Corporate Social Responsibility Archives | Page 2 of 8

Professional Apprenticeships are thrilled to unveil ApprenTech, our latest leap forward in cultivating the next generation of technology professionals through comprehensive apprenticeships. We have always strived to bridge the gap between aspiring tech talents and the industry’s evolving needs. Today, we’re excited to announce an initiative that not only continues this legacy but also takes it to new heights.

ApprenTech is designed to be more than just a program; it’s a movement towards creating a sustainable, skilled workforce that can navigate the complexities of the technology landscape and solve the skills gap!

With our Ofsted Outstanding rating as our backbone, we’ve crafted two new distinct pathways: Software Developer Level 3 and Level 4 Apprenticeships. These programs are tailored to meet the industry’s demands – whether it’s nurturing new entrants with foundational skills or elevating existing employees to software savants. This is in addition to our existing offering of Marketing, IT and other apprenticeships.

For Companies: ApprenTech offers a unique opportunity to cultivate your in-house talent, reducing recruitment costs and fostering a culture of loyalty and innovation. It’s not just an investment in skills but in the future of your organisation.

For Aspiring Tech Professionals: Embark on a journey that promises not just skill development but a clear path to career advancement. With ApprenTech, your ambitions to progress are a reality.

As we launch ApprenTech, we extend an invitation to tech companies and aspiring professionals to join us in this transformative journey. Together, we can redefine what it means to be equipped for the future of technology.

For more information on how to get involved, pop our team a message at [email protected]

Together, let’s build a future where technology and talent converge to create endless possibilities.

Mark your calendars because something exciting is coming your way! If you’re between the ages of 16 and 30, we’ve got an event tailor-made for you. Get ready to dive deep into the pressing issues of climate change and sustainability at our dynamic and engaging gathering.

Interactive Workshops: Prepare to roll up your sleeves and get involved in hands-on workshops where you’ll learn practical skills like upcycling to make a positive impact on the environment.

Open Discussions: Your voice matters! Join in on open discussions where you can share your thoughts, ideas, and concerns about climate change in a welcoming and inclusive environment.

But wait, there’s more! This event isn’t just about sharing information; it’s about empowerment. We’re committed to making climate action accessible to everyone, especially young people from lower-income and marginalised communities.

Get ready to be inspired, connect with like-minded individuals, and take meaningful steps toward a sustainable future. Stay tuned for more details coming soon!

For ways to support and get involved, you can get in contact via email [email protected]

Bristol Creative Industries is thrilled to launch a partnership with The Early Careers Foundation (ECF), a social mobility charity that works with young people from low-income backgrounds across the country, to ensure that talent and hard work are what determine their career success, not background.

Social inequality is a huge problem in the UK, with family wealth at birth (not IQ, race, or gender) still the most accurate predictor of future financial success. The Early Careers Foundation is committed to ensuring that talent, not background, is what determines a young person’s career success.

One of the Foundation’s initiatives is its Mentoring Programme, which pairs employees from corporate partner organisations with 16-18-year-olds from the organisation’s school partners for monthly hour-long mentoring sessions.

Volunteer to be a mentor and support young people

Thanks to this new partnership, we’re thrilled that Bristol Creative Industries members can volunteer to be a mentor to one of these high potential young people using the Foundation’s expertly designed resources to support building their confidence, developing their employability skills and offering invaluable professional guidance.

The Foundation does the leg work – covering the cost of your enhanced DBS check, running comprehensive training sessions and providing expertly designed resources to structure each session – so that the only ‘eligibility’ criteria is that you are enthusiastic, happy to share learnings from your own professional experience and crucially, committed to at least 10 months of mentoring sessions.

Please note that you need to be a Bristol Creative Industries member to take advantage of this exciting opportunity. If you’re not a member, join today.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, we are officially funding a second round of creative and marketing support to businesses dedicated to levelling the playing field for women.

Last year we offered creative support to a local business dedicated to making a positive impact for women in the South-West. The Women’s Work Lab based in Bristol, addresses the motherhood career gap by providing skills-based training to mums on benefits, enhancing their employability. Headed up by an all-female team here at Oakwood, we reviewed their brand identity and created evolved messaging and a new visual look.

