THE

CREATIVE WORKS
A place for melody architects, visual artists, bodily
groove merchants, and creative professionals alike.

Saurabh Shivakumar – Business Plan

WHO ARE WE?
The Creative Works started as a small team that were looking to engage the
creative hearts and minds within our local communities in and around of
Greenwich and Hackney. The Creative Works Trust is an independent
registered charitable organization established to operate The Creative
Works is in place to promote the arts for the community and provide an
environment for better living conditions. We aim to bring hope and
opportunity to enable people to realize their creative potential.

We’re hoping to build an extraordinary, professional, inclusive, creative

community, with a diverse team, a diverse programme of performances and
events. We will actively work to attract diverse audiences and visitors from
across our localities and beyond.

Our Mission…
… is to play a strong part in lifting the presence of the arts in London by in
short

- Leveraging the arts as a unifying force to promote interaction,

cohesion, and inclusiveness among our various diverse communities
- Forming a core pool of established creative professionals breeding a
place to cultivate originality and thought-provoking ideas – whilst
maintain a platform for rigorous educational and content awareness.
- Preserving the spirit of the arts by supporting eligible local creative
professionals by crisis with short-term financial aid.

The love and passion for the arts goes beyond a beautiful building. It is the
smile of the cleaner, the handwritten ‘thank you’ from the executives. It is
the human touch and the spirit that makes for that elusive connective tissue
that keeps artists going and keeps the audience returning.

CURRENT STATUS AND SKILLS

With extensive experience in both creative work and project management,
and academic training in music performance and analysis. I can take on a
variety of roles in the professional arts world. As a creative professional
and freelancer, I have implemented projects in the UK and internationally,
for leading youth orchestras and big bands in Singapore, running recording
studios, music colleges and arts organizations. This has included
collaborations with amateur and community groups, artists at the
beginning of their journey, and with some of the best-known performers
and ensembles in the world today.

I find that what with what experience I already have instructing students in
instrumentation and general music and arts theory, would significantly
contribute to the success of The Creative Works. Currently as a student at
Trinity Laban I look to engage within the greater community through
various outreach programmes and through working for the Junior Trinity
program.

2
My experience lies in two places: within the world of performance in
contemporary jazz and improvised music and arranging. As well as in
teaching comprehensive music to junior, middle, and high school students
while cultivating an environment that stimulates increasing and ongoing
music appreciation. I have also worked as a private guitar tutor with
students ageing from 5 to 16 years old. As a fervent advocate of school
music education, I possess a keen eagerness to encourage students to
successfully pursue various music-related opportunities. Along with my
teaching experience

Consider the following highlights of my qualifications.

• Developing and leading school bands in activities including routine

practices, inter-arts events, and school concerts.

• Detecting, uncovering, and encouraging music talent in students

from diverse backgrounds.

• Writing and teaching lessons, assigning, and grading homework, and

monitoring student progress.

Having worked in an international school with people from various

cultures and background, I am positioned to fit in very well with the world
and a place I look forward to discussing the position, and my qualifications,
in detail. I have taken various front of house and retail jobs in the past as
well as having worked in marketing teams, which has given me a great
understanding of various aspects of running a business as such.

OUR AUDIENCE
The Creative Works aims to provide a platform for people of all age groups,
ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds. Whether it be professional, amateur,
or just for fun, we find it important to have a place for everyone! A diverse
range of tenants will be ensured by hiring 70 per cent of space to cultural
organisations and local community groups at subsidised levels, and the
remaining 30 per cent to commercial operators, looking for rehearsal
venues, conference facilities and event space. It is essential that we can

3
provide various opportunities for people across the spectrum of the
creative arts profession. An important part of The Creative Works is
education and outreach. Although a large part of our focus will be on
curating programmes and performances that showcases various artforms
through the local community, it is vital for us to engage with the community
in various age groups.

Starting young, one way is through programmes and workshops to 5–13-

year-olds. Done through taking relevant working professionals with the
intention to inspire and empower children, focusing on BAME and females
as often it is harder to get through to those specific groups. In the older age
group, it is important to offer kids opportunities to take part in
programmes happening at The Creative Works through showcases,
concerts, or festivals in addition to training and workshops throughout the
year. Lastly for adults and professionals we find that it is not enough to
provide a platform for them to showcase their work and ideas but rather
be a place to cultivate and grow new ones! Being collaborative and forward
thinking in nature makes up the ideal audience.

