UK’s Arts, Culture and Creative Industries Conference

Sir Peter Bazalgette is Co-Chair of the Creative Industries Council. Previously he led a 2017 independent review into the UK’s creative industries. He also chairs the Council of the Royal College of Art. From 2013 until 2017 he chaired Arts Council England.

Peter is a Senior Independent Director on the board of Saga plc and also sits on the board of the children’s animation company, Acamar. From 2016 to 2022 he chaired ITV, and previously served on the board of Channel 4. He spent many years as a TV producer, devising several internationally successful formats.  He became chief creative officer of Endemol and was later President of the Royal Television Society.

Sir Peter has also been a non-executive board member of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and currently chairs the Baillie Gifford Non-Fiction Book Prize Trustees. He also chaired the steam museum, Crossness Engines.

He’s currently on the board of Department for Education and previously performed the same role for DCMS.

Peter’s book about the business of TV formats, Billion Dollar Game (Time Warner), came out in 2005, and in 2017 he published The Empathy Instinct (John Murray) which explores the power of storytelling in the arts.

Professor Christopher Smith is the Executive Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and International Champion for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). He has been Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews since 2002, and he was also Dean of Arts (2002-2006), Dean of Graduate Studies (2006-2009), and Vice-Principal (2007-2009), before being seconded as Director of the British School at Rome, the UK’s leading humanities and creative arts research institute overseas, from 2009 to 2017.

From 2017 to 2020 he was a Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellow, with a project on The Roman Kings: A Study in Power. He held visiting positions in Erfurt, Princeton, Otago, Pavia, Milan, Siena, Aarhus and Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Professor Smith’s research explores constitutionalism and state formation with a particular emphasis on the development of Rome as a political and social community, using archaeological, historical and anthropological approaches. He is the author or editor of over 20 books from textual editions to museum studies. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland, the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Royal Society of Arts and a Member of the Academia Europaea.

Hasan is Professor of Economics of the Creative Industries and Director of the the Creative PEC, which is led by Newcastle University with the RSA, and funded by the AHRC. The Creative PEC is charged with improving the evidence base for policies to support the UK’s creative industries.

Hasan’s work includes co-authoring the landmark Next Gen skills review of the video games and visual effects industries, which led to wholesale reforms of the school ICT curriculum in England, and the Manifesto for the Creative Economy, which sets out ten recommendations by which governments can help the creative economy grow. Hasan has a particular interest in data and experimental research methods. In 2017, he co-authored The Future of Skills: Employment in 2030 which combines foresight methods and machine learning to predict the likely workforce skills mix in the future. In 2020, he designed and led a cohort study of cultural consumption in the UK’s first national lock down. 

Prior to Nesta, Hasan worked as Executive Director at Lehman Brothers, as Deputy Chief Economist at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and as an economist at the Bank of England. He has published widely in academic journals and policy publications on topics ranging from technological progress and economic growth to the economics of the creative and cultural sector.

Hasan has a BA in Economics from Cambridge and an MPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford. In 2013 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of Brighton for his work on economic policy for the creative industries. In the 2015 New Year’s Honours he was awarded an MBE for services to the creative industries.

Hasan is a member of the government’s Creative Industries Council and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Advisory Board for its Culture and Heritage Capital Framework. He was elected as member of the Royal Economic Society Council from 2017-2022. Hasan currently serves on the board of two arts organisations: Art UK and Darbar Arts.

Tonya Nelson is Executive Director, Enterprise & Innovation at Arts Council England. She joined the Arts Council when she was appointed to be the first Director of Arts Technology and Innovation in 2019. She is the co-author of the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) policy report titled Culture is Digital. She sits on the board of Trustees of the National Gallery in London and Royal Collection Trust, which looks after the Royal Collection and the official residences of His Majesty The King. She was formerly Chair of the International Council of Museums (UK), Bomb Factory Art Foundation and a member of Christie’s Art World Professional Advisory Group. She worked for University College London for nine years, rising to the level of Director of Museums and Cultural Programmes.

Prior to entering the cultural sector, she was a barrister and management consultant in Washington, DC, where she grew up.

Philippa Childs is the Head of Bectu, the UK’s union for the creative industries.

She is the first woman to hold the position of Head of Bectu, a role she took on shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic brought much of the creative industries to a sudden halt and created unprecedented challenges for the sector’s workers.

This was closely followed by the almost total shutdown of the UK’s film and TV industry in 2023, following historical industrial action in the United States, during which Childs continued to advocate for increased support and improved rights for freelancers.