Once again, we are interested in hearing from individuals, organisations or businesses who are led or owned by women who are committed to celebrating women’s achievements, championing women empowerment, calling for positive change to advance women, taking action to educate and raise awareness of women’s equality and those who are actively fostering and creating more inclusive workplaces, communities, or practices for women; to help drive forward the important message of this year’s International Women’s Day around inspiring inclusion.

Creating An Inclusive Workforce

Into work helps 16-24 year old’s find a sustainable route into employment that may have not be easily accessible due to many factors. Students With Special Educational Needs And/Disabilities want to work but are limited with options. Proving employers with the support, training and toolkits will not only open doors for young adults out of work but drive forward your ED&I goals.

Financial support is available for employers who take on someone with a disability through Access to Work and every learner will be supported by a trained Job Coach to ease interaction, transition and expectations.

The young person will be working for you, for free with the hope that you see the immediate benefits to opening your talent pool. Not only will it reduce recruitment costs but will improve reputation, benefit each employee and your retention rates will improve. 20% of the UK customer database have a disability, open up your doors to a a productive, motivated and effective team.

To talk through how you can support a young person into employment, get in touch today by contacting [email protected]

You’d be forgiven for thinking your web presence had a small, rather insignificant impact on the environment, but research shows this isn’t the case.

In fact, the average website produces 4.61 grams of CO2 for every page view. For websites that have an average of 10,000 page views per month, we’re talking approx. 553 kilograms of CO₂each year. For high-traffic websites and businesses with multiple domains, that figure represents just a fraction of the actual emissions you’re putting out.

The internet consumes a lot of electricity: 240-340 TWh per year according to the IEA. In fact, if the internet was a country, it would be the world’s 4th largest polluter – ranking higher than the United Kingdom.

With businesses around the world committed to reducing their emissions and helping to fight climate change, it’s important we all take responsibility for our digital footprint, too.

By investing in more sustainable web design, we’ll also benefit from faster load times, a more enjoyable user experience, and a better chance of ranking higher in Google search results. Basically, everyone wins.

What is sustainable web design?‍

Sustainable web design is an approach to designing digital products and services that focuses on environmental impact first and foremost. It respects the principles of the Sustainable Web Manifesto, which calls for the internet to be clean, efficient, open, honest, regenerative, and resilient.

4 simple steps to website sustainability

To help you navigate the world of sustainable web design, we’ve put together a few top tips. For more comprehensive guidelines, download your FREE checklist.

No, i’m not talking about harnessing the force. JEDI stands for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Remember, not everyone’s surfing the web with perfect vision, the latest tech and lightning-fast connections. Justin Reyna put it perfectly when he said: “Not creating accessible products is just rude”. So let’s make the digital world enjoyable for all, not just a privileged few.

By striving to meet the highest possible accessibility standards, you can enhance code quality, which in turn boosts energy efficiency and elevates your SEO rankings –it’s a no-brainer.

Did you know that 90.6% of web pages get zero traffic from Google? That’s why it’s best to prioritise page quality over quantity. Simplifying the user experience doesn’t only serve to help people find what they’re looking for. It’s also more energy-efficient, because it reduces the number of wasted clicks needed to navigate your website.

Lightweight pages load faster and consume less energy. Saving your assets in optimal formats and sizes, using video content efficiently, and embracing dark mode can all help.

Last, but not least, switch to a hosting provider powered by 100% renewable energy, e.g. Krystal. Unsure about your current hosting? The Green Web Foundation’s checker can help.

Whilst it’s relatively straightforward to track the environmental impact for most major industries (e.g. miles per gallon for cars or energy per square meter for homes), it’s not as simple to measure the amount of CO₂produced while browsing the internet. Fortunately, the team at Sustainable Web Design have created a comprehensive methodology for estimating emissions.

If you have any questions about your website’s sustainability, you can request a free website audit here and we will send you a breakdown of different areas that you could improve. Or feel free to contact us at [email protected], for a no obligation chat.

