designed ‘PupPulse’, a concept for a smart dog-harness and collar combined with a mobile app to provide reactive dog owners with wellbeing data and insights. These are collected by health metric sensors fitted within the harness and an AI analysis within the app to help them track stress patterns and behaviour trends.
Kalli said: “I was inspired by my sister’s experience with her reactive dog and my research has shown how common and complex dog behavioural issues can be. PupPulse could offer owners trustworthy data, a relatable community, and accessible support, to help them understand and manage their dog’s reactivity with confidence.”
And MA Architecture students, who were recently longlisted in The Davidson Prize, will exhibit their project ‘Growing Places’. The competition seeks inventive design proposals to transform any site in the UK into a ‘cohesive and integrated’ community of at least 300 new homes; this year’s theme is Streets Ahead: The Race to Build 1.5M Homes.
UWE Bristol broadcast journalism and media production students are also working with the university’s New Wave Creative Agency to produce a one-hour radio show for Ujima Radio, exploring the build up to the Showcase for School of Arts students. The special show will be broadcast at 1pm on 2 June.
More information on how to visit Showcase is available on the UWE Bristol website.
For those who can’t make it in person, a digital showcase is available to view online and features exciting work from hundreds of graduating students from 40 programmes. Designed to celebrate new talent and support professional practice, enterprise and employability, each graduate has curated their own portfolio with links to their own sites and social channels.
We are delighted to announce an amazing new benefit for Bristol Creative Industries members this summer. You can enjoy free access to the brilliant Origin Workspace in Berkeley Square, Bristol.
Here are all the details direct from Origin:
Every Friday throughout June, July, and August 2025, Origin Workspace invites members of Bristol Creative Industries to enjoy a complimentary, inspiring, and productive workspace in the heart of the city.
Whether you’re a designer, writer, artist, or innovator, this is more than just a free desk – it’s a chance to thrive with no strings attached. Our lounge and lobby provide the ideal setting to focus, connect, and create, with unlimited coffee, reliable Wi-Fi, and a welcoming atmosphere designed to support your productivity and wellbeing.
We know many creatives are navigating the challenges of securing consistent work. That’s why we’re offering more than just space, we’re a community, offering solidarity, and creating a space where local talent can connect and collaborate.
Surrounded by like-minded professionals, you’ll have the chance to be part of a vibrant network that values support and shared success. As a proudly independent Bristol business, nurturing our Bristol ecosystem is at the heart of what we do. Whether you’re looking for a change of scenery, a spark of inspiration, or simply a place to get things done, Creative Fridays is your opportunity to be part of something bigger.
Spaces are limited, so fill in this form to secure your spot and make Fridays your most creative day of the week. We can’t wait to welcome you to the space. Terms and conditions apply.
Not a Bristol Creative Industries member and want to take advantage of this brilliant offer? Join today.
The cost-of-living crisis in the UK is still hitting both businesses and their employees hard. As operational costs rise and consumers tighten their belts, businesses face the dual challenge of maintaining profitability while ensuring their staff are adequately compensated.
The key is to empower your employees. In the midst of the escalating cost-of-living crisis, new research reveals a stark reality: One example…87% of hospitality workers’ mental health is worsening because of financial concerns, exacerbating an already challenging situation. With wages stagnating and essential expenses on the rise, workers face mounting challenges, including housing and food insecurity, limiting their ability to save and thrive. According to recent studies, nearly 60% of workers struggle with financial stress, with over 40% citing it as a major concern affecting their overall wellbeing.
Amidst these challenges, one pioneering solution that has emerged is Earned Wage Access, which revolutionises the traditional pay cycle by providing instant access to earned wages, empowering employees to navigate their financial obligations with newfound flexibility and control.
By eliminating the need to wait for payday, new employee benefits providers enable workers to address immediate expenses without resorting to high-interest loans, thereby alleviating financial stress and promoting overall wellbeing.
Recent user surveys conducted by one industry provider underscore this impact, with 92% feeling more in control of their money thanks to Earned Wage Access and 88% being more likely to stay working at their current employer when this benefit is offered.
Another key solution is supporting workers with financial wellbeing benefits and education to reduce financial stress and help them better manage their finances.
