We’re the membership network uniting Bristol’s creative industries behind a common cause, driven by the belief that we can achieve more collectively than alone.

Okori Lewis McCalla

Who we are

We’re a not-for-profit community interest company, set up in 2005 to support the creative sector in Bristol. Our profit goes directly into more jobs, more connections and more kudos for creative industries in Bristol, Bath and the South West. Those industries include, advertising, marketing, design, digital, product, graphic, film, TV, video, radio, photography, IT, software, createch and publishing.

Read more about Our History.

What we do

Our mission is to support the creative sector to learn, grow and connect. We’re about prosperity for creative businesses and that means attracting new talent and new customers. In Bristol and across the region we:

People sitting on Bristol bench

Chris Thurling, Chair, Bristol Creative Industries

We’re part of something greater

“Bristol may be known for Banksy, Gromit and Brunel, but in-between the cider boats and balloons we nurture a diverse network of creative talent. A digital profile gives every member the chance to showcase work, be heard and contribute towards something greater.”

Creative people in meeting space

Lis Anderson, Director, Bristol Creative Industries

Creating a stronger presence

“Sharing our achievements inspires talented people to work here, attracts more customers and bolsters growth. We’re exploring a new creative reality for the region that keeps pace with Bristol’s reputation for innovation – our digital platform gives Bristol the voice it deserves.”

Directors

Our voluntary executive board is made up of BAFTA-winners, tech trailblazers and creative pioneers, driven by the common belief that we can achieve more collectively than alone.

Lis Anderson

Co-Chair, Bristol Creative Industries | Co-founder, Ambitious

Lis is an experienced marketing communications professional and has supported Bristol Creative Industries since 2010.… Read more

Lis is an experienced marketing communications professional and has supported Bristol Creative Industries since 2010. Lis was elected Co-Chair of BCI in 2023 and, along with Heather Wright, drives the vision of the organisation and nurtures key stakeholder relationships.

Prior to founding AMBITIOUS, Lis held board level positions at some of the UK’s leading independent and integrated consultancies including Bray Leino, working with regional, national and international brands, businesses and organisations.

She previously chaired the Chartered Institute of Public Relations South West, served on the CIPR’s national council and was awarded a fellowship for her voluntary work in the sector.

With a particular interest in building better relationships between the creative industries and education providers, particularly Post 16, Lis has been an industry adviser for Cabot Learning Federation, Access Creative College and a Governor of City of Bristol College.

Find Lis on LinkedIn

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Heather Wright

Co-Chair, Bristol Creative Industries | Scale Up Director, Innovate UK

Heather is a BAFTA-winning animation Executive Producer and Creative Industries Consultant. She is a collaborator… Read more

Heather is a BAFTA-winning animation Executive Producer and Creative Industries Consultant. She is a collaborator and connector with a passion for creativity. Heather was elected Co-Chair of BCI in 2023 and, along with Lis Anderson, drives the vision of the organisation and nurtures key stakeholder relationships.

Currently Scale Up Director for Innovate UK, Heather previously spent 22 years as Executive Producer, Senior Management Team and Board Director at Aardman Animations, where she was credited with being a major contributor to the cultural, commercial and creative success of the company.

She has many credits to her name but is most proud of her work as Executive Producer on BAFTA winning ‘Tate Movie Project’ actively engaging over 35,000 children across the UK, to co-create ‘Itch of the Golden Nit’.  As Chair and Trustee of Creative Youth Network she supported the CEO and the Board during a time of transformation from being a local activity centre to being one of the South West’s most respected youth arts groups.

Heather is also an active member of the AHRC Creative Industries Advisory Group.

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Steven Coombe

Steven Coombe

Finance Director, Bristol Creative Industries

Steven is a director and joint owner of Burnside, Chartered Accountants based in Queen Square,… Read more

Steven is a director and joint owner of Burnside, Chartered Accountants based in Queen Square, Bristol, where he advises owner-managed businesses, many of which are in the Creative Industries. 

Having been an Adviser to the board since 2007, he was appointed to the Bristol Creative Industries board in 2016 and fulfils the role of Finance Director. 

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Julz Davis

Creativist, Curiosity Unltd

Julz has a 20+ year track record of delivering disruptive engagement solutions for complex campaigns… Read more

Julz has a 20+ year track record of delivering disruptive engagement solutions for complex campaigns across the community, civic and commercial sectors. He has worked for award-winning communication agencies, world food distributors, large-scale events, ethnic media and ethical banks. Julz is proud to have transformed, enriched and saved the lives of people from under-represented groups.

From Knowle West to Westminster, as an award-winning creativist, he is inspired to creatively use the tools of activism to co-create with organisations and other like-minded changemakers keen to advance adventures in diversity and social change, for good.

