By Joss Wright, Account Director
I remember when I first started looking for a job; despite being enthusiastic (admittedly a little over-optimistic) and keen to learn, the opportunities to get a foot in the door without any work experience were minimal to none – and I’m (fairly) middle-class, university-educated and affluent enough to take on unpaid work if I need to.
Anyone should have access to the creative industries if they want to, but many of the stats show that social mobility is getting worse. And whilst BAME representation is at an ‘all time high’ in the ad industry, recent stats show that still only 13.8% of UK ad agency employees identify as BAME, and just 5.6% of C‑Suite execs are from ethnic minority backgrounds. What’s more, whilst female representation is around 52% across agencies, at board level this figure sits at just 32.7%.
It’s for this reason that Propeller jumped at the opportunity to work with Brixton Finishing School as part of our new CSR programme, and bring much-deserved attention to the training programme that gives young people from BAME, working-class and neuro-diverse backgrounds the training and skills required to enter the creative industries like advertising, media and marketing.
The world of advertising and marketing is so multifaceted and is crying out for creative people with enthusiasm, potential and a hunger to succeed; people who can confidently walk into boardrooms and brainstorms and give different voices, fresh perspectives and ultimately better, more inclusive marketing that can represent everyone. Funded by the ad industry and some incredible partners, Brixton Finishing School is helping the industry improve, by training talented people who might not get an opportunity otherwise to kick-start their careers.
From spending the day at Google’s HQ, to learning how to build a personal brand, to helping create engaging video, Brixton Finishing School provides a wide range of training, delivered by industry experts with years of experience behind them. With no academic or work experience requirements, individuals with the drive and passion to learn are encouraged to apply to learn creativity, digital skills and to ultimately become work-ready. An impressive 95% of the grads from last year’s cohort have found a job in the advertising industry after learning with Brixton Finishing School, including at Clearchannel, Primesight and R/GA.
The work that the founder, Ally Owen, and the team at Brixton Finishing School do speaks for itself, so developing a PR programme was a joy. So far we have helped Brixton Finishing School gain some traction by announcing their new ad campaign, with coverage in The Drum and Campaign plus an upcoming interview with shots to promote the talented grads. We also helped get this interview in The Sun! Alongside meeting some of the incredible talent that have applied this year, we will also be working with the team to develop a PR-focussed training session, and opening our paid internship role up to successful graduates.
Watch this space, because there’s plenty of exciting news coming from Brixton Finishing School over the next few months.