Creative & Digital Businesses Benefit from Leadership Programme

An innovative management training programme being held in the North West has received high praise from some of the region’s top digital and creative leaders.

The Accidental Leaders programme has been designed to help creative and digital businesses in the region to grow and prosper. The scheme is being funded by Northwest Vision and Media in partnership with Skillset, and supported by the North West Regional Development Agency.

Run by Swedish education company Hyper Island and targeted at company founders, leaders and CEO’s, the course includes six days of face-to-face training, backed up by expert personalised mentoring and online peer networking.

The programme helps participants to develop their leadership skills, create efficient teams and use interactive media as a tool for achieving high growth and long-term success.

20 regional leaders are taking part in the programme, from companies including Code Computerlove, Libra, MagneticNorth, Fudge, Milky Tea, Lion Eyes, Stardotstar and Corporation Pop.

Three days of the intensive course have so far been completed, with the next 3 sessions taking place before the end of the year. The programme is being run in conjunction with the Accidental Managers course, which is designed for rising stars that are now, or soon-to-be, in management roles, and being delivered by creative industry management company Kirkbright.

Lynn Kelly, Head of Skills at Northwest Vision and Media said: “As an executive in the creative industry today, you need to be cutting-edge in interactive media, leadership and fully understand how to create efficiency within your organisation. Every day is a new challenge and the Accidental Leader programme has been designed prepare for those challenges.

“This is the first time a leadership course targeted specifically at the digital and creative sectors has been available in the region and it’s proving to be a huge success. The feedback we’ve received has been fantastic and really highlights the demand there is in the industry for focussed programmes like this.”

David Eccles, Managing Director of Bolton-based digital agency Fudge, said: “The Accidental Leaders programme came at the right time for us. Due to a period of quite rapid growth, we realised that changes needed to be made to help us deliver the bigger projects we’re now working on. This programme really appealed, as the way its run allows you to tailor the course content to your own situation.

“There’s no doubt that the course has been hugely beneficial for Fudge. We’ve already started to implement some of the actions defined as a result of the first three days and I can wait to start back in September.

“The day before the programme was due to start I was thinking of cancelling due to work commitments, but I’m so glad I didn't because the course is one of the best things I’ve done, both in terms of personal and company development.”

Jonathan Holmes, Managing Creative Director at Liverpool-based Milky Tea, a digital art production studio, said: “The Accidental Leaders course has so far has been fascinating and inspiring.

"It was a little intimidating at first, especially to be around some of the cream of the North West’s creative talent - some of whom are business competitors. However, the way the course is conducted means that you work in groups with like-minded individuals and it’s amazing how most of us share the same issues and business problems.

“I came away with lots of inspiration and new skills on a daily basis, which I’ve started to implement at Milky Tea. My colleagues have also benefited from these ideas and we’re finding them really beneficial on projects that we have on at the moment.

“On the whole, this course made me look at the company from a whole new perspective - I’d recommend to any company, whether they are from the creative community or not.”

Mattias Hansson, CEO of Hyper Island said: “We’ve been providing this kind of training for more than fourteen years now, so we have the experience to know exactly how to adjust each course to local market needs.

“Accidental Leaders is a great opportunity for us to be able to work with North West Vision and Media and together we will help more organisations and industry professionals becoming more efficient leaders and co-workers.”

Click here for further information on the Accidental Leaders and Manager programmes