A networking group for Scotland’s fast-growing band of creative industry entrepreneurs is on the hunt for new members to continue its own expansion.
One of its two co-founders, Rachael Brown, is based in Banff.
The other, Nova Stevenson, helps run the network, known as the Creative Entrepreneurs’ Club (CEC), from Glasgow.
CEC connects, upskills and empowers creative entrepreneurs across Scotland.
We thought that sharing and helping each other would be a pretty powerful thing.”
It was launched in 2019 to uplift, inspire and support creative business owners to grow sustainable businesses in an “authentic” way.
The group’s website says: “We’re a bunch of creative entrepreneurs who’ve come together because we thought that sharing and helping each other would be a pretty powerful thing.
“The Creative Entrepreneurs’ Club, a member-driven community, is designed to help creative people grow sustainable businesses in an authentic and empathic way. That means it’s relaxed, it’s fun, it’s practical, it’s accessible and it’s useful. It is a community for everyone.”
Nearly 4,000 members around Scotland
Despite running solely on the resources of its members, without any public funding, the group has grown rapidly since it was first established. It has expanded from 300 members in 2020 to nearly 4,000 today, with members hailing from every local authority area in Scotland.
More “creatives” are being encouraged to check out what the organisation has to offer.
Ms Brown, who has made a career out of helping to build Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, is the group’s chief executive.
She said it aimed to “let loose the hidden superpowers” of talented self-starters across the north-east.
“It’s not a very visible industry,” she said, adding. “The north-east has been dominated by oil and gas for so long.
“But we now have all these wonderful game design businesses and fashion houses, for example. I’m excited to be able to bring my circus to town.”
Banff-based expert has many roles
Ms Brown has worked in the creative industries and social enterprise sector for the past 25 years.
As well as being CEO of CEC, she is social entrepreneur in residence at Social Investmment Scotland and chief executive of Radical Enterprise, which is focused on “new and wonderful projects and programmes that highlight the power of creativity and social business”.
She is also CEO at the Glasgow-based Cultural Enterprise Office, part of the leader network at Entrepreneurial Scotland and a former chairwoman of Youth Theatre Arts Scotland.
CEC’s chief executive moved to Aberdeenshire after Covid lockdown
The 50-year-old Saltire fellow upped sticks from the central belt and moved to Aberdeenshire in 2020, following the first Covid lockdown.
She said the move allowed her two young children to see more of their grandmother, in Banff.
It also gave her a new perspective to her understanding of the work CEC does in supporting rural creative entrepreneurs.
Ms Brown added: “One of our core aims is for a future where rural areas become hotspots for creativity and innovation, attracting talent and investment from around the world.
“There is a huge amount of talent in the north-east – which is why it is an area we are really keen to build up our membership base in, and also get more businesses involved in sharing their skills.
“In order to fully harness the power of rural creatives, we need to focus on non-traditional areas. We all know people are no longer confined to big businesses or urban environments, and we need to better recognise the vibrant ecosystem of talent thriving in rural landscapes.
“There is such an opportunity for commercial, social and creative to all come together to create opportunities for creative entrepreneurs. We have thousands of members, from a wide range of creative sectors that want to share, collaborate and learn from one another.”
According to Ms Brown, the creative sector in the north-east is worth more than tourism, agriculture and fisheries combined.
Financial planning partner
CEC recently teamed up with Aberdeenshire-headquartered Acumen Financial Planning, which is encouraging other businesses to get involved and share their expertise as the network grows across the north-east.
The networking organisation has also worked with Outer Spaces, which helps artists across Scotland find affordable, often free, studio and exhibition space, where they can grow, collaborate and create.
CEC helped it through a rapid growth phase.
Colin Farquhar, head of operations, Outer Spaces, said: “Within our network we now have over 40 studios and more than 500 artists. Through our endeavours we’re transforming spaces and cities, places and people.
“Outer Spaces started only two years ago, and the advice and support provided by Creative Entrepreneurs Club was and continues to be invaluable. The guidance provided at those early stages, by Rachael and the advisers at CEC, through the Ambitions: Step Up programme, lifted Outer Spaces into the organisation it has become.”
We are delighted to have received funding from @socinvestscot to continue our work to support artists, foster creative communities and activate empty spaces in the towns and cities we work in. https://t.co/IW1FzUtFyJ
— Outer Spaces (@spaces_outer) September 5, 2023
Mr Farquhar added: “Although Scotland wide, Outer Spaces has gone through a period of rapid growth in the north-east in 2023. We’ll continue to push forward to provide for as many artists as we can across the region.
“We know CEC will still be there to provide for us, helping us give creatives in Aberdeen city and shire the opportunities they deserve.’’
To find out more about CEC, visit creativeentrepreneursclub.co.uk
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