Our mission is to help under-represented communities, not just enter the creative industries, but to thrive when they get in – because only then will the industry truly reflect and engage broader society. 

We are a social enterprise, unrivalled in diverse recruitment and inclusion. We work with all under-represented candidates and organisations across the whole creative industries. Creative Access is largely funded by our employer partners who are committed to improving diversity and inclusion within their organisations, wholeheartedly. All profits go back into growing, training and supporting our community members.

Creative Access is the only organisation in the UK dedicated to recruiting under-represented talent in the creative industries.

We ask our employer partners to commit to bringing in and uplifting talent from under-represented communities in three ways:

1. Hiring diverse candidates when you are recruiting
2. Investing in your staff from under-represented groups to progress to senior positions
3. Helping create an inclusive workplace so new and existing diverse staff feel valued and able to flourish

We take a wholehearted approach that covers recruitment, candidate support and employer training; one that not only broadens your talent pool to be far more diverse than ever before, but also assesses and improves your organisation’s approach to inclusion and unconscious bias through bespoke employer training.

We know it can be tough to join an organisation where diversity is a challenge so we support every successful candidate through our Entry Support Programme by bringing them into the Creative Access community through free inductions and on-going masterclasses – run by some amazing leaders within the industry.

We also support all our alumni to progress and ensure they have equal access to pay rises, promotions and training; to ultimately to reach senior levels within the industry. Equally we recognise the importance of the organisations with whom we work providing environments that allow people from different backgrounds to thrive, so we design and deliver bespoke inclusion training.

We operate across all creative sectors in the wider creative economy, including Book Publishing; Charities; Government & Campaigning; Fashion & Beauty; Film; Museums & Galleries; Music; Newspaper & Magazine Publishing; PR, Advertising & Marketing; Radio; Television; Talent; and Theatre.

Our partners range from global brands, to smaller independent organisations. Our core team is London-based, but our employer partners stretch across the whole of the UK.

Creative Access has been set up as a Community Interest Company (CIC, pronounced ‘kick’ not ‘sick’). This means we are a not-for-profit social enterprise and that all profits are re-invested.

But what really gives us a ‘CIC’? (sorry – couldn’t resist!). Our decisions are driven by the interests of both the young people and the companies with whom we work. This sets us apart from other organisations where all decisions are ultimately about increasing profits. Of course, in order to be able to continue our work in the long-term, we can’t lose money, so we are hugely grateful to all our industry partners, especially to ITV Studios who provide us with our fabulous home.