Meet the PEC’s network of Industry Champions

Industry engagement is crucial to our success as a policy & evidence centre for creative industries

The impressive growth performance of the UK’s creative industries – from design and advertising to video games, film and music – has meant they are finally recognised by government as a priority for industrial policy. But it is now important to bolster the support that government can give through a much stronger evidence base. This is why it is funding an independent Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) for the Creative Industries – to plug gaps in evidence that have to date held back the sector from reaching its full potential. For more background on the PEC, check out the ‘about us’ page on the PEC’s website.

Although strictly independent from industry, engagement with industry is crucial to the PEC’s success: to help guide us as to what industry’s most pressing challenges are, to provide expert insight to inform our research, and to give critical feedback on our policy recommendations. The Industry Champions lie at the heart of the PEC’s approach for achieving this.

Our Industry Champions are each trusted and respected practitioners, drawn from all parts of the creative industries, and from right across the UK. This network is far from the usual model of a standing Industry Advisory Board that meets on a quarterly basis to give general advice on each and every issue a research centre faces. Rather, the PEC needs those with deep knowledge of industry practice and a desire to inform academic research that leads to better policies for the creative industries.

Over the past few weeks, we have been busy recruiting the first wave of Champions, revealed today and listed below. We’ve tried hard to convene a diverse and representative cohort in every sense that the PEC can draw on as and when we tackle the policy implications of key developments impacting on the different sub-sectors that make up the creative industries. But this is only the beginning: the network of Champions will grow over time to plug gaps in expertise, perspective, and to help the PEC respond to new developments. Of course, if there is any sub-sector, region, perspective or role that you feel already needs better representation in our initial list, please email us with your suggestions.

All our Industry Champions are very busy individuals. So we will take care to consult them only on issues that relate closely to their expertise and experience, and this consultation may take the form of, say, participating in a rapid taskforce or panel to consider a particular problem, participating in a policy event, or providing comments on an important piece of research.

We are planning to convene the first of these ‘industry panels’ shortly to inform the PEC’s work on the value of creative higher education: a critically important issue for the creative industries where there is likely to be policy change in the coming months. We will be seeking to learn from the Champions participating in this panel what has been their experience of creative graduates in their businesses to date, whether universities are doing a good job in supplying talent to meet any skills shortages, and where they are, what they are doing right, and where they are not, what should they be doing better? The insights we gather from the PEC’s Industry Champions will play a central role in the wider evidence base we draw on in our research and policy development.

Caroline Julian, Director of Policy and Programmes at the Creative Industries Federation, has been appointed the first Chair of the PEC’s Industry Panels.

Our first Industry Champions include:

Amir Hussain, Chief Executive at Yeme Architects
Amy Smith, Head of Talent at Framestore
Anna Lowe, Co-founder and Director of Partnerships at Smartify
Anna Rafferty, Vice President; Digital Consumer Engagement at LEGO
Annie Warburton, Chief Executive at Cockpit Arts
Anra Kennedy, Content & Partnerships Director at Culture24
Bekki Wray-Rogers, Founder and Managing Director at Duck Soup Films
Ben Evans, Director at London Design Festival
Celia Joicey, Director at Dovecot Studios
Celia Richardson, Director of Communications and Audience Insight at the National Trust
Chris Michaels, Director of Digital at The National Gallery
Claire Whitaker, Director at Serious
Dave Moutrey, Director and CEO at HOME
Ella d’Amato, Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer at notonthehighstreet
Erika Clegg, Co-founder and Creative Strategist at Spring
Fiona McLaughlin, Co-founding Director at Taunt Studios
Giselle Stewart, Director UK Corporate Affairs at Ubisoft
Graham Jack, Chief Technology Officer at DNEG
Helen Andrzejowska, Director at Ocean Spark Studios
Indhu Rubasingham, Artistic Director at Kiln Theatre
Inua Ellams, Poet, Playwright, Performer, Graphic Artist and Designer
Jennifer Johnston, Head of Learning at Into Film
Jess Christie, Chief Brand Officer at MATCHESFASHION.COM
Jo Morrison, Director of Digital Innovation at Calvium
Kadine James, Creative Tech Lead at Hobs Studio and CEO & Founder of The Immersive Kind Collective
Kim Shillinglaw, Director of Factual at Endemol Shine Group
Kurban Kassam, Freelance Film Producer
Lara Ratnaraja, Cultural Consultant
Laura Pye, Director at National Museums Liverpool
Luke Ritchie, Head of Digital Innovation and Partnerships at Philharmonia Orchestra
Loyd Grossman, Chairman at The Royal Parks
Lyndsey Jackson, Deputy Chief Executive at Edinburgh Fringe Festival Society
Michael Gandham, Co-founder and Creative Producer at Arcus Studios
Michaela Greene, Development and Communications Director at Roundhouse
Nasima Siddiqui, Co-Founder at WyndyMilla
Nia Thomas, Managing Director at Boom Cymru
Nia Williams, Director of Learning and Engagement at National Museum Wales
Nick Keynes, Director at Tileyard Studios
Nick Starr, Co-Founder at Bridge Theatre
Nicole Yershon, Freelance Advertising Consultant
Noel Kelly, Chief Executive Officer and Director at Visual Artists Ireland
Oliver Quinlan, Senior Research Manager at Raspberry PI Foundation
Paul Corcoran, Chief Executive at Agent Marketing
Polly Tootal, Freelance Photographer
Sandeep Dwesar, Chief Operating and Financial Officer at the Barbican Centre and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Sandeep Virdee, Artistic Director and Founder Trustee at Darbar Arts Culture Heritage Trust
Sarah Ellis, Director of Digital Development at Royal Shakespeare Company
Sharon Watson, Artistic Director at Phoenix Dance Theatre
Siena Parker, Head of Creative Responsibility at Penguin Random House
Syima Aslan, Director at Bradford Literature Festival
Tom Chalmers, Founder and Managing Director at Legend Times Group
Tony Heaton, Freelance Sculptor and Performance Artist
Zing Tsjeng, Freelance Journalist