Birch, Bristol’s newest podcast studio, has opened at Nine Tree Studios in Brislington.
Designed with both “audio and video first”, the space offers high quality audio recording in a comfortable suite that’s designed for film.
“When we opened Nine Tree Studios, supporting the local creative industries was at the heart of everything” said Russell, Co-Founder of Nine Tree Studios.
“We have a huge amount of versatile space, and we want it to be useful, accessible and affordable – not just sit there empty. Bristol doesn’t have a huge amount of podcast suites, with some professionals even travelling to London just to record.”
“With our space we hope to welcome and support a variety of creatives, content producers, influencers and hobbyists alike.”
With full-RGB lighting and space for branding, the studio is perfect for both guest and episodic podcast recording.
Birch also has access to Nine Tree Studios’ other facilities, including ample parking, green rooms for hair and makeup, and a large kitchen breakout space.
The studio can be hired from the hour for just audio recording or including video, with various options to suit beginners and professionals alike.
Nine Tree Studios is Bristol’s biggest independent studio. Located just outside the centre of Bristol there’s parking for over 30 vehicles with easy access to Bristol, Bath and the M4.
For more information visit www.ninetreestudios.co.uk, email [email protected], or call 01173706372.
Bristol integrated brand agency saintnicks has announced a further senior appointment with the hiring of Marcus Culloty as the agency’s new Creative Director.
Marcus joins saintnicks after holding the title of Creative Director at McCann Bristol. Before that, he was the Creative Director of The Mix Dublin, part of Pernod Ricard’s global in-house agency network.
With more than 17 years experience working for some of the UK and Ireland’s leading network and independent agencies including Havas, Publicis, and The Leith Agency, he has created a raft of award-winning campaigns for global clients such as Toyota, O2, Jameson and Dunlop.
Now as saintnicks’ Creative Director, Marcus will be leading the agency’s conceptual output alongside supporting with the mentoring, shaping and development of its creative studio.
On his appointment, Culloty said: “saintnicks has a great philosophy for crafting great work that helps their clients and their brands really fly. That’s why I can’t wait to dive in, be part of this experienced agile independent agency’s senior team and take things further than ever.”
It’s a time of continued growth for the Bristol agency with further new talent joining across the business. This month sees the arrival of Richard Canueto-Cook and Hannah Bain into the Client Services team as Account Directors. Both join with previous careers at Ogilvy, Havas and McCann.
The appointments coincide with another strong year for the agency after a consistent period of new and existing client growth within the automotive, sport and audio sectors and a string of industry award nominations.
Steve Davies, ECD of saintnicks commented: “The quality of talent and the versatility of skills in the agency has enabled us to generate stronger campaigns and deliver better performance metrics across the board. With over 65% of our business from international brands we are always seeking talent who can help us to take clients further, and Marcus is a most welcome and exciting addition to the team.”
When it comes to building a professional, customisable, and easy-to-manage website for a client, WordPress stands out as one of the most popular and versatile platforms available.
Whether the website is for small businesses, corporate enterprises, or personal projects, WordPress provides a robust set of features that make it an excellent choice for creating our client websites.
Here’s why the web design team at eckhoMedia think WordPress is so great:
https://www.eckhomedia.co.uk/why-wordpress-is-the-best-choice-for-client-websites/
WordPress is an open-source platform, meaning it’s free to use and constantly improved by a global community of developers. For clients, this translates into lower development costs and no expensive licensing fees. While the core platform is free, clients may choose to pay for premium themes, plugins, or hosting, which allows flexibility in budgeting.
Moreover, since WordPress is open-source, developers can build custom solutions without being restricted by proprietary software limitations.
If you are interested in finding out more about our services and what we offer please contact us today for a free quotation.
After the huge success of our last big event, ‘Building Creative Resilience’ we’re ready to take the stage for part three of ‘Gather Round Presents’, a series of free events designed to bring the local creative community together.
On Thursday 26th September, we’ll show a warm welcome to our four inspirational speakers as they delve into their stories of how they overcame societal barriers and smashed through glass ceilings to come out on top!
We’re honoured to be joined by…
Rema is a woman of many talents, and awards. At just 24 years old she was named one of the most influential people in Bristol by Rife Magazine and one of the most inspiring Black journalists in the UK by Behind Local News in 2020. Pressing on from her previous accolades though, Rema has carved herself an even more prominent seat in the Bristol creative landscape as she expands her DJing career across multiple iconic music venues such as The Love Inn, Lakota and Lost Horizon. Alongside getting people dancing, she gets people listening, as Rema currently works as an Audio Producer with the team at 18Sixty, working out of our Brunswick Sq location as a Flexi member. We love you Rema!
