Working for the future Get creative with your future OUR continuing work with Maidstone Council to promote work opportunities for the town’s young
people moves on to the creative sector this month. The creative sector is growing na- tionally and locally, but can be ex- tremely difficult to pinpoint and define.
It operates in a wide range of spe- cialisms and creates a number of jobs for the UK, incorporating ad- vertising and marketing communi-
cations, animation and fashion with radio, publishing and TV. The UK’s creative sector was worth a record £76.9 billion to the UK economy in 2013 after growing by almost 10% year on year. The creative industries also play a vital role in the local economy, with
‘We help people achieve dreams’
WITH three offices dotted across the South of England – including a site in Ashford Road, Maidstone – the Wonderful Creative Agency has grown in size since its creation in 2005.
The company now works with a large number of prestigious compa- nies. Matt Rowbotham, account manager at the company, told us what it is like to work in a creative business.
What does the Wonderful Cre- ative Agency do?
The Wonderful Creative Agency is a team of marketing professionals and strategists which helps brands understand their market proposi- tion, then create a strategy to roll that brand out across all relevant platforms, whether it is social media, online/offline campaigns, websites and everything in between.
What does a normal day in the office involve?
A day could involve anything from branding to designing web- sites, strategising campaigns or cod- ing mobile apps. Ultimately our time is spent helping companies grow through a range of different marketing activities.
What kind of clients do you do work for?
Our clients range from start-ups to small and medium-sized enter- prises (SMEs), larger corporates and a number of not-for-profit organisa- tions: all the way from a dental prac- titioner start-up in Bearsted to globally-renowned car manufactur- ers Hyundai. You could say our portfolio is diverse.
How did you personally get into marketing, advertising and web design? I was fortunate in that our man- aging director, Dan, was a personal friend of mine prior to working at Wonderful. His passion for seeing companies grow was so evident that when he offered me the opportunity to start here as an intern four years ago, I couldn’t say no.
What is your favourite project that you’ve worked on? In 2011 and 2013, we worked with the charity music festival Music on the Hill in Kings Hill. We did every- thing from the branding to selling tickets, and the diversity of the artists on each night made it a fan- tastic event, although the courtesy VIP tickets may have made me
more than 2,700 jobs in this sector in Maidstone in 2012.
If you are not sure about the op- portunities available, start by ex- ploring the Creative Skillset website (
creativeskillset.org/cre- ative_industries) where you can find out about all the different roles
available in the creative sector. Maidstone has a specialism in media and broadcasting at The Maidstone Studios in Vinters Busi- ness Park.
Apart from this facility, there are a wide range of smaller businesses working in the creative industries.
slightly biased towards this!
What do you like most about your job? People. My job is all about helping people achieve their goals, dreams and objectives for their brand. When projects become long-term relation- ships through the value we add, we know we have done something right and it has become more than just a job.
The Wonderful Creative Agency
kent@bewonderful.co.uk; 0845 2000 278
How to break in to the industry
ENTRY into the creative sector has traditionally been quite diffi- cult.
However, work experience and internships can be an extremely effective way of breaking into the sector, providing you with first- hand experience of working in the field, while at the same time providing invaluable networking opportunities. You will often have to make
speculative enquiries with indi- vidual companies to find a place- ment. However, some organisations, such as the Design Council (
www.designcouncil.org.uk) ad- vertise opportunities on a regular basis.
The Creative Society website also has some useful links to proj- ects supporting young people into work in the sector (
www.thecre-
ativesociety.co.uk). There are also apprenticeships
in various fields which offer you the chance to earn while you learn. You will gain a nationally recognised qualification while working in a professional envi- ronment and getting paid. Most vacancies tend to be ad-
vertised on the National Appren- ticeship Service website (
www.apprenticeships.gov.uk).
The facts
• Total employment in the UK’s creative media sector has grown by 2% since 2009. • In 2013 there were 1.71m jobs in the creative sector; this equates to 5.6% of total UK jobs. • Levels of employment in the sec- tor have notably increased in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the South East and South West of England. • 24% of the workforce is free- lance, which is most common in work associated in the production process.
• 85% of companies working in the creative and cultural industries employ fewer than four people.
Have your say
We want to hear what you think about the “Working for the future” project, the challenges you face in finding employment and what you would like us to cover next. Email us at
stephen@downsmail.co.uk or tweet us @LocateMaidstone or @DownsMail.
In next month’s edition: We round up all the opportunities we’ve looked at during the past six months and give you a few hints about our next joint project with Maidstone Council.
18 Maidstone Town March 2015
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