These can take many forms such as personalised educational resources, financial coaching, money management tools, employee discounts, and flexible pay options, among other things.
PwC revealed that financially stressed employees are 5 times more likely to be distracted at work, highlighting the potential productivity gains for employers. By investing in these programs, hospitality companies can therefore enhance both employee wellbeing and operational resilience.
Another key focus are smart budgeting strategies which can significantly benefit companies during the cost-of-living crisis. By regularly monitoring expenses, implementing energy efficiency measures, optimising inventory management, adjusting staffing levels based on seasonal demand, and negotiating bulk purchasing agreements, companies can reduce operational costs and improve financial stability.
For employees, smart budgeting strategies are equally crucial. Creating a detailed monthly budget, setting aside an emergency fund, prioritising debt reduction, automating savings, and utilising employee discounts can help workers manage their finances more effectively. These practices reduce financial stress, increase disposable income, and provide a buffer against rising living costs, ultimately fostering a more engaged and productive workforce.
Where do you start? Well, you can talk to professionals such as myself who mitigate these employee risks…or if nothing else have a look at the Government website www.moneyhelper.org.uk where you can find simple and straightforward with tools to direct your employees.
We have just 1 private office available to lease at the Gather Round Brunswick Square location.
Created by creatives for creatives, Gather Round is more than a co-working space, it’s a growing network of like-minded professionals who go to work every day and sit, write, design, consult and hang out. Soaking up the energy, passion and positivity from the ideas and expertise of others.
Studio 3 features:
|| 9 person studio with added 50% rotational cap. (12-people on the books)
|| One price covers everything, all bills included
|| Private lockable studio
|| 24/7 access
|| Super fast fibre optic broadband with private SSID
|| Beautiful Georgian windows with lots of natural light
|| Fully serviced and cleaned
|| Complimentary coffee and tea
|| Access to meeting rooms & multiple breakout areas
|| Access to all events and facilities
|| Secure bike storage
|| On site support from our Community Manager Mon-Fri
Join a thriving network of like-minded individuals and small creative businesses who inspire, support and collaborate in a beautiful co-working space designed specifically for creatives, located on Brunswick Square, St Pauls.
You’ll find equal inspiration in our vibrant events calendar of workshops and networking opportunities as you will at our family breakfasts, in-house yoga, gigs and parties.
Book in a tour to see it in real life!
Standard benefits packages won’t cut it for Gen Z. Here’s how they’re raising the bar and what you can do to meet it in 3 easy ways.
The generation that won’t settle for more of the same. Gen Z is here and they’re changing the game.
Born between 1997 and 2012, they’ve grown up digital, purpose-driven, and ready to challenge how work works. By the end of 2025, they’ll make up a quarter of the global workforce
And here’s the thing: standard benefits packages aren’t cutting it anymore.
If you want to attract, engage, and retain Gen Z talent, you’ll need a benefits experience that feels as personal, digital, and values led as they are. So being part of the Bristol Creative’s network let’s explore how this generation is raising the bar for benefits and what you can do to meet it.
Firstly, digital Natives Expect Digital-First Benefits! Gen Z grew up with smartphones, social feeds, and instant everything. So, when they join your workforce, they expect the same seamless experience from your benefits. A company’s tech influences whether they want to work there. They expect business tools to be as intuitive as TikTok and as mobile-friendly as their banking apps. If your benefits platform feels clunky or old-school? You’ll lose them before they’ve even logged in.
Secondly, they care deeply about purpose. For Gen Z, work isn’t just a job. It’s a platform for impact. Often, purpose at work matters more than a pay cheque. If your benefits don’t reflect your social and environmental commitments, you’re missing a massive engagement driver.
Then there’s the whole avenue called “flexibility”. Gen Z doesn’t measure success by hours logged. They care about outcomes and flexibility of schedules. In addition, there’s flexibility with regards to personalised benefits which I have mentioned numerous times. Forget biscuit-cutter packages. Gen Z expects choice: mental health support (which is non-negotiable being essential not optional), help their sustainability goals/carbon footprint, help with student loan repayments, help with community impact…all good examples.
Why? Well, it’s not rocket science – lower turnover, higher engagement and it makes you stand out in the crowd as an employer.