With a career spanning 10 years in the marketing industry, working with some incredible brands such as Pukka Herbs and Greenhouse Communications, Miranda is at the top of her game. Now advocating for education around menstrual health as Grace & Green’s Head of Marketing, Miranda recently spearheaded the overhaul of their visual identity, breaking the taboo around periods. Go Miranda!
As Founder and Creative Director of music-initiative, Saffron Records, Laura knows a thing or two about breaking through glass ceilings. Laura’s mission to balance the scales in the music industry is one of personal passion and has since honed her commitment to creating a more equitable space for womxn in the industry. Working alongside global music tech companies, such as Spitfire Audio, Pioneer DJ and Abbey Road Studios, Laura is constantly searching for ways to increase the incredibly low percentage of womxn (5%), with only 2.6% back womxn, working in the industry today. We can’t wait to hear about her journey in detail.
If you’re a Bristol native, you can’t go far without bumping into someone who knows Emmanuella, a creative powerhouse and award-winning artist, excelling in her field. Emmanuella recently left a 4-year long role as Production & Partnerships Manager at Bristol-based environmental communications agency Enviral to engage in personal projects full-time. Specialising in purpose-driven creative across film, photography, writing, graphics, sound and immersive events, her most recent project ‘Where Do We Go When We____?’ is a collaborative project aimed to normalise climate engagement for marginalised groups by exploring creative tech prototypes that create neurodiverse-friendly, multi-sensory experiences, using access as a creative tool to connect people to nature. Emmanuella’s wealth of experience is sure to prove great listening.
If that hasn’t given you enough reason to join us, we’ll also be providing free pizza from local legends Pizzarova, delivered by sustainable delivery company Foodstuff, as well as free drinks from our sponsor Positive Drinks Co – the only place to get the best non-alcoholic drinks! Alongside this we’ll have an open bar and plenty of time for a chat in our gorgeous ground-floor event space.
It goes without saying that you won’t want to miss this one and we’re sure it’s going to be another sell out, so get your name on the list quickly (we expect the spaces to book up quickly!) and we’ll see you soon!
Sign up here to get your name on the guest list!
A few spaces left for the 1 x week free trial in the resi area at Gather Round, Brunswick Square.
Throughout August and September we’re offering 1 x weeks membership, free of charge, no strings attached to anyone who works in the creative industry. If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to be a member here at Gather Round, now is your time to try!
Every programme, pillow and perk comes from a focus on enabling creativity and community. Curating flexible co-working spaces that allows professional creatives to bounce off each other – so everyone can do their best work, feel motivated and enjoy the work in process every day of the week.
With over 250 creatives calling Gather Round home it’s safe to say we’re packed to the rafters. From graphic designers, writers and directors to photographers and web designers we hold host to the gamut of Bristol’s creatives. It makes for stimulating conversation in the kitchen and we love bringing everyone together over monthly breakfasts and after-work drinks. Our Campfire Talks see members share their latest project or expertise on a specialist subject over a coffee and a pastry on the sofas.
Sign up here to book your free weeks trial in September.
We can’t wait to meet you!
Werkshop Weekender (formerly known as Werkhouse) is finally back! This year they’re changing it up, and the torch for hosting has been passed on to Halo.
The weekend, where future designers, copywriters, and strategists are given the chance to connect with the industry and get a taste for agency life first hand through a real brief, is happening in Bristol on 16th and 17th November 2024.
Breaking down barriers
As Halo takes over the mantle, they are continuing to dial up the focus on diversity and inclusion. The weekend is open to anyone over 18, no matter their previous experience or education, and all applications are being judged blind.
“We know that university isn’t accessible, or even the right route, for everyone but yet there’s still such a heavy onus on having a degree when trying to move into the Creative Sector. We don’t think this should be the case. Creativity is open to everyone, and always should be, no matter where you are in life or what you’ve been (or are going) through. “ ~ Bryony Greenwood, People & Studio Coordinator at Halo
Werkshop Weekender brings together professionals from some of the best studios in Bristol and Bath, with curious individuals looking to enter the creative industries. Participants are divided into squads to tackle a real life brief from a client in the charity sector, developing ideas and communicating their concepts, with the support of assigned team leaders and on hand professionals.
Studios that so far have signed on for the weekend are:
How to apply
Applications open on 2nd September and close on 1st October, but if you for any reason need more time to finish, please contact Halo at [email protected] and they’ll do what they can to accommodate you.
The Werkshop Weekender team has made it clear; the weekend isn’t for those with experience. It’s for those with an interest in communications, design, and commercial creativity. They aren’t looking for professionals, they’re looking for those with a curious attitude and drive, who want to gain insight into agency life.