Branding is often associated with big commercial enterprises. Nike, Google, Amazon, Coca-Cola, are all instantly recognisable around the world – why? Because they’ve got good branding.

A strong brand identity helps to build trust and credibility through consistency and identifiability. That’s why it’s just as important for not-for-profits and charities.

What’s the benefit of brand marketing for charities?

A strong brand says, ‘we know who we are and what we’re doing.’ And this is as critical for building partnerships and raising funds as it is for boosting sales. That’s because investors and donors aren’t just looking for a cause to support, they’re looking for an organisation they can rely on. And good branding conveys the confidence and credibility they’re looking for.

It also manifests a sense of permanence. Good branding can make a charity or not-for-profit feel less like an organisation and more like an established institution. When it comes to attracting funding – this is crucial. Investors want to know that their resources are going towards building something long-lasting – a legacy for themselves and the organisations they support.

The same goes for potential partners and collaborators. They want to be sure they’re putting their faith in the right organisation. A strong brand can help bolster your reputation.

Finally, brand marketing does a lot of the work for you. Through consistent messaging and a discernible visual identity, you can build familiarity and trust with every ad, every post, every email, every piece of content. This means your marketing strategy can be proactive as opposed to reactive. Which means less time and money poured into short-term gains, and more resources spent on the cause you’re fighting for.‍

What do we love about brand marketing for charities?

Diving in values first

A brand should never be pulled out of thin air. No matter the sector, a brand is a representation of a company’s mission, purpose, values and vision. When it comes to branding for charities and not-for-profits though, it’s especially important to put values front and centre.

Nowadays, lots of businesses are taking a values-first approach to their marketing. It’s a trend that rose around the wave of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). Every business, big and small, wants to be seen as driven by their purpose.

Charities and not-for-profits are built around purpose – so this part is easy. It’s setting them apart from one another that becomes the challenge.

Stretching our storytelling skills

Storytelling is an integral part of brand marketing. And it’s something our head of video and motion graphics, Tim Price, loves most about working with charities and not-for-profits. Why?

That’s right. Just like the customer is always right, the beneficiary is always the hero of the story. We kept this in mind when we put together this video for OTR – a mental health social movement by and for young people living in Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

Making it human

Brands, like people, have distinct personalities. Characteristics that help make them relatable as well as unique. And a critical part of identifying these key traits is working closely and collaboratively with our clients.

This is how we approached the rebrand for Housing Matters, who came to us feeling a disconnect between their origins as CHAS (Catholic Housing Aid Society) were and the modern and dynamic organisation they’d become.

We took a similar approach when working with Runnymede, the UK’s leading race equality think tank. By working closely with the Runnymede team to refresh their brand and bring it up to date, we were able to refresh their colour palette to reflects Runnymede’s bold ambitions.

Getting creative

As 2020 was such an unusual and difficult year for everyone, rather than produce our usual Christmas video full of jolly japes, we decided instead to donate our services and resources to a local charity – Caring in Bristol.

They wanted to create something that celebrated Bristol culture – something edgy and full of life to reflect their brand identity and motivate people to donate in the run up to Christmas.

For this reason, we didn’t want to go down the typical charity ‘pulling at your heartstrings’ route. Instead, we went full force with a script and art direction that entertained (with plenty of nods to Bristol and all its wonderful quirks!), whilst delivering the cold hard stats about people experiencing homelessness.

With this video, and the promotion around it, we helped raise over £20,000 in under 2 weeks in the lead up to Christmas. The video also accounted for over 60% of the charity’s engagement for the whole month of December.

What should organisations expect from their branding?

A branding project doesn’t always mean an entirely new identity. Sometimes it’s all about a simple refresh or incorporating more consistency across your messaging. But when we take on a branding project, we ensure we are providing not just the building blocks (like a logo, and new colour palette) but the blueprint, the tools, and the training to boot.

A good example of this is the branding work we did with Effat; Saudi Arabia’s first independent university for women.