Gen Z is raising the bar for what great benefits look like. If you’re still offering one-size-fits-all packages, you’re missing a huge opportunity to engage the workforce of tomorrow.
If nothing else just look at
Because if your benefits aren’t easy to access, easy to understand, and easy to love, they aren’t working hard enough.
Get your networking hat on in May, June and July! We have some brilliant networking opportunities over the next few months. They are free or discounted for Bristol Creative Industries members.
Our second screen industries meetup focuses on skills and opportunities for people in the industry, and the challenges for finding work or moving to different sectors.
The event is £5+VAT for BCI members, £8+VAT for non-members. Tickets include food and drinks. Register here.
BCI’s free members’ lunches are the perfect opportunity to catch up with fellow members and the BCI team which enjoying a delicious Mediterranean buffet lunch too.
Open to freelancers and those who engage with freelancers, join this event to widen networks, make new connections, discuss common problems, and discover potential opportunities for collaboration.
The event is free with a free drink for BCI members, or £5+VAT for non-members.
A great opportunity for members to make new connections whilst getting some much needed fresh air! This event is for BCI members only and costs £10+VAT.
All About Guitar Partners with Distiller Music Group
Bristol, UK – March 25, 2025 – All About Guitar, the UK’s premier resource for guitar enthusiasts, is excited to announce a strategic partnership with Distiller Music Group. This collaboration aims to enhance the range of services offered to guitarists, combining All About Guitar’s expertise in custom-built instruments and educational content with Distiller’s renowned recording facilities and industry network.
David Gillam, founder of All About Guitar, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership:
“At All About Guitar, our mission has always been to support and inspire guitarists at every level. Teaming up with Distiller Music Group allows us to expand our offerings, providing unparalleled resources and opportunities for the guitar community.”
Expanded Services for Guitarists
This partnership introduces several enhanced services:
David Gillam added:
“This partnership is about more than just services; it’s about building a community where guitarists can thrive. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned professional, we’re here to support your musical journey.”
For more information, visit All About Guitar or Distiller Music Group.
Media Contact:
David Gillam
Founder, All About Guitar
About All About Guitar:
All About Guitar is the UK’s leading platform for guitar enthusiasts, offering custom-built instruments, professional setup and repair services, educational resources, and a supportive community for guitarists of all levels.
About Distiller Music Group:
Distiller Music Group is an independent, artist-focused company encompassing records, publishing, live events, and a state-of-the-art recording studio. Their mission is to support musicians at every stage of their creative journey.
A couple of weeks back was Earth Day, and the 2025 theme is Our Power, Our Planet. This year, the Earth Day movement is uniting the globe around renewable energy to help us achieve ‘triple clean energy’ by 2030. Sustainability is at the heart of Bristol Creatives and as a community we should constantly strive to innovate and provide eco-friendly employee benefits.
But where do you start? Well, here’s a few pointers to embed sustainable and eco-friendly employee benefits into your business.
With CSR strategies becoming a must-have, companies are coming forward en masse to share their green credentials, giving birth to the term “Greenwashing”, where organisations talk the talk but don’t walk the walk when it comes to employee wellbeing practices. The same is true with greenwashing, but the scrutiny is even higher. If you make a claim about your environmental commitments, you must have the data to back it up. Without the data, it’s simply talk, and you’re at risk of being seen by your clients, consumers, and partners as greenwashing.
Clients and employees increasingly seek businesses that do good environmentally and socially, but they will also want to see the proof. Being branded a greenwasher will harm your reputation among employees, clients and partners, and you could find yourself in court.
So, how do you get CSR right? What are eco-friendly business practices?
There’s a long list of ways you can embed sustainability into your business through eco-friendly benefits and ways of working. Employees want to work for a business that authentically demonstrates ethical behaviours, and they’re scrutinising your corporate social responsibility policy alongside your Employee Value Proposition (EVP). Conscious quitting is a growing trend among socially conscious employees seeking equally socially conscious employers who contribute to the communities and environment in which they exist. By 2025, Millennials will make up nearly three quarters of the global workforce, and they’re looking for socially responsible employers.