“If you’re passionate, if you have ideas, if you’re curious, we want to hear from you. Good ideas come from every aspect of life, and the experiences and the way people perceive life right from day one are what forms rounded ideas. We know life isn’t linear, and your journey into the creative space may not be either (mine wasn’t), so if you have even an inkling to apply, please do!” ~ Bryony Greenwood, People & Studio Coordinator at Halo
Go to the Werkshop Weekender website to find out more and to access the application when it opens.
On Thursday 29th August the very talented Hetty Blair will be hosting a tie-dye workshop at Gather Round’s Brunswick Square location, Bristol.
Come and join a community of creatives and discover the secrets to revamping your old stuff using tie-dye techniques.
It’s crazy how much waste is created by the fashion industry – a staggering 92 billion tonnes of waste each year, with 87% of purchased clothes ending up in landfills.
Let’s make a difference by getting creative and up-cycling our old items. Tie-dyeing your old clothes is just one of the many ways to revamp old stuff.
We will be doing demonstrations on reverse dying and coloured dying techniques.
Please bring two items that you’d like to dye. One item should be white and the other should be dark. Your options for items to bring include a tea towel, t-shirt, hat, socks, or canvas bag.
This event is open to both Gather Round members plus also the wider creative community and of course all BCI members. It’s also conveniently the same day as our end of month drinks so the fridge will be stocked with free drinks for all who attend, come and join us we’d love to see you there!
Sign up on Eventbrite to get your tickets.
We want to take a moment to acknowledge that many of our members may feel vulnerable as a result of the distressing events which have happened in our community recently.
The riots and disorder remind us of the work that must be done to create a truly inclusive and equitable society.
However, the large crowds who gathered on Wednesday to protest against the violence show us what can be achieved when the city and our communities pull together in true Bristol spirit.
As a membership organisation, we would like to signpost to groups and resources that can help to support the safety and wellbeing of those impacted.
If you have your own recommendations, please share them in the comments so that others can benefit too.
Let’s continue to support one another and stand together as a united sector.
Stay safe and take care.
Race Equality Matters has shared some ways you can ensure safety and support for ethnically diverse colleagues.
Stand Against Racism & Inequality has resources on its website explaining what you can do if you encounter or witness a hate crime. You can report a hate crime here.
On 26 August, Bristol Creative Industries internships programme manager Clare Leczycki joined other people from the creative and culture sectors for a walk from Bath to Bristol.
The walk was an act of togetherness and to raise money for Hope Not Hate and SARI (Stand Against Racism & Inequality). Over £4,800 has been raised and you can still donate here.
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Bristol-based CRM specialists Flourish have today joined forces with the creative services agency Curious and The Harbour Collective, in what is the first step in the development of a new marketing company – the Harbour Group.
The group will be led by Paul Hammersley. Previously founder of Harbour Collective, Hammersley will become the CEO of Harbour Group, with Hugo Varney taking on the role of CFO. Before forming Harbour, Hammersley was a chief executive of DDB and Cheil. He launched Harbour in 2017.
Hammersley said, “For some time we have been discussing with a number of our Collective member agencies how to more closely align their shared interests and create a more connected plan for future growth and value creation… central to those discussions has been our desire to allow for the continued autonomy of the agency Brands.”
Founded in 2004, Flourish built its reputation in CRM and Customer Journey marketing, working for clients such as Nissan, Twitch and ASOS. Today, the agency employs over 50 people and operates from offices in Bristol and Dubai.
Of Flourish’s three founders, Neil Hecquet and Rich Hartson will be departing the agency, whilst Keith Nichol will remain, taking a position on the Harbour Group board. Nichol said, “The last 20 years have been such an incredible personal experience. I couldn’t have hoped for better partners than Neil and Rich and both have been instrumental in Flourish’s success. The time has come to push on and this opportunity with Harbour enables us to add our strength to a wider group proposition.”
Ian Reeves, Flourish’s Managing Director, said “The Harbour Group vision is clear and offers our clients tangible value through vertically integrated and complimentary services. We’re excited to start the journey alongside Curious and believe their offering can help push the creative barriers of what can be achieved within CRM.”
For more information, please contact Aimee Blakemore, Marketing Manager at Flourish on 01173 117620 or [email protected].
About Flourish
Flourish, which has offices in Bristol and Dubai, is a CRM agency “specialising in the development and delivery of personalised data-driven experiences, direct communications and content”. Its clients include Nissan, Bet365 and Asos.
About Curious
Curious is a “tech-driven agency that provides design, artwork, photography, video, CGI, and content distribution services”, with clients that include Diageo, Specsavers and Patek Philippe.
About Harbour
Harbour Collective, described as a “standalone company which manages a membership base of a number of independent agencies”, includes Live & Breathe, Pretty Green, Thursday, Platform, Digital Natives, TCO, Just So and Mi Media.
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.”
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