4
S.W.O.T ANALYSIS
Strengths Weaknesses
- Highly skilled community of - Not enough staff time to plan
professionals. more events
- History of successful recitals, - Staff not clear of their role in
programs and shows. the parent relationship
- The company has a strong - A narrow focus on open
ethos of openness, sharing and events, -not partnership
commitment to increasing activities
artistic confidence - Outreach curriculum too
- Great that the community stretched for additional action
wants to participate

Opportunities Threats
- Active volunteer committee - Confidentiality is at risk
willing to plan and organise - Pupil coercion to do things
events they do not wish to do
- Youth enthusiastic in the - Backlash from the community
outreach program or from other such
- Executives and people in organizations in being true to
charge are professionals in the the art forms.
scene and industry, hence are
up to date and willing to work
to make it the best it can be
- A place for the community to
build together and lift the level
of the arts in London

THE WORK OF OTHERS

The multiple sites that on which The Creative Works hopes to call home is
that like of companies and organisations already established London.

The so-called competition are organisations such as Tomorrows Warriors

(to the extent the Southbank Centre), Woolwich Works, NYJO/NYO/etc.,
Chineke, and other such groups.

5
What you will find within all our competition are the following that we hope
to have as well. Large performance venues, rehearsal and studio spaces,
offices, places to eat, and an optimal for internationally acclaimed artists
and companies to call home. The flexible space will provide opportunities
for public interaction and involvement, training, and education, as well as
being as a think tank of sorts for creative professionals across London and
the world!

Woolwich Works for example has the following

The facilities include:

• A 2700 seat state of the art theatre and concert hall

• an open-sided quadrangle courtyard for performance seating up to

600

• five rehearsal studios, which can also be used as informal

performance spaces (3 music and 2 dance)

• artists' studios and offices for resident companies

• a generous public facility, including a cafe / bar and space for hire for
community group and events.

I aim for The Creative Works to run in a flexible and modular way. Where
we give importance to things happening in the moment with the future in
the corner of the eye without forgetting about the past. I envision the space
to be a place where people meet during the day for a coffee then go into a
rehearsal, after an intense brainstorming session for a project and then end
the night watching another show or gallery over a drink! It’s a hub for
creativity which is what sets it apart from everything else on the scene now,
the fact that it combines the best aspects of all the competition and puts it
all into one place.

MARKETING STRATEGY
In essence the marketing strategy for The Creative Works is quite simple.
We will look to go straight to our audience with ad campaigns across social
media and newsletters through various conservatoire and council outlets. I

6
would use our website to support our ethos and values as well as upcoming
projects and how others can get involved. This in addition to using
Facebook/Instagram stories and as well as twitter, The Creative Works
would be able to share in the moment happenings as well as give our
audience quick updates for anything that changes in the short term. In
terms of harnessing the younger generation, Tiktok and Youtube are great
ways to share what’s on at The Creative Works. A great way of engaging with
the community is doing Vlogs as well as BTS which breaks down the barrier
of the fourth wall which makes it a lot more inviting to engage with The
Creative Works brand.

Like the ethos of The Creative Works, our design philosophy will be minimal
and simple like that of ‘Ole and Steen’ and ‘% Arabica’. With importance or
transparency and communication from us to the audience, where we don’t
hide anything. It’s important to keep up with the times and realise how
important things like this are.

IMPACT OF COVID 19
The past year has been painful. Hardship, loss, and suffering are not the
things that should be uniting people. That is the job of music, theatre, dance,
circus, cabaret, and comedy – and now, finally, shows are coming back. I’m
excited that our stunning new venue will play a part in supporting artists
to get back on stage and bringing audiences back together to share the
unique experience of live performance once again.

Through Arts Council funding and crowdfunding, we were able to get The
Creative Works from an idea to a reality. In this same way we hope to have
the same support to continue breathing fresh air into the company, as
without the support of the community – what is there?

From a lot of the teams experience with recording work and film editing
and making, throughout the pandemic we have been well suited to put
together something worth the audiences time. Over the course of the last
year in the Covid-19 Pandemic, I used my video editing skills to assist
various working professionals and companies. My work helped the many

7
people to share their love of their art form. I spent time supporting my own
various projects that I took on. I took pop culture campaigns and created
video presentations to enhance them. My videos helped various groups to
grow themselves in today’s arts and music economy. The projects I worked
on saw an average reach of 5 to 10 thousand people per video, being viewed
by many industry professionals and celebrities alike.

8
FINANCIAL PLANNING