Event to showcase Yellow Brick House Media’s creative collaboration
Leading players from Scotland's digital media and television industries are to outline the benefits of collaborative working at a national business development event next week.
Yellow Brick House Media, a new consortium producing cutting-edge broadcast and internet content, was formed with specialist support from Co-operative Development Scotland (CDS) and will tell its story as part of the B2B Scotland 2011 conference and exhibition at the SECC on 15 March.
Forming a consortium co-operative allows creative businesses to combine complementary skills, share equipment and facilities, spread risk and win new business.
"Creative industries have emerged as one of the popular areas for businesses to consider working in a consortium co-op," explains Jim Maxwell, business development manager at CDS, the Scottish Enterprise subsidiary tasked with growing Scotland's co-operative economy.
"It's a sector where many people work on their own as specialists. But increasingly clients are looking for a one-stop service that packages a range of disciplines. Forming a consortium allows groups of creative practitioners to pool their skills and resources to provide this."
The four businesses behind Yellow Brick House Media saw that combining their skills in new media, television production, web development and graphic design would instantly boost their scope and scale.
Two of the co-operative's founders – Dougal Perman of Inner Ear and Roger Dubar of Surefire TV – will take part in Collaborate for Growth, a free 30-minute presentation on consortium co-operatives hosted by CDS at 12.30pm on the day.
"The consortium model was right for us because it allows us to compete on equal terms with bigger marketing, web and digital agencies who may be seen as the first port of call for large clients tendering these kinds of jobs," Perman explains.
Collaborating also allows creative practitioners to work as a team, share ideas, develop new skills and broaden their reach.
Other creative consortia set up with specialist support from CDS include The Very People, a consortium of editorial, PR and marketing experts; Bridges: The Actors' Agency, a consortium of professional actors and Such and Such, a consortium of jewellery designers, animators and illustrators.
Supported by Scottish Enterprise, HSBC and other leading business development organisations, B2B Scotland 2011 aims to help businesses explore opportunities for growth, develop new skills, network and discover new technologies to take their business forward.