What is Factory Seminar – Creative Business Planning about? 

Join us for a fascinating and practical Factory Seminar about business planning for creative businesses. If you feel daunted by the idea of creating a business plan, then this is the session for you.  

Urban Wilderness co-directors Isla Telford, Laurel Gallagher and Jenny Harper will share their journey of turning an ambitious project, Feral Spaces, into Urban Wilderness CIC, a constituted charity in 2018. Isla, Laurel and Jenny all come from creative backgrounds as visual artists and cultural producers. Together they have been leading Urban Wilderness CIC since 2018, where, as a collection of creatives they deliver a rich programme rooted in building meaningful relationships with communities and places throughout Stoke-on-Trent. 

From their excellent experience as creatives and cultural leaders, they will share how they have assembled a range of tools and processes from the cooperate business world to suit their creative business needs. They will give insights into how they have created a business plan that works for them, and how they use it as a live and developing document bringing focus to what they do instead of it sitting on a shelf. 

If you want to learn more about how to make a business plan work for your creative business or idea, then don’t miss this session.  

Learn more about Urban Wilderness CIC.

What will this session cover?  

• The story of Urban Wilderness CIC  
• What business plan is and how it can be useful
• The tools and processes Isla and Laurel use to create and set their business plan 
• How Urban Wilderness has developed on their terms and with their creative needs and values in mind
• Practical tips for how you can begin to create a business plan 
• A breakout session to help you clarify your vision for your business

Who is the session for? 

• People who are interested in setting-up or transforming their idea or project into a business or organisation and need some guidance from others who have done this
• People who feel unsure about how to make and use a business plan  
• People who are unsure if a business plan is helpful 
• Students or people who are early in their career and want to start building a tool kit to help manage a sustainable career

Who is delivering? 

Laurel Gallagher – Co-Director, Urban Wilderness 

Laurel is responsible for creative direction, partnerships and dissemination. A visual artist with a background in arts education, Laurel is passionate about young people’s rights to public space and creative autonomy. Laurel holds a research fellowship with the Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity and co-authors research papers with academics. 

Isla Telford – Co-Director, Urban Wilderness 

Isla is a cultural producer and events manager with a commitment to bringing art into the public domain. Leading on fundraising, programme planning and project management, Isla works closely with artists, community partners, and young people to transform concepts into artworks, events and workshops. Isla is a member of Without Walls Green Production consortium, and is also Production Director of 6 Towns Reloaded Carnival. 

Jenny Harper – Co-Director, Urban Wilderness 

Jenny is a documentary photographer interested in real stories and how people interact with each other and places. She directs Urban Wilderness’ financial and legal processes, leads on commercial and in-house design work, exhibition installation, and strategic evaluation. She also brings our projects to life by capturing artists and communities through photography and film. 

Where does it take place? 

Creative Business Planning will take place online via Zoom. 

How to book? 

Book your free ticket for Factory Seminar – Creative Business Planning via the link on this page. Visit our What’s On page to see what other events are happening. 

Online Access 

• In advance of each event, we aim to share an overview of the event. This may include preparation tasks for the participant
• We will enable captions for anyone to access during the event and download them after 
• We will record each online event so you can re-watch it 
• We will share a resource pack after the event. This will include summary notes, relevant links shared during the event, the event transcript and the event recording 

If there is anything we can do to support your participation in the event, please email rhiannon@britishceramicsbiennial.com to discuss what we can put in place for you. 

What is Factory? 

This workshop is proudly run as part of the creative business support Factory, which is a partnership between Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce, Staffordshire University, British Ceramics Biennial and ACAVA. The programme is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund. Visit our main Factory page for more information about other opportunities and workshops run through Factory.