CLIENTS & PROJECTS
Jan works across the creative industries, with a focus of fashion, and a client and project portfolio which includes design led and innovative marketing and manufacturing enterprises, as well as leading trade bodies, universities and business support projects .
CREATIVE BUSINESSES
A strong focus on the creative industries and fashion businesses.
Jan works with many early stage creative businesses, assisting them with her industry knowledge and experience and with her supportive coaching approach in areas including:
Reviewing business plans/ambitions
Developing short to medium term sales and financial forecasting for business planning and investment
Support in accessing grant schemes to assist businesses to develop
Export strategies and accessing new markets
Supporting market intelligence gathering and formal market research to inform new product lines or validate existing lines
Development of business improvement action plans and assistance with implementation
Cashflow management, bench-marking against industry norms, identifying efficiency measures, funding of production
Costing and pricing methodologies
Supplier and procurement contracts
Trademarks and IP protection strategies
Jan has worked with:
Erdem - Mary Katrantzou - Peter Pilotto - Marques ' Almeida - Simone Rocha - Craig Green - JW Anderson - Wales Bonner - Molly Goddard - Rejina Pyo - Christopher Raeburn - Louise Gray - Holly Fulton - James Long - Phoebe English - Feng Chen Wang - Art School - Rottingdean Bazaar - Agi & Sam - Rathel & Wolf - Thomas Tait - Henry Holland - Liam Hodges - Alex Mullins - Ashley Williams - Meadham Kirchhoff - Sibling - Marios Schwab - Maria Francesca Pepe - Palmer//Harding - Monreal London - Osman Yousefzada - Richard Nicoll - MOU
UNIVERSITIES
ROYAL COLLEGE OF ARTS (InnovationRCA)
Currently Entrepreneur In Residence for the award winning new Creative Business Accelerator (CBA) , and business coach at the InnovateRCA incubator, advising product and lifestyle start-ups with their growth strategies; chairing discussion panels and participating as a judge at pitching events.
LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION
A long and successful engagement with London College of Fashion
· Originally founding their dynamic Enterprise department, which is now responsible for a portfolio of over 200 specialist short courses and summer schools, and a successful study abroad programme – which Jan launched during her time as head of the department.
· Undertaking relevant industry facing consultancy projects with a specialism in business incubation, creative industry networks, and business planning.
· Scoping out of consultancy projects for international clients and delivery of some of these projects including Enterprise Qatar and Istanbul Moda Academy.
· Wrote the original business plan for a new specialist fashion college for Turkey : Istanbul Moda Academy, with courses to be validated by LCF, UAL.
· Part of the initial team scoping out the development of a new manufacturing/training department to be piloted at HMPrison Holloway.
· Major recent contributions to the college have been securing all the ERDF funding for the prestigious Centre for Fashion Enterprise www.fashion-enterprise.com (CFE). Jan has also worked as the senior consultant for the CFE assisting creative businesses to develop their growth strategies and manage their finances.
ARTS UNIVERSITY BOURNEMOUTH
Support to the Principal at the Arts University Bournemouth to recruit their first Enterprise Manager, and mentored for the first year in post. We developed short courses, summer schools and corporate training programmes for the creative industries based in the region.
ORGANISATIONS & PROJECTS
BRITISH COUNCIL
Author of the British Council’s Fashion DNA Needs Analysis Toolkit. Pilot 1: in Ukraine, and launching the final report at the 2019 Creative Ukraine Conference. Pilot 2: in Kenya, 2019 to 2020.
Researcher and author of 'Fashion DNA research and development', commissioned to assess the current provision of business development support to fashion businesses in the UK including the key models/typologies of this support, to provide a clear overview of key UK providers and the potential to partner with these organisations for the development and delivery of an international programme, entitled fashion DNA, or indeed to establish a consortium of delivery partners. (Summer 2018).
Lead for the Fashion DNA Workshop 2017 in partnership with Ukrainian Fashion Week, for emerging fashion designers.
CENTRE FOR FASHION ENTERPRISE (CFE)
Successful preparation of funding bids over the past eleven years.
Since 2003 the CFE has been London's strategic business development platform for the high end fashion designer sectors. CFE has an impressive track record of working with fashion entrepreneurs launching themselves into the competitive regional and international marketplace and has helped to develop some of the world's leading emerging fashion designers including Erdem, Simone Rocha, Peter Pilotto and Mary Katrantzou.
Jan first got involved with the CFE in 2005 during its experimental stage, and from the following year started advising all the designers through the CFE's flagship Venture Programme (recently re-named the Accelerate Programme), and Pioneer Programme, and soon developed the Building Brand Equity programme, providing designers with knowhow, skills and connections to assist them to secure investment.
Jan has been part of the bespoke mentoring team working with the talented creative designers that Lulu Kennedy selects to showcase during London Fashion Week. Jan has guided them on important company set-up and structure advice, issues around importing and exporting, trademarking and other IP areas, consultancy contracts, costing & pricing, managing cashflow and much more, bespoke to each businesses' needs.