In the end, we provided a comprehensive brand book detailing all aspects of their brand including messaging, logo usage, typography, photography style and a refined colour palette which has been given a clear structure with a core palette, college colours, tertiary palette and special colours. Katie went on to say:

That’s all to say – your branding should be more than a marketing exercise. It should be a collaborative journey for all involved. And it should leave you with a manifestation of your organisation that is timeless, emotive and strong.

Need help building your brand?

Whether you need advice or support with positioning, visual identity, a digital refresh, or all of the above, we’re here to help. Get in touch and book a free consultation today.

We’re thrilled to share the news that as of the 23rd of December 2023, The Discourse is a Certified B Corporation™.

Achieving our certification is up there as one of our most significant achievements to date. Joining the B Corp movement has given us the opportunity to interrogate what it means to be a ‘good’ business, and while we’ve always believed that our mission to use design as a force for good was the right way to approach our work, the B Corp process has allowed us to validate this belief internally and open the wider business to external scrutiny.

Having now completed our certification, we’re proud to be a part of a community of over 2250 B Corps in the UK and over 7650 internationally, all committed to using business as a force for positive change. Our experience, not without its frustrations, has given us confidence that the B Impact Assessment process is rigorous, and a good way to help judge claims that a business may make to be doing things the right way. That’s not to say that it’s right for everyone, flawless, or by any means the most important thing that an organisation can do, but we do believe that the approach to business that is advocated by B Lab and the B Corp movement will pave the way for a new standard across the world, where it comes to balancing the interest of people and the environment with profit.

We were fortunate enough to have an incredible amount of support along the way, both through professional consultants and existing B Corps always willing to share their advice and experience. To pay this forward, we have compiled our thoughts and advice into the article below, hoping that it helps, inspires and motivates others. We’ve covered the reasons we applied in the first place, what we’ve learned about certification as a small business, what we wish we knew from the start, and our improvement plans for the next three years prior to recertification.

If you’re currently going through the process yourself, or even thinking about starting, we hope you find this useful and please feel free to reach out with any questions.

To B or not to B (why we applied)…

Since first registering our company in 2020, design as a force for good has been central to our ethos. Day to day we see how design can empower purpose-led businesses and charities, and while we’ve always tried to make a positive impact with our work, our B Corp certification has enabled us to validate our policies, processes and impact based on the stringent criteria set by B Lab.

In case you don’t know, B Lab is the non-profit network behind B Corp that is working to transform the global economy to benefit all people, communities and the planet. Achieving the certification has required us to adhere to high standards of social and environmental impact, public transparency, and legal accountability; a set of standards which we are pleased to have met. For a young(ish) business, it’s provided a benchmark to which we can hold ourselves accountable and ensure that our business truly is a force for good, both internally and externally. It also signals to anyone that doesn’t already know us, who we are and what we stand for.

Although not our primary motivator, it’s worth mentioning that certified B Corps tend to outperform their competitors in both ESG and financial performance, seeing an impressive turnover growth of 26% between 2017 & 2020, compared to a national average of 5% (B Lab, 2021). This proves the claim that doing business the right way and making money are not mutually exclusive, and this mindset is starting to redefine the way people perceive success in the business world.

The journey from A to B (Corp)

The B Corp certification involves a thorough review of how your company impacts various stakeholders. The review path will vary depending on the nature and size of the company, and the impact assessment will review the following areas:

Governance (policies and practices)
Workers (employee well being)
Community (local economic and social well-being)
Environment (the planet)
Customers (the value that you create)

Your total score must be above 80 for certification and the review is conducted in two phases – assessment and verification. The B-Impact Assessment is the initial ‘health check’ and submission of intent to become a B Corp, verification is a detailed audit by B Lab into the claims you’ve made and the documentation provided. As we learnt during our own audit, scores can fluctuate, so we recommend aiming for at least 90 points at the assessment phase if you can.

Completing the B Corp certification has been challenging but very worthwhile. It helped us to understand the policies and processes that we needed in the business to achieve high standards of social and environmental impact. That’s not to say that it is the only thing that a business should do in order to be ethical or sustainable, there are many businesses out there that have chosen not to certify and this takes nothing away from the incredible work they do.