Childs oversees Bectu’s five divisions, covering broadcasting, film and TV production, and arts and entertainment – championing the rights of nearly 40,000 staff and freelance workers across the creative industries.

As the largest union at the BBC and with a strong presence in many of the UK’s leading theatres, arts centres and independent broadcasting and production companies, Bectu is uniquely placed to secure workplace fairness and equality on behalf of its members.

Childs has spent much of her career in trade unions, with previous tenures at the National Union of Civil and Public Servants (now PCS), the Trades Union Congress National Education Centre and EMA, now part of Bectu’s parent union Prospect.

Hilary Carty OBE is the Executive Director, Clore Leadership, a role she took up after six years as a consultant, facilitator and coach specialising in leadership development, management and organisational change. Hilary’s earlier roles include Director of the Cultural Leadership Programme; Director, London (Arts) at Arts Council England; Director, Culture and Education at London 2012; Director of Dance for Arts Council England; Visiting Professor on leadership (Austria); and HLF London Committee Member. In recognition of her contribution to the arts, culture and heritage, Hilary has been awarded three Honorary Doctorates and three Fellowships from UK Universities.  Hilary is a Governor of the Royal Ballet.

Sara is currently the Director of Skills and Workforce Development at the British Film Institute, overseeing a multi-million-pound portfolio of initiatives designed to develop and progress a greater diversity of talent into the screen workforce and support businesses to adopt inclusive operating practices.  She also works closely with Government to both inform, and create sectoral responses to, skills policy priorities.

Sara is passionate about supporting fair and equal entry to work across the cultural industries regardless of one’s background, previous educational achievement, or personal circumstance.  Having previously held senior roles at ScreenSkills and Creative & Cultural Skills, she has led the development and delivery of national sector skills programmes supporting sectoral growth whilst opening the sector’s doors to underrepresented talent. She has also worked with hundreds of employers to help them learn about and adopt fair access and inclusive recruitment practices.  During her time at Arts Council England, Sara co-created the £15 million Creative Employment Programme, which she subsequently went on to deliver, supporting thousands of unemployed young people into work across the arts.  She later created and led the delivery of the award-winning Discover Creative Careers Week, which continues today.

Sara initially trained at art school, later training as a post-16 teacher and has worked in both Further and Higher Education.  An avid supporter of culture, Sara is currently a Trustee of the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, the only Theatre in the country to double as a National Trust site.

Mel Rodrigues is the CEO of Creative Access, the leading UK social enterprise championing diversity, equity & inclusion across the creative industries. With 20+ years’ experience in the screen & digital sectors, Mel brings a crucial non-London-centric perspective to expanding the organisation’s reach across the UK. Prior to Creative Access, Mel enjoyed a long career in TV, working across network productions & leading creative diversity initiatives at TEDx, BBC and Channel 4. In 2019 she founded Gritty Talent – an award-winning talent & tech company building inclusive systems to connecti under-represented talent to the TV industry – funded by Innovate UK. Mel is also Non-Executive Director & current Vice Chair of Women in Film and TV (WFTV).

Rob Lehmann is the Director of Young Lyric at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, strategically overseeing the Lyrics award winning work with young people aged 0 – 25 across West London. He co-founded the Lyrics ground-breaking SPRINGBOARD, the free part time actor training programme for young people underrepresented in theatre. Prior to this, he was Head of Participation and the Young Vic and is a graduate from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Across his career, Rob has led participatory cultural exchange programmes in Australia, Canada, Egypt, South Africa, Taiwan and Zimbabwe.

Jacqui is Director of Creative Learning and Engagement at the RSC, leading its work with children, young people, teachers, adult learners and partner theatres across the UK and around the world. Jacqui originally trained as an actor, working in regional theatres and at the National Theatre. She worked for many years as a drama practitioner in schools and communities prior to joining the RSC. Jacqui was appointed Director of Learning in 2008.

As a cultural learning specialist, Jacqui is passionate about giving everyone equal access to high quality creative arts opportunities and the power of arts-rich experiences in unlocking potential. She is committed to actions that diversify the creative industries and empower people to discover new skills, using arts and creativity to affect social change. Jacqui has an interest in research, particularly finding accessible ways to share and disseminate it to inform real-world decision making.

Jacqui’s tenure as Chair of the Cultural Learning Alliance ended in 2022. She is a primary school governor and was a Commissioner for the Durham Commission in Creativity in Education. She received an MBE for services to the arts in the Queen’s 2022 New Year’s New Year’s Honours List.

