This final spotlight of the year comes from MPA board member, director and business owner of Peachy, Belinda Peach. To those of you who don’t already know Belinda, we hope you find this interview an interesting insight into the work Peachy are involved in.

Agency / Business name 
Peachy 

What do you do? 
Peachy is a training and development consultancy. We deliver sector-specific business growth programmes that support and sustain the Creative Digital Media (CDM) sector. As an active member of both the MPA board, supporting the Talent and Skills agenda, and the Diversity and Inclusivity task group, we provide an industry-led service that engages and recruits new talent.

Who do you do it for? 
92% of creative jobs in the UK are held by the most ‘advantaged’ in society. Peachy exists to help move the CDM sector in a more diverse direction. We work with schools and colleges, CDM employers and high-end brands to educate, inform all those involved and, crucially, give young people access to a creative-led career opportunity.

Our service combines industry expertise with a focus on education to engage and support new talent to the sector. A key part of the work we do is blending the needs of both in an effective and meaningful way. Positive outcomes for the industry can include accessing new talent which can lead to improving their company’s social responsibility.

Who / what kind of businesses would you like to do more with? 
We all agree that talent is threaded in the DNA of people in Manchester, but employment opportunity and reach can still be a challenge, particularly for those from disadvantaged and diverse backgrounds.

We are keen to engage with more employers and brands who would like to connect with new talent; are looking to expand their local outreach; and want to ‘give back’, by developing their personnel and organisation through our industry-led online mentor programme.

How would your best client describe you? 
We would like to think they’d describe us as a positive force; that the reason they always take our calls and answer our emails is because they know there are benefits not only to them but to a young person looking for an opportunity in the CDM sector.

Here are some testimonials and recommendations that highlight the benefits and successes of our service:

Kate Lander HR Manager at Brown Bag Films and Mentor Trainer.
“Having seen the less successful ways of working with young people who come from backgrounds of diversity or deprivation, it’s been both a pleasure and a privilege to support the mission in nurturing creative youth from all backgrounds into our sometimes ‘difficult to enter’ sector.”

Video: Belinda Hanks McCann mentor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=oTnXhF_n2d0 

Heather McRae, CEO Ideas Foundation: “Belinda brings positivity and practicality to the art of outreach. She has an extensive network of contacts in the creative industries built up over many years. She nurtures these relationships and finds ways of bringing young people and companies together in innovative ways. She is committed to promoting social mobility and her passion for supporting future talent has transformed many careers and bright great young people to companies in the NorthWest. She is a huge asset to the Ideas Foundation.”

If you would like to be next under the spotlight, just contact cindy@mpa.org.uk.

MPA team