Alison Coward, Bracket
11am - 1pm, Friday
Expert in:
- Creative collaboration
- Creative enterprise
- Project management and delivery - ideas to output and getting things done
Alison is a creative business advisor and project manager. She has hands-on experience of developing programmes and initiatives which effectively promote development of business/enterprise skills in creative practitioners, including at her previous role managing the enterprise centre at University of the Arts London. Alison now runs Bracket, a company which helps creative businesses and freelancers to collaborate effectively on projects.
Rachel Stanley, Blurb
11am - 1pm, Friday
Expert in:
- Photography book publishing
- Contemporary photography
- Self-publishing
UK Relationship manager Rachel joined Blurb in 2010. She graduated from Central Saint Martins and has in depth knowledge and experience of contemporary photography. She works on key marketing activities as part of the marketing team, including partnerships with leading photographers and organisations like Magnum Photos, World Photography Organisation and Nikon. Rachel also founded Stanley Barker in 2010 - an imprint aimed at producing beautiful limited edition photography books.
Simon Pitkeathley, Camden Town Unlimited
11am - 1pm, Friday
Expert in:
- Pop up shops
- Entrepreneurship
- Business development
Simon, CEO of Camden Town Unlimited, is keen to help young entrepreneurs, having run pop up shops and incubator hubs, as well as his own businesses for 20 years. He has a background in banking and politics, with consultancy work for clients including JP Morgan and Citigroup, and began his career as a musician. Simon has business interests in an online retail venture and a management development consultancy.
Vance Crawley, HMRC
11am - 1pm, Friday
Expert in:
- Registering your business with HMRC
- National Insurance for self-employed
- The tax return cycle
- Payments to HMRC
- Penalties
HMRC Tax Advisor Vance has worked for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs for the last 22 years and is currently based near the Olympic Site in Stratford East London. During his career he has worked in a variety of roles within the department gaining valuable experience and knowledge. For the last nine years, Vance has been part of HMRC’s Business Education team, whose role is to help you understand your tax responsibilities, and give you the confidence to get it right.
Sarah Thelwall, mycake
2 - 4pm, Friday
Expert in:
- Financial management for business
- Book keeping & benchmarking
- Creative business development & strategy
Sarah has worked with a variety of creative small business' and entrepreneurs, and believes that that the greatest difference she can make in the sector is to help make financial management easier, more intuitive and more visual. With that in mind she set up mycake - a combined book-keeping and benchmarking service.
She is also a strategist and business development consultant who specialises in the Creative Industries. She has a particular interest in ensuring that folks match their business model to their personal business style and to the stage and structure of growth they intend.
Amity Roach, Etsy
2 - 4pm, Friday
Expert in:
- E-commerce
- Starting a small creative business
- Successful selling on Etsy
Amity Roach is the European Merchandising Lead at Etsy.com, the global marketplace for handmade and vintage goods. She curates shopping content for the public and press, specialising in European Etsy products. Amity started working with Etsy in 2010 as a blogger and then Community Manager, where she was responsible for guiding UK sellers on the site.
Prior to joining Etsy, Amity designed and made jewellery and had her own Etsy shop for four years.
Jason Wilary-Attew, John Lewis
2 - 4pm, Friday
Expert in:
- Buying process - focussed on Home product, but experience in beauty and gift
- Routes to retail for Product / Industrial / Furniture designers
- Working in buying
Head of Buying Furniture, Jason studied Product Design for his degree, and has been working in retail environments since 1995. Starting on the shop floor in Harrods, he quickly moved to become a Trainee Buyer at Homebase. He moved to Woolworths as a Senior Buyer, developing and importing product. He then moved to Heals as a Senior Buyer, where he pursued his interest in interior products and furniture, before moving to John Lewis where he has moved up the ranks over the last 5 years to be head of Buying for the Furniture department.
Mathew Wilson, With Associates
2 - 4pm, Friday
Expert in:
- Website design, build & strategy
- Web & digital technology
- Business & the web
Producer and owner of With Associates Mathew has a background in graphic design & branding and lectures on the Global Business & Design Management BA at Regents College. Facilitates the sometimes hostile relationships between business strategy, design and technology, Mathew has a skill set that encompasses information architecture and user experience design, alongside classic project management and production.
Tarkan Ahmet, PleaseFund.Us
11am - 1pm, Saturday
Expert in:
- Online marketing
- Fundraising
- Crowdfunding
Tarkan is Founder & UK MD of PleaseFund.Us and he started his first business Student Jet Packs when he left Durham University. Following his experience with this successful business, he became a regular lecturer at LSE and The Princes Trust. Tarkan’s previous employment includes teaching with Teach First and consultancy with Ernst & Young. He regularly presents new projects in an international arena trying to boost the creative ideas that are listed on PleaseFund.Us.
Howard Sullivan, YourStudio
11am – 1pm, Saturday
Expert in:
- Branding & brand environments
- Trend research
- Creative strategy and presentation
- Starting a creative agency
Howard founded YourStudio, a creative design agency in London in 2008 with business partner Tom Philipson. By working with some of the world's leading design agencies, from Fitch in London to Futurebrand in Melbourne Australia, Howard could focus his creativity on crafting an agency that was more relevant to the way people consume and respond to design in today's fast-moving culture. Founded on a working process combining trend research with design and innovation, YourStudio now works with clients from Adidas to Sailor Jerry, as brand advisors and designing unique brand experiences for them.
Christine Lang & Dawn Ashdown Harris, Creative CV Consultants
11am - 1pm & 2 - 4pm, Saturday
Expert in:
- Targeting your CV
- Presenting skills effectively
- What employers are looking for
- Avoiding common mistakes
Christine and Dawn, the co-founders of Creative CV Consultants, are a team of professionals offering CV & cover letter reviews for the creative industries. With more than 30 years combined experience of working with creative employers, students and recent graduates, the Consultants know what recruiters really want from a CV, what works well and not so well. Bring your CV or cover letter to your appointment and find out how to improve your chances of success.
Chris Grant Peterkin, Visual Art Trader
2pm - 4pm, Saturday
Expert in:
- Online art market
- Maximising online sales
- Democratic Art Communities
After studying History of Art at Manchester, Chris worked briefly for Will Ramsey (Founder of The Affordable Art Fair) at his London gallery. He is also the Founder of Visual Art Trader, the democratic arts community for buying, selling and exhibiting art launched in November 2011, it aims to expand the art market into new territory and help new buyers find art according to what they see rather than by what they know. There are plans in place for Visual Art Trader to rejuvenate the use of non-commercial exhibition spaces.
Dave Charlesworth, Jotta
2 - 4pm, Saturday
Expert in:
- Marketing
- Curation and project management
- Exhibition production
Dave Charlesworth is the Curator at Jotta. He studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths, and has squeezed in a career working in student politics.
Dave co-founded The Woodmill art studio and exhibition space in 2010 and joined jotta in November 2011. Jotta was set up in partnership with University of the Arts London in 2009, in order to establish a cross-disciplinary platform where emerging artists and designers can collaborate, network and showcase their work.
Silvia Baumgart, Own-it
2 - 4pm, Saturday
Expert in:
- Copyright
- Design rights
- Trade marks
- Confidentiality
- Licensing
Silvia, Own-it Programme Co-ordinator, worked in the arts sector for more than 15 years as a curator and research assistant in PR and arts education. She joined Own-it in 2008 after managing the Association of Illustrators for four years. She believes that IP is crucial to business success but needs to be properly understood through practical, business focussed advice. Own-it aims to produce learning resources, workshops and seminars which do just that.