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Marissa Lewis-Peart

Freelance Graphic Designer

Marissa is a designer from Bristol with a passion for how people interact with brands… Read more

Marissa is a designer from Bristol with a passion for how people interact with brands and how that experience is shaped through design. In 2019 Marissa won the Ben Martin Apprentice Award in collaboration with Bristol Creative Industries, Babbasa and The IPA. Through that, she attended SXSW in Texas to build her network and gain industry experience through a local internship program.

In addition, Marissa is a scholar on the Editorial Intelligence Social Capital Network programme funded by Google and a dancer in her spare time. She is passionate about helping other young people from underrepresented backgrounds into the creative industry.

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Gail Caig

Creative Industries Council Advisor

Gail is a freelance consultant, working in strategy and policy development and specialising in the… Read more

Gail is a freelance consultant, working in strategy and policy development and specialising in the creative industries. She is currently working as an advisor to the Creative Industries Council. Gail has worked in national government for over a decade, primarily as Head of Creative Industries Policy at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Working across the private, voluntary and not for profit sectors, she has successfully secured major funding bids, overseeing programme delivery and advocating with, and for, a range of interest groups including people with learning disabilities.

Gail was Head of Policy for Creative England. She worked with governments and agencies in countries including Columbia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Germany to share best practice.

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Executive Team

Our Executive Team work with the Board and Advisory group to deliver our mission. They manage our day to day activities, including looking after our members and delivering our events programme.

Alli Nicholas

Membership & Operations Manager

Alli joined the team in 2012 with responsibility to support and grow the membership base.… Read more

Alli joined the team in 2012 with responsibility to support and grow the membership base. Whilst membership is her prime focus, Alli is involved in other day-to-day operations, including supporting BCI’s events and managing community initiatives.

Prior to joining Bristol Creative Industries Alli spent 20 years working in recruitment. Alli focused on placing people in the creative industries in London and the South West and, in fact, many of the businesses she supported are part of the BCI network 20 years on!

Get in touch with Alli

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Dan Martin

Content & Social Media

Dan joined the Bristol Creative Industries team in January 2021 to help create website content… Read more

Dan joined the Bristol Creative Industries team in January 2021 to help create website content & provide community management support of our busy social media channels.

Having started his career in journalism at Sky News, Dan’s background as a small business journalist, content creator and event host over 18 years has led him to interview hundreds of entrepreneurs from famous names like Sir Richard Branson and Deborah Meaden to the founders behind the newest start-ups.

Alongside his work for Enterprise Nation as their Local Leader for Bristol, Dan has also run live webchats from inside 10 Downing Street, helped run small business trade missions to countries including United Arab Emirates, China, USA, France and Germany and is also an ambassador for Social Media Week Bristol

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Lynda Davies

Finance Manager

Having previously worked for Bristol Media from 2009 to 2011, Lynda re-joined the team in… Read more

Having previously worked for Bristol Media from 2009 to 2011, Lynda re-joined the team in March 2015. Lynda provides daily administrative support for Bristol Creative Industries and is responsible for managing our finance requirements.

Lynda has over 30 years’ experience as a professional PA and Office Manager, working in both the UK and in Spain. During much of this time, she worked in the Marketing, PR and Creative recruitment industry and brings a wealth of knowledge of the creative sector.

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Sian Pitman

Events Manager

Sian joined Bristol Creative Industries as the Events Manager in January 2022, with the responsibility… Read more

Sian joined Bristol Creative Industries as the Events Manager in January 2022, with the responsibility of looking after the events programme and expanding the offering for the creative sector membership base. She is looking forward to getting to know the members and building a busy events calendar!

Prior to joining the team, Sian first worked in the hospitality industry in Dorset for many years, before moving to Bristol and spending nearly 6 years in the charity sector at a patient support charity. This largely involved volunteer management, communications, and delivering a range of events for patients, volunteers and medical professionals, such as training workshops and conferences.

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Advisors

Our wider advisory group represents the creative sectors. They keep our mission on track, lend creative support, foster emerging talent and forge profitable connections between members.

Kate Gorringe Board Director

Kate Gorringe

Creative Director, Mr B & Friends

Kate has been a Board Member since 2017, working on the brand strategy, naming and… Read more

Kate has been a Board Member since 2017, working on the brand strategy, naming and identity for Bristol Creative Industries, and acting as a brand guardian and adviser for the organisation.

Kate has spent over 25 years in the design and advertising industries in London and latterly Bristol. Initially an advertising Art Director, she was Head of Art for AGA Advertising (now Gravity Global) and Creative Director at brand agencies Finisterre and Philosophy, before taking up her current role as Creative Director for Mr B & Friends, the Bristol-based brand and creative agency.

Acutely conscious that her position as a woman in a creative leadership role is still rare, she works to raise the aspirations and opportunities for talented creative women, giving talks, interviews and mentorship on how to get ahead in the creative industries. ‘Say yes to everything and worry about it later’ is her personal mantra.