Shanaz is known for her skillset as an artist, producer and for her creative vision. With a commitment to the arts and to creating work that pushes boundaries of cultural expression, Shanaz has emerged as a prominent leader in the UK cultural sector.

Her career spans film, visual arts, theatre, public art and media, and she has delivered ground-breaking projects nationally and internationally, most recently as a producer at Manchester International Festival.

Shanaz has several TV credits, most notably working with the BBC to present the documentary film ‘Hidden Histories: The Lost Portraits of Bradford’ and bringing a contemporary artist’s perspective to the Yorkshire landscape in ‘Yorkshire Walks’.

In her capacity as Creative Director at Bradford 2025, UK City of Culture, Shanaz is co-leading a transformative cultural renaissance, with initiatives that celebrate diversity, artistic innovation, and community engagement. Shanaz oversees the leadership and direction of Bradford 2025 alongside Executive Director, Dan Bates.

With extensive experience at the forefront of the Socially Engaged Arts sector, Kim is a leader in community place-making, co-creation and creative community enterprise development.  She focuses on approaches that imbed transferable skills opportunities, enabling people to take charge and sustain cultural programmes long after a project’s conclusion.

Kim is the founder, CEO, and Artistic Director of Take A Part (TAP), a leading Socially Engaged Arts organisation, spearheadeding numerous initiatives and established multiple creative community social enterprises and cultural organisations. Through TAP, Kim has worked with national and international cultural and community sector organisations, researchers, funders and schools to support knowledge transfer and application of community-led collaborative projects and programmes.

Her contributions to the field have been recognised with an MBE for ‘Services to Social Engagement in the Arts’, marking the first time social arts practice has been honoured in this way.

Matt Scarff is the Managing Director of BAFTA albert, the leading screen industry organisation for environmental sustainability. Matt is a creative leader with over three decades experience in shaping the landscape of media and entertainment, working at industry giants including; ITV, SKY, UKTV, STAR TV, Radio Television Hong Kong, BBC and Merlin Entertainments.

Before joining albert, Matt was a staunch advocate for D&I and sustainability, playing a key role in ITV Creative’s achievement of the albert Sustainable Certification for its eco-friendly approach to productions and campaigns.

In his current role, Matt is responsible for setting the overall direction for the organisation and collaborating with the industry to help drive us towards a net zero society. The work Matt does for albert is underpinned by a robust blueprint that focuses on four key areas to drive meaningful change. These areas are; off-screen actions, content and storytelling, culture and capability and standards measurement and reporting.

Jamie is the co-founder and general manager of SAIL, a not for profit that supports the creative and cultural industries of West Yorkshire to be environmentally sustainable.

Prior to co-founding SAIL, Jamie spent 11 years at Opera North in Leeds as a Technical Manager and engaged in various freelance roles within the music, live events, and theatre sectors. During his tenure at Opera North, he voluntarily spearheaded the organisation’s sustainability efforts, culminating in winning the “Best Newcomer” at the 2019 Creative Green Awards.

At SAIL, Jamie has contributed as the sustainability partner to significant cultural events, including LEEDS 2023 and Calderdale 2024, and is leading on the sustainability partnership with Bradford 2025, UK City of Culture.

Additionally, Jamie develops sustainability and carbon reduction strategies alongside theatres, event spaces, and local government bodies, is a qualified Carbon Literacy trainer, is on the productions committee of the Theatre Green Book and the directors and advisors’ group of Museum Development North.

Sir Peter Bazalgette is Co-Chair of the Creative Industries Council. Previously he led a 2017 independent review into the UK’s creative industries. He also chairs the Council of the Royal College of Art. From 2013 until 2017 he chaired Arts Council England.

Peter is a Senior Independent Director on the board of Saga plc and also sits on the board of the children’s animation company, Acamar. From 2016 to 2022 he chaired ITV, and previously served on the board of Channel 4. He spent many years as a TV producer, devising several internationally successful formats.  He became chief creative officer of Endemol and was later President of the Royal Television Society.

Sir Peter has also been a non-executive board member of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and currently chairs the Baillie Gifford Non-Fiction Book Prize Trustees. He also chaired the steam museum, Crossness Engines.

He’s currently on the board of Department for Education and previously performed the same role for DCMS.

Peter’s book about the business of TV formats, Billion Dollar Game (Time Warner), came out in 2005, and in 2017 he published The Empathy Instinct (John Murray) which explores the power of storytelling in the arts.