As a small business, without a dedicated sustainability lead or ESG department, it has been the perfect tool and process to help us level up. It has enabled us to understand what we are doing right, in addition to what we need to improve and how projects such as the design for good grant can be developed further to create the change in the world that we want to see.

However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing, so if you’re on the journey to B-Corp yourself there are a few things we wish we knew from the start that would have helped us on the way…

Managing expectations (timescales):

Becoming a B Corp is no walk in the park; it’s a time-consuming and labour-intensive process. This isn’t just a checkbox exercise, the B Impact Assessment delves into every aspect of a company’s social and environmental footprint, and the devil is in the detail. Providing substantial evidence is a challenge, so the more adept you are at documenting your processes and your wider impact, the smoother this journey will be.

We submitted our application in March 2023, but the heavy lifting started to happen in the summer and over the last few months of the year, where we needed to dedicate a substantial number of hours each week to get everything ready in time for our interview. As a team of creatives we have mastered the art of procrastination, so our advice to anyone embarking on this process is to carve out dedicated time each week to chip away at the work, as it’s not something you can easily achieve as a casual side project. More on this below…

Asking for help (just do it):

One highlight of our B Corp certification journey was the incredible sense of community that embraced us. We were showered with invaluable advice and support from a number of remarkable individuals, and a huge shout-out to Ecolibrium, Pieminster, Skylark Media and Enviral for their advice and encouragement on the way. If you’re navigating this process, don’t hesitate to reach out to existing B Corps for guidance, as you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the amount of support you receive.

It’s also worth highlighting that there are some incredible consultancies dedicated to assisting businesses in achieving B Corp certification. The advice and support we had in the early stages of the process from Namoi Lawson (a local B Leader), Andy Hawkins (Business on Purpose) and Will Powell (Future Shift) was invaluable, there’s no way we would have achieved certification without them. Our advice to anyone reading this, given affordability, is to enlist professional support as early as possible. Had we done this much earlier in the process we easily could have halved the amount of time it took to complete.

While we may not have all the answers, we’d be more than happy to share our learnings and support you along the way. The B-Corp journey is still very fresh in our minds so feel free to reach out with any questions you may have.

Be adaptable (as things will change):

We submitted our impact with a stellar initial score, only to watch it dip during the verification stage due to technicalities around our impact business model – a bit of a buzzkill, to be honest. It was an aspect we had been warned about but not really considered, and although we were frustrated by elements of the outcome, it’s given us confidence that the process is becoming much more rigorous. If you find yourself in a similar situation, don’t let it demotivate you. Expect some fluctuations during the verification stage as it’s all part of the process.

The B Corp certification is a serious test of your ability to document and validate any claims you make as an organisation to be ethical, sustainable and impactful. A few of our clients like WECIL and Frank Water, proved to be game-changers for us when it came to measuring the wider impact of our work. While it’s a lengthy journey, it’s also a valuable opportunity to re-engage with your clients and beneficiaries, understand where you are and benchmark your business against best in class criteria. Admittedly, the process took much longer than expected, but without a doubt, it’s been worth the effort and we’ve emerged as a stronger and more mature business for it.

Over the last 12 months, our Project Manager Holly Smith was invaluable to getting our certification over the line. Here’s what she had to say about it…

“B Corp was a great learning curve for me. It gave me such a great insight into the accreditation itself but also about what being a “good” business looks like. It was great to get into the detail of what The Discourse really stands for and how the business meets the standards that B Corp sets out. It was great to work through the company’s aspirations with Ed, to understand what we do now but more importantly, how much better we have the potential to be and how we’re going to get there.

There is a lot of work to be done throughout the whole process. It is time consuming and you really need to manage it as a project. You need to understand how different areas interlink and what you need to deliver in order to meet the criteria. Then comes the part where you need to ensure you have the processes and structure internally to stand it all up and ensure it becomes a continuous way of working and doing business. B Corp isn’t about ticking a box and becoming accredited, it’s about changing your business to benefit people and the planet, and aspiring to change it even more going forward.