Climate anxiety is real, especially among the younger generations, and these are the people who will make up the future workforce. Research tells us that young people don’t think the government is doing enough to avoid a climate crisis and expect their employers to act responsibly.
How can business’s embrace sustainable business practices through eco-friendly employee benefits. How about helping employee’s retro fit their homes…double bonus of improved financial wellbeing with energy bill savings and improvements in sustainability?
You can’t discuss eco-friendly employee benefits without stepping into the world of green car and cycle to work schemes. Both encourage greener ways of commuting to work, whether by an electric vehicle or bike and bring tax and NIC savings to employers and employees. Greener commuting and money back in your pocket! The more employees who take up a salary sacrifice scheme within your business, the more you’ll save on National Insurance Contributions. Cycling promotes physical wellbeing, and healthy people have less sickness absence = another saving to your outgoings. Your employees’ finances also benefit from a reduction in the taxable element of their payslips.
Cycling may not be feasible for those travelling long distances, but with your support, they can still make their commute greener. Offer your employees a salary sacrifice car scheme to create tax savings and make low-emission travel more affordable.
How about considering CSR Partnerships? Embedding paid volunteering opportunities into your strategy boosts morale, social value, and engagement. There are clear benefits to the business, such as being more attractive to potential partners and customers, but it isn’t without cost. Whenever you pay for a person to be out of the business, you’re funding time that’s essentially non-productive from a business output perspective.
Still, most employees think their employers should incorporate paid volunteering days as an employee benefit, claiming it allows them to learn new skills they can bring back to the business. There are employee benefit providers that allow employee to access even more volunteering opportunities within their local communities and is proving incredibly popular – a definite morale booster!
Post COVID flexibility in contracts is becoming the norm, which is excellent because they’re in demand. There are also measurable business benefits, such as a high increase in productivity. Offering flexible, hybrid, and remote contracts helps talent acquisition and retention, with two thirds of job seekers claiming they’d reject a role that didn’t offer flexibility. The more flexible you are as an employer, the more you support your employees in finding a healthy work-life balance, which will increase employee engagement levels.
From a sustainable business practices perspective, there are additional benefits to having a hybrid workforce including lower fuel and energy usage within the office and fewer employees driving to the office means lower emissions that you can chart against your climate or social value pledge.
The process of running a PPC campaign has been streamlined over the years thanks to improvements with automated bidding. You can turn it on, let machine learning calculate the right bid that aligns with the stated goals for your ads, and get decent results.
Running a successful PPC campaign, however, where you have an advantage over your competition, requires more effort and – crucially – a deeper understanding of the mechanics and key elements of Google Ads.
One such element is Quality Score and this is what we’ll be looking at in detail in this article.
On the most basic level, Quality Score is a way of judging elements of a Google Ads campaign. It goes from 1 to 10, where the higher the number, the better the ad.
On a more granular level, Quality Score is used by Google to qualify how relevant a keyword has been using data from past ad auctions. An ad that has a keyword with a high quality score is deemed to be more useful, so that ad will have a better chance of ranking high for searchers using that particular keyword.
There are three major components that determine Quality Score.
Quality Score in itself is not used to rank ads. Google specifically uses the Quality Score of an ad to see if it’s worth entering into ad auctions where ad ranking actually happens. An ad with a very low Quality Score will suffer, as it just won’t get entered into ad auctions, because Google finds it irrelevant and therefore not useful to searchers.
When Quality Score is combined with a bid, it produces something called Ad Rank. Ad Rank determines where an ad appears in the auction for a particular keyword. So, the better Ad Rank you’ve got, the higher up the paid listings that you’ll appear.
While Quality Score is calculated automatically, that doesn’t mean you’re completely at the mercy of Google. You can still take actions that can affect Quality Score.
To ensure that your ads get shown to the right people, you want to have an orderly structure to your overall PPC campaign. Lumping too many different topics together into one campaign will lead you nowhere. The right move would be to implement segmentation, wherein you have multiple groups that have been split into granular themes targeting specific keywords.
Segmentation allows you to be more targeted in terms of your keyword usage within the ad copy itself. The more targeted your ad copy is to a particular keyword, the more relevant you are, the more clicks you’re going to get, and the more likely you are going to get a positive experience from someone who clicks on your ad.