CREATIVE UNITED
Creative United is an Arts Council England initiative. Between 2015 and 2018, Jan worked on their Creative Industry Finance project as one of its expert consultants, offering business development support and access to finance for creative industry enterprises. From there, she moved onto the new Prosper project. Jan advised creative and cultural businesses based mainly in the Bath, Bristol and South-west region.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Regularly contracted to assess EC projects including the EIT (European Institute of Innovation & Technology) 2016, the TWINNING programme 2015. Also assessing Horizon 2020 SME Instrument I and II grant applications in the advanced manufacturing and nano technology themes.
DESIGNER-MANUFACTURER INNOVATION SUPPORT CENTRE (DISC)
Jan secured ERDF funding for this ground breaking 3.5 yr project to innovate fashion manufacturing product and processes. Jan continued her involvement in the project as ay Knowledge Transfer consultant to DISC, as a member of DISC's Management Group, advising the project management team on frameworks for developing SME / DISC innovative knowledge transfer opportunities, acting as an independent reviewer and arbitrator on individual knowledge transfer project assessments, and promoting DISC to external agencies.
DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Development and co-ordination of a 3-day high-level fashion speaker programme for DIT overseas commercial officers – Jan brought in speakers from Lulu Guinness, Orla Keily, UK Fashion & Textiles, Centre for Fashion Enterprise, Anderson & Sheppard, Savile Row Bespoke and more.
INNOVATE UK
Past assessor for the following digital competitions:
• Emerging & Enabling Technologies (2017)
• Women In Innovation (2016)
• An Integrated Future For Cities (2015);
• Urban Living: Integrated products and services (2015);
• Re-Imagining The High Street (2014);
• SMART competition applications in the Creative Industries categories (ongoing annually since 2010).
Jan was a registered and approved Growth Coach for the former Growth Accelerator managed by Grant Thornton UK LLP, which provided expert tailored advice to help ambitious businesses achieve rapid, sustainable growth. Jan is reaching out to businesses across the creative industries via this service.
CENTRE FOR FASHION CURATION (CFFC)
Jan co-ordinated the CfFC's application for research centre status at the University of the Arts London, which would enable it to be recognised by key research and academic institutions, museums and galleries for its generation of authoritative new knowledge for curatorial solutions through innovative methodologies, breadth of practice and interdisciplinary; to build an internationally recognised research profile for its work in the curation of fashion; and to lead in educating future practitioners equipped with curation expertise appropriate to fashion.
CITY OF ANTWERP
Fashion eco-system and tourism consultant, to a consortium of partners that included the City of Antwerp (depts of Tourism and Economy), ModeMuseum Province Antwerp, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, and Flanders Fashion Institute. The project was to assess the assets and opportunities to create a new Masterplan for the fashion tourism image and eco-system within Antwerp. The project involved meeting with the actors from government, tourism, events organisations, journalists, education, small businesses, funders, property developers, and other stakeholders to gain an understanding of the current eco-system that exists in Antwerp, and make an objective opinion about how the actors might move forward; benchmarking against other European cities activities; preparation of strategic plan proposal with indicative KPIs, milestones and budgets; and presentation to the consortium of the findings and review of their feedback.
Jan was a member of the Steering Group for the Bath In Fashion festival, in her home town of Bath, 2013 to 2016.
Bath In Fashion is currently re-evaluating its direction, but was until 2016 a Bath BID (Business Improvement District) initiative supported by B&NES Council and Bath Tourism Plus. The Bath BID organises specialist events to raise the profile of the city and attract visitors to support businesses within the city centre. Through the Bath In Fashion festival, the Bath BID acted as a catalyst to harness energy and enthusiasm to create a fashion event which is distinctive and unique and unlike any other in the UK. With commitment to providing support for the business community, events like Bath in Fashion are born from a collaboration between public and private sector; retailers and landlords and both independent and high street retailers.
DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA & SPORT (DCMS)
Project management of the research project commissioned by the DCMS to assess the feasibility of the development of a high-end production hub for London. Contributed to the final published report: Report One Report Two
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR EDUCATION, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, & THE ARTS (NESTA)
Project management of NESTA funded high-end support initiative – the Alliance (membership includes Centre for Fashion Enterprise, UKFT, Creative Skillset, Grant Thornton and BFC) – focusing on the needs of London based high-end fashion manufacturers, and identifying investment, market, skills and knowledge gaps, informing the development of resources to support these businesses. Co-author of: Toolkit for Manufacturers and Toolkit for Designers
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE (IPO)
Project management of a one year Intellectual Property Office project to identify economic opportunities through more effective IP protective. Deliverables: economic impact, dissemination, developing IP Guides and Toolkits for Fashion SMEs.
Scoping study to inform Enterprise Qatar of intervention options for developing a new creative industries economy in the region.