I am particularly passionate about the Community and Workers part. It’s good to see the commitment from the business to treat its people fairly and also to do good in the community.

If I had to do something differently, I would treat it as a project right from the start. It wasn’t until we were quite far along, that we realised how many deliverables there were. I would create a detailed plan from the start, with date commitments and timeframes. It would have made things much clearer and I think we would have completed the process much quicker too.”

Our results (and plan for the future)

Achieving our Impact Assessment score of 91.8 has made it clear how much we have to be proud of already. Within the five B impact areas, Governance and workers emerged as our strongest areas, which makes us proud of how the business has matured in just over three years. Our mission-locked, impact business model secured a decent number of points, underscoring the very essence of why The Discourse was founded – to support businesses and charities in shifting the narrative in society and industry. Our fair employment policies and our offices at The Future Leap, a carbon neutral business hub, were a huge asset, as it meant we were able to track, monitor and record lots of our environmental impact.

Becoming a B Corp doesn’t mean that a business is perfect, far from it, and there is always room for development. As well as working on our customer stewardship, environmental footprint and our support for underserved populations, we are significantly increasing the amount of work we deliver each year through the Design for Good grant.

For us, B Corp Certification is a commitment to accountability, transparency and continuous improvement. Attaining the status is a fantastic endorsement of what we achieved, but the real driver for us becoming a B Corp is looking forward – it sets the future direction of The Discourse as a progressive and ethical design agency, and represents our ongoing efforts to leverage our business as a positive force in every aspect.

Conclusion:

We hope you found this helpful, we will be giving regular updates on our involvement with the community so follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date. If you’re a business working towards their B Corp or have any questions about the process, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

A new skills training programme to support creatives looking to break into behind-the-camera roles on scripted film and high-end TV productions made in the West of England will launch later this month.

It comes after Bristol City Council’s Film Services have secured almost £300,000 (£299,818) from the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, led by Metro Mayor Dan Norris, to deliver an industry-led West of England Film & High-End TV Workforce Development Programme to help creatives make their impact and find new career opportunities.

Delivered by The Bottle Yard Studios, Bristol UNESCO City of Film and Bristol Film Office – the three departments that make up Bristol City Council’s Film Services – the year-long programme will be open to regional participants from backgrounds currently underrepresented in the industry. Tailored training will demystify the world of scripted production and prepare trainees for entry level crew positions, with the aim of strengthening the pipeline of diverse local crew talent.

The investment comes at an important time of continued growth in the West of England’s film and high-end TV sector, with an estimated 21,000 new crew forecast to be needed across the UK by 2025.*

Metro Mayor Dan Norris, who leads the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, said: “The West of England is fast becoming the Hollywood of the UK. Only recently, huge names like Disney+ have checked in to The Bottle Yard Studios’ new state-of-the-art and West of England Mayoral Authority-funded TBY2 facility – that’s a massive vote of confidence in our world-leading creative industries. But to keep up the pace, we need to tap into the extraordinary wealth of creative talent we have in the West. That means supporting them with world-class training to create that new home-grown creative generation for the sector.

“That’s why I’m delighted to be launching this programme fully funded by the Mayoral Combined Authority I lead, to give West of England residents the opportunities they need to thrive in film and high-end TV – something the West does so well. It gives a platform to the next generation of talent who will shape our region’s bright creative future. So, to those considering a career in film and TV: I want to hear from you!”

Councillor Craig Cheney, Deputy Mayor of Bristol with responsibility for City Economy Finance & Performance said: “It’s brilliant to see Bristol’s thriving film and TV sector in the spotlight once again and we are delighted to secure funding to further support this vital industry, as well as the talented people who bring Bristol’s creative sectors to life.