It can be difficult to optimise expected CTR considering historical data plays a role in this factor. When you first start a campaign, how does Google know what your expected CTR should be? It will rely on its algorithms to come up with a guesstimate first, so you’ll have to wait for Google to collect real live data once your campaign is running to get a more accurate evaluation.
What you can do is make better use of keyword match types. Going broad with a keyword like “accountant” will result in a very low expected CTR. It would be much better to use an exact match type keyword like “accountants Bristol” since it targets a much more specific audience. You also need to be going through your search query report to make sure that any irrelevant keywords that are triggering your ads are being added as negatives.
You can improve landing page relevance simply through good keyword usage. Make sure you’re covering all your bases by having targeted keywords in your page title, meta title, heading above the fold, subheadings, and in the copy. Consider synonyms and other words related to your targeted keywords as well when writing the copy for the landing page.
Another good practice is to look at the landing pages of your competitors. If they’re already established in their space, it’s likely they’re optimising their landing pages. Do competitor research to get an idea of what works for your industry.
Quality Score can affect how much you’ll pay per click on your ad. In effect, it’s like having either a penalty on your bid if your ad’s Quality Score is low and a discount if it’s high. You can get as high as a 50% discount on your ad’s CPC if its Quality Score is 10. On the other end of the spectrum, you can get penalised by as much as 400% if your ad’s Quality Score is 1. It quite literally pays to improve your Quality Score as much as you can.
Quality Score contributes to how high your ads will rank and how much they will cost. Improving it results in a more successful, cost-efficient PPC campaign. Understand your audience, how your keywords match their search intent, and what actions you want them to take when they click on your ad. Keep those in mind, and you’ll be improving your ads’ Quality Scores with granular campaigns, keyword-targeted copy, and seamlessly connected landing pages.
In a time where hybrid or fully remote working is becoming increasingly more common, it is really important to be able to make the most of your work environment. Sitting at your desk all day may seem like the best way to complete all of your tasks for the day, but there is only so long a human can focus before productivity begins to take a nose-dive. There are lots of small, easy changes you can make to your working day in order to ensure you are as motivated and productive as you can be, whilst still looking after your wellbeing. Here are our 5 favourite tips for increasing productivity at your desk!
Sounds counter-intuitive doesn’t it? Well, plenty of studies have shown that taking regular breaks away from your desk increase your productivity when you are back at your desk. Give your mind a break from your workload by taking a walk, grabbing a coffee or just getting some fresh air, which is proven to massively increase focus.
It is really important to stay hydrated, both in and out of the office. Increased water consumption improves energy levels and the quality of your sleep, both of which will have an impact on the quality and speed at which you complete your work. Whilst a cup of tea or coffee will aid rehydration, it is a good idea to keep a bottle of water at your desk so that you can drink throughout the day.
Think about what motivates or inspires you, without distracting you. Studies have shown that having pictures of loved ones, plants or other small personal belongings provide a quick mood boost and can increase focus. Ensuring your desk space is personalised to you but not cluttered is a good way to make the workday run a little smoother. Staying on top of organisation and storage also reduces the time you’ll spend hunting for that file or favourite pen, which can lead to further distractions!
If your to-do list is seemingly never-ending, it’s easy to feel demotivated and like you aren’t actually achieving anything. Breaking down big jobs in to smaller, more manageable tasks creates an easy plan to follow, as well as a huge feeling of accomplishment when you complete everything on your list for that day. Setting yourself smaller goals for the day mean you don’t feel overwhelmed, and you might find yourself surpassing your targets, which will further add to your sense of achievement.
So you’ve tried everything, been for a walk, had some water, looked at your office plants, but your workload still seems to be increasing and you can’t seem to get going? Talk to your co-workers, or the other people in your office, whether it’s on zoom, email, or face to face, the chances are that if you are experiencing a dip in productivity, they may be able to help. Either by reminding you of what the end goal is for your task or project, or by helping you manage some of your workload, the people around you are all part of your support network, and being able to engage with and offer assistance to your colleagues can have a feel-good effect on you as well.
For more great tips or resources that help increase productivity in the workplace, we like SnackNation’s blog: 34 Ways To Be More Productive At Work
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