Thurs 30th January 2025
Elevating London’s Creative Businesses
A day of FREE workshops, mentorship and networking tailored to help London’s creative entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small businesses scale, innovate and thrive.
What is IB Create?
IB Create is a one-day business-focused event at Impact Brixton designed to empower London’s creative sector. Through workshops and expert mentoring, attendees will learn strategic, actionable skills to build strong, resilient businesses.
- Interactive Workshops: Gain insights on digital marketing, financial resilience, AI, and sustainable business strategies from industry experts.
- Q&A Sessions: Dive deeper into each topic by asking questions that directly relate to your business needs.
- Networking Breaks: Build connections with other creatives in Lambeth to find potential partners, collaborators, and supporters.
- Virtual Attendance Option: Join from anywhere with live-stream access to all workshops, so you won’t miss a thing.
Whether you’re freelancing, running a startup, or leading a growing business, you’ll leave with actionable insights and connections.
What to Expect on the Day
1. Expert-Led Workshops
Kick off the day with hands-on, expert-led workshops to give you practical insights and strategies to grow and scale your creative business. Whether you’re exploring AI, digital marketing, financial resilience, or business setup, these sessions will equip you with the tools to thrive.
2. Interactive Q&A Sessions with Facilitators
After the workshops, you’ll have the chance to participate in informal Q&A sessions with our expert facilitators. This is your opportunity to ask deeper, more specific questions about the topics that matter most to your business and gain insights directly from those who know the field best.
3. Networking Opportunities
Throughout the day, you’ll have dedicated networking breaks where you can connect with fellow creative entrepreneurs. Share ideas, collaborate, and build valuable relationships with like-minded professionals who are also navigating the challenges of running a creative business. This is a chance to expand your network, create partnerships, and tap into a supportive community.
4. In-Person and Virtual Access
For those selected to attend in person, you’ll have priority access to the workshops, Q&A sessions, and all the networking opportunities. However, if you’re not selected to attend in person, don’t worry – you can still benefit from the workshops through our virtual streaming option, ensuring you won’t miss out on any of the valuable content.
Apply today to unlock the potential of your creative business with insights, community, and support that lasts beyond the day.
Two Tracks to success:
Introducing START & SCALE
START
For creative freelancers or early-stage entrepreneurs, IB: Create START offers essential resources and guidance to help your new business get off the ground.
- Business Setup Workshop: Learn how to formally register your business, whether as a sole trader, limited company, or CIC.
- One-Year Virtual Office Service: Gain a professional London business address for official documents and correspondence.
- £300 Coworking Credit: Get started with flexible access to our creative coworking space.
- Networking with Seasoned Professionals: Build connections with established creatives who can offer valuable insights and advice.
SCALE
If you’re an creative business owner looking to scale the business, IB: Create SCALE provides advanced resources and mentoring to help you grow:
- Spotlight in The BCC List: Gain exposure through a featured spot in The BCC List, IB’s popular community newsletter, connecting your business with a wide network of creatives, potential clients, and collaborators across London.
- Personalised Mentorship: Be paired with an expert in your industry to guide you through specific growth challenges.
- £300 Coworking Credit: Use our coworking space as a creative hub to fuel your next phase of growth.
- Industry Networking: Collaborate with other experienced entrepreneurs, opening up opportunities for partnerships and expansion.
Is IB Create Right for You?
IB: CREATE is open to anyone in London’s creative industry—from freelancers and early-stage entrepreneurs to established small businesses across all sectors, including design, music, tech, architecture, and more. If you’re building or growing a creative business, this event is for you.
Eligibility Criteria
To attend IB: CREATE, applicants must:
- Live or operate in Lambeth and work within the creative industries, including Design, Fashion, Music, Performing Arts, Film, TV, Radio, Photography, Advertising, Marketing, Architecture, IT, Software, Crafts, Visual Arts, Publishing, Literature, Museums, and Galleries.
- Be actively focused on business growth—whether freelancing, running a startup, or managing an established business.
We welcome creative professionals and entrepreneurs from all backgrounds who share the goal of building resilient, successful businesses in London’s creative economy.
Some of Our Industry Mentors
Jez Galaun
Jez moved to Brixton in 2006 and along with his wife Libby and neighbours Mike and Xochitl, set out to found a local brewery that served and celebrated their adopted community with a simple mission to put Brixton on the map for great beer. In 2017 he steered the brewery into a successful partnership with Heineken, its first craft acquisition in the UK, and continues to lead the company as Managing Director.
Lucy Kebbell
Lucy is a sustainability advocate, founder, and community builder. After a decade in fashion media, she combined her industry knowledge with her passion for sustainability to create The WIP, a platform supporting SMEs to grow impactful businesses. As a speaker, mentor, and Local Leader for Enterprise Nation, Lucy has hosted its most attended entrepreneur meetups for over four years, while championing environmental and social change through workshops and events.
Rania Robinson
Rania Robinson, CEO of Quiet Storm, is a UK advertising leader known for her strategic vision and commitment to diversity. Born in Egypt and raised in the UK, her passion for communication stems from overcoming early language barriers. Rania relaunched Create Not Hate, empowering under-represented youth in creative industries and has worked with global brands like Google and Coca-Cola. A champion for women’s empowerment, she was WACL’s President during its centenary year.
Gerald Vanderpuye
Gerald Vanderpuye is a tech entrepreneur and investor who co-founded Impact Brixton CIC in 2019, a co-working space supporting over 200 freelancers, creators, and change-makers. He also founded Shodeck.com, an enterprise platform that won MassChallenge: Startup of the Year 2015. Passionate about WEB 3.0 and crypto, Gerald writes about their potential to empower creators and drive sustainable innovation on his blog, Virtue Collectors Club.