“Bristol remains a world-leading hub for film and TV production, with some the industry’s biggest names choosing our city to produce their shows. Bristol’s new state-of-the-art film studio, The Bottle Yard’s TBY2 facility, has already played host to some of the UK’s most exciting productions since opening its doors in 2022 supported by £12 million in funding. However, as the sector continues to go from strength to strength, more targeted investment into training and developing the next generation of homegrown production talent is becoming increasingly necessary. This industry-led development programme will tap into the deep pool of creative talent here in the West Country and open new career pathways to underrepresented groups who may never have had the opportunity to take their first steps into this fast-growing sector.”

Laura Aviles, Head of Film, Bristol City Council says: “We’ve long made the case that targeted skills investment for scripted crew in our region is essential if we’re to develop this often-overlooked segment of the screen workforce. Film and high-end TV production levels in Bristol and the West have been increasing steadily in past years, supported by The Bottle Yard’s expansion and the region’s Film Offices facilitating more productions on location. With this success comes the opportunity to grow our local talent base – which is crucial when the existing crew base hits capacity, something we anticipate as we move on from last year’s US writers and actors strikes. We are delighted to have secured this funding to deliver a programme designed to help local entrants understand and navigate the fast-paced world of production they are not yet familiar with, to support them in identifying the right opportunities and having the confidence to step into industry roles that suit their talents and ambitions.”

Natalie Moore, Bristol UNESCO City of Film Manager, says: “Developing a local skills pipeline for scripted crew is a key priority in our Bristol UNESCO City of Film Action Plan. Opening up opportunities for regional talent from a wide range of backgrounds makes for a more sustainable and resilient industry base. With so many career opportunities that can and should be made available to people living within the region, we want to make access routes into the film and TV industry easier to navigate and provide support to build a more diverse local workforce. This programme will create a clear pathway to help underrepresented talent from Bristol and the West into scripted production careers, demystifying the industry and preparing them for employment with the right level of support and guidance.”

The programme, which is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, will feature a series of sessions repeated for three intakes throughout 2024, including a ‘Get to Know the Industry’ webinar, an Industry Induction Day at The Bottle Yard Studios, and a specially designed 5-week training scheme to equip potential new entrants for a career in film and high-end TV production. Training will focus on confidence-building, set etiquette and work-readiness, communication skills and teamwork, wellbeing and resilience, as well as digital and financial literacy and how to find work as a freelancer.

The programme will aim to engage up to 750 people in total across its different strands of activity, with a view to 45 undertaking the 5-week training course that will equip them to go on to get jobs. Those who complete the full training will be added to a New Entrants Portfolio given to film and high-end TV productions filming in the region.

The programme will also launch a digital New Entrants Hub, designed to signpost anyone in the West of England interested in a career in film or high-end TV to useful resources, training and development opportunities that are relevant to the region.

Applications will be invited from residents of Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, and South Gloucestershire aged 17 and above**. Underrepresented target groups will include young people aged 17-25**, those not in education, employment or training, under-employed people and those on zero-hour contracts, women, people from the global majority, disabled people, people living with mental health issues, carers and care leavers. An Access Fund will be provided to support any participants who face a financial barrier to taking part.

The West of England Film & High-End TV Workforce Development Programme has been devised following recommendations of the BFI Skills Review (June 2022) and Olsberg’s Workforce Development Report commissioned by Bristol City Council and The Bottle Yard Studios (July 2023). The first call for applications will open in January 2024.

The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority is working in partnership with Bristol City Council’s Film Services (comprising The Bottle Yard Studios, Bristol UNESCO City of Film and Bristol Film Office) to deliver the Mayoral Priority Skills Fund. This fund provides flexible grants to meet current priority skills gaps in the region. This project is part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Upcoming productions recently filmed in Bristol and the West of England include Jilly Cooper adaptation Rivals (Disney+), series three of spy thriller Alex Rider (Amazon FreeVee), series three of Stephen Merchant’s The Outlaws (BBC/Amazon Prime Video), comedy drama Boarders (BBC Three), teen crime thriller A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (BBC Three) and series five of children’s drama Malory Towers (CBBC). Titles currently in production in the region include Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light (BBC/Masterpiece PBS) and romantic comedy The Road Trip (Paramount+).

