Oakwood’s Finance Director, Natalie Brown offers insight on how a SME can run a successful finance operation, enabling you to thrive in a competitive environment. For a small agency this is crucial for maintaining financial health, enabling growth, and ensuring that all business activities are supported with the necessary resources.
This session will be particularly useful for small agency owners and founders – individuals who own or have founded small agencies and are responsible for overseeing all aspects of the business, including financial operations. As well as finance managers in smaller agencies, administrative professionals, freelancers looking to scale and non-financial executives. This guide would also benefit those who may not have a deep background in finance but are looking to optimise financial operations to support the growth and sustainability of their agency.
About Natalie
Bean counter at Oakwood for the last 12 years, Natalie has been working in finance since the tender age of 16, when she got her first job in a building company, as a Purchase Ledger Clerk. She has worked primarily in agencies, aside from one beautiful summer working in Cornwall for St Aubyn Estates, which was a brilliant job, notable for having massive bags of cash to count from the car park and the boat fees!
‘I have approached my work in a methodical way and have evolved my reporting and way of working to match the fast pace of agency life. I wouldn’t work anywhere else as it’s not a standard finance job… every client, every job throws up unique challenges which necessitate an agile finance structure without compromising our bottom line and cash flow.’
Oakwood are an independent B2B Brand and Communications agency based in the centre of Bristol and have managed two recessions and the ups and downs of financial uncertainty in the creative sector for nearly 30 years.
> See Oakwood’s BCI member profile
These Wake Up Call sessions are exclusively for BCI members – register your free place below!
If you’re not yet a member of Bristol Creative Industries and would like to take advantage of this member-only event, you can sign up here. You can also read about the membership perks here.
These sessions take place every other Friday morning from 8.30-9am, for the BCI community to share their pearls of wisdom with one another. The half hour webinars will involve a 15 minute presentation followed by a 10 minute facilitated Q&A, with introductions from the BCI team.
Our community is full of such amazing talent so we’re giving members the stage to talk about things that excite them so they can inspire their peers. The sessions will be a mix of expert tips and tricks and case studies – the perfect opportunity to learn something new before the week is out.
Our usual online format is an interactive ‘meeting’ but for this series we’re running webinars so that it’s easy to listen in while prepping for the day ahead or while having your breakfast! Cameras and mics will be off but you can ask your questions through the chat box or submit them beforehand.
Please get in touch with Sian if you’re interested in speaking at a future session.
Register for your free place Next webinarBristol Creative Industries is the membership network that supports the region's creative sector to learn, grow and connect, driven by the common belief that we can achieve more collectively than alone.
FREE AI x UX Weekly — Live Only
16:30
-17:00
Online
Workshop
Bristol Brunch Meet: How to handle PR in a crisis
10:00
-11:30
The Square Club 15 Berkeley Square Bristol BS8 1HB
Talk
Is your crisis plan up to scratch? Hear journalist Andrew Lynch talk through some of the worst crisis strategies he’s seen when breaking major news stories during 40 years at national and international newsdesks.
This May, we will be joined by seasoned journalist Andrew Lynch, who has served at the likes of the Bristol Evening Post, Financial Times, The Guardian, The Sunday Telegraph, and The Daily Mail, and The Sunday Times.
From working as a night editor during the London Bridge attack, to deputy night editor during the Hong Kong handover ceremony, he is perfectly positioned to explain the process a journalist takes when investigating a story, what is helpful to know from PRs, and what not to do.
Join us for a relaxed 90 minutes of good food, good vibes, and good company, all topped off with critical insight on crisis communications and what you need to do to ensure your strategy is foolproof. Andrew will break down some of the worst crisis responses he’s seen, and what PR professionals can learn from them.
Price: £27.50
Portfolio review evening
17:30
-22:00
Shaped By, Paintworks, Units 4.3-4.4, Bath Rd, Bristol BS4 3EH
Networking
Calling all aspiring creatives! Ready to level up your creative portfolio?
We’re hosting an evening of portfolio reviews at our Bristol studio.
This is an opportunity to meet like-minded people, get real feedback on your creative tinkerings & ask any burning questions to a team of working designers who’ve been where you are.
What to expect:
You’ll rotate through quickfire reviews with our team – Motion Designers, Graphic Designers, Copywriters, Art Directors, and more – and leave with fresh perspectives and practical feedback.
There’ll also be time to mingle with other creatives, chat to the Shaped By team over drinks and snacks.
What we’re looking for:
This night’s for anyone with creative energy and something to share. Whether you’re self-taught, switching things up, or fresh out of uni.
To apply, just:
• Be 18 or over
• Tell us why you’d like to come
• Share at least three pieces of work (digital or printed – finished or in progress, all good)
We’re not expecting perfection. So whether it’s a fully-fledged project, a work-in-progress, or even just initial concepts, we care how you think!
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