Find Kate on LinkedIn

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Paul Appleby Bristol Creative Industries

Paul Appleby MBE

Director, VID Communications

Paul was a founder director of Bristol Media in 2005 and provides national policy connections… Read more

Paul was a founder director of Bristol Media in 2005 and provides national policy connections via the UK advisory group for the Creative Industries Federation, and the cluster group of the Creative Industry Council.

His consultancy – VID – develops collaborations in creative technology in the greater Bristol area working across industry and with universities. His key focus is on addressing the difficulty of supporting creative microbusinesses and developing a virtuous circle of company growth and inclusive talent development to foreground the region.

His 30-year career in the BBC Natural History Unit included a BAFTA award, and he is on the Board of Watershed and the Encounters Short Film Festival, receiving an MBE for services to the creative industries of Bristol and Bath in June 2019.

Find Paul on LinkedIn

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Tom Bowden-Green

Senior Lecturer, Bristol Business School, UWE

Tom is a senior lecturer in marketing within Bristol Business School at UWE Bristol.  He… Read more

Tom is a senior lecturer in marketing within Bristol Business School at UWE Bristol.  He teaches digital marketing at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and leads the MSc Digital Marketing.

He joined the university following 11 years in consultancy, latterly as an associate director at international communications agency, Grayling.

Tom’s research examines the behaviour of consumers in online environments.  He is currently working with the Applied Digital Behaviour Lab at the University of Bath, with a specific focus on understanding the effect of personality traits on social media behaviour.

Find Tom on LinkedIn

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Charlotte Boaden

Marketing Business Partner, Tribal Group

Charlotte is Marketing Business Partner at Tribal Group and previously their Events Manager. She leads… Read more

Charlotte is Marketing Business Partner at Tribal Group and previously their Events Manager. She leads all marketing for Tribal’s solutions that address the challenges universities and colleges are currently facing. She has worked in the marketing and events industry for over 11 years since completing her degree in Events Management. She has experience working with membership organisations having worked as Director of Events & Marketing for Chambers Wales; Engagement & Events Consultant at Nationwide Building Society and has experience working at prestigious venues such at Ascot Racecourse and We The Curious, Bristol.

In 2018 she was a mentee on the Fast Forward 15 Mentoring Programme. A mentoring programme that aims to inspire, encourage, and empower women in the events industry.

Passionate about creating engaging events that exceed expectations and deliver goals and ROI. Experienced in corporate, 3rd party, live and online events that deliver memorable experiences.

Find Charlotte on LinkedIn

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George Panayiotou

George Panayiotou

Business Development Director, Films@59

George joined the Bristol Creative Industries board in 2017. Having been a key member of… Read more

George joined the Bristol Creative Industries board in 2017. Having been a key member of the Bristol TV and Film community for over 20 years, he was keen to engage the sector in becoming more involved with the broader creative industries based in the City.

George has been key to Films at 59 becoming the largest independent post production company outside of London and the first regional company to be crowned Best Post Production House at the prestigious Broadcast Awards in 2018.

As part of the Advisory group, George feels strongly about developing new and upcoming talent to ensure Bristol continues to be recognised as being home to world-class creative companies. He is also an RTS West of England committee member.

Find George on LinkedIn

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Lisa Kilbourn

Lisa Killbourn

Freelance Strategic Consultant

Lisa joined the board of Bristol Creative Industries in 2017, using her 30 years of… Read more

Lisa joined the board of Bristol Creative Industries in 2017, using her 30 years of UK and international brand & communications planning experience to help shape the organisation’s vision and strategy.

Having worked in a wide range of London and South West agencies, including JWT, AMV and Bray Leino, with clients including Kelloggs and Mars, she now runs Independent Eye, a brand and marketing consultancy. She helps clients develop growth strategies and supports agencies with strategic planning input. Lisa is passionate about behavioural science, impactful communications and maximising the value of brands.

Find Lisa on LinkedIn

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Mark Fielder BCI advisory group

Mark Fielder

Director, Quickfire Media

Mark is an award-winning executive producer and creative director of Quickfire Media, which he founded… Read more

Mark is an award-winning executive producer and creative director of Quickfire Media, which he founded in 2003. He has worked across many television formats and styles, including documentaries, current affairs investigations and popular factual programming for British and international broadcasters, including the BBC, Channel 4, Five, ITV, National Geographic and Discovery.

He is committed to finding new ways of bringing creative and diverse content to our screens and believes that encouraging dialogue between Bristol Creative Industries members is one of the best ways of achieving this.

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Portfolio Review Night
Diva Agency logo

“Not only is membership a great medium for attracting new talent but it acts as an invaluable professional development resource for our team through the many varied events and seminars. The creative community in Bristol wouldn’t be the same without it.”

Andy Barnes, Diva Agency

Member since 2010

Membership helps you raise your profile, make profitable connections and get the work you want.

Find out more

Seek out the ones to connect with in our Membership directory of over 500 businesses and individuals.

Member directory