We LOVE big-budget TV ads like the John Lewis Christmas advert. They’ve really found the winning formula to maximise engagement and go viral.

In fact, we love it so much that we decided to give it a go ourselves. But instead of helping a big department store or supermarket grow its profits, we decided to help a charity grow its reach.

Love Squared is a Bristol-based charity who support young people and families with social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) needs.

They noticed a huge lack in services for young people and children who had aspirations but were missing out on reaching their potential because of SEMH needs, so they work to change this and provide the resources and support to those who need it.

With such a great cause, we knew we wanted to support them this year by donating our resources to create them a Christmas advert they can use to raise awareness and donations.

So were we. Here’s your guide to making a viral Christmas ad to rival the very best – whether you’re a charity, non-profit or B2B business.

Every year, audiences eagerly await high-production TV Christmas ads from John Lewis, M&S, Sainsbury’s, and a plethora of other consumer businesses. But this year, we’re seeing more and more clients take an interest in Christmas content and other seasonal campaigns – and for good reason.

As we all eagerly await this year’s marketing showdown, many businesses are thinking about their own festive advertising and how they can get a slice of the action.

The most popular Christmas ads really tug at the heartstrings. It’s the time of the year when people value togetherness, generosity and kindness the most, but it can also be a tough time for many. So, it’s important to capture the emotions of the festive seasons and make your audience feel seen and understood. Having said that, it should be hopeful and optimistic – after all, it is the most wonderful time of the year.

Our copy team put together a script that captured the emotion behind Love Squared’s amazing cause.

Focusing on issues of loneliness and mental health, we created a story that would speak to the challenges young people face, while reflecting the power of imagination – one of Love Squared’s primary values. We even got our best (only) David Attenborough impersonator in to do the voice-over.

From John Lewis to Sainsbury’s, all the best viral Christmas adverts embrace the cute-factor. And whether they take the form of animals, humans, dragons or monsters, the bigger the eyes, the more we seem to love them.

Our designers and animators created relatable characters with big eyes and even bigger dreams.

We wanted to introduce an imaginary friend that brings joy to a child’s life, presenting creativity, resilience and fun as an antidote to loneliness and boredom – and so, best friends Rita and Howie were born.

Emotive covers of popular songs are a staple of the annual Christmas-ad-off. Possibly the most successful among these are the John Lewis Christmas adverts that feature big stars covering even bigger ballads – from Lily Allen’s rendition of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know to Gabrielle Aplin’s cover of Frankie Goes to Hollywood classic The Power of Love.

Our Love Squared Christmas ad features an acoustic track with an emotional hook: “when we’re together again” – which pairs perfectly with the beautifully animated scenes about loneliness and newfound friendship. Oosh! Right in the feels.

The trick to a truly amazing Christmas ad is to fully immerse your audience, perhaps even leaving them thinking: “How did they do it?” Whether that’s through impeccable animation or beautiful videography, or a mix of the two.

There really are no limits to what you can do with video and animation (other than budget, of course).

Our Video and Motion Graphics team did an amazing job of directing, producing and animating an impactful campaign video to support Love Squared.

Shout out to our A-list actors (A for ‘A member of our studio, marketing, HR and finance teams’) for some pretty impressive skills and even more expressive faces.

At P+S, we’re passionate about supporting amazing initiatives and organisations that offer support in our local community. Partnering with Love Squared for this video was a no-brainer.

Many B2B marketers mistakenly pour all their energy into lead generation, believing that B2B decision making is a head-over-heart endeavour, where common sense prevails. In reality, buying committees are equally as emotion-led as consumers, but with one key addition – risk.

It’s far more risky to introduce a lesser-known supplier/ partner to your business than it is to buy from an established one, so recognition and reputation are just as important for B2B brands – whose sales representatives are no longer in the room when these buying decision are made.

So, while we may not pour the same level of budget into TV and traditional media advertising, it’s still worth considering how B2B Christmas advertising can set you apart from the competition and make a memorable impression on prospective customers. Ultimately, you want them to remember your brand when they’re in market (just 5% of the time you spend plugging away at lead generation).