We Don’t Need More Talent. We Need to Let More Talent In.

For years, the UK’s creative industries have lamented a 'talent shortage'. But the problem isn’t scarcity. It’s access. The issue isn’t that bold, brilliant, future-defining thinkers don’t exist; it’s that the industry continues to look in the same narrow places. And by doing so, it’s locked out the very talent it claims to be missing.

We argue that it’s time we stop asking where all the talent has gone and start asking who we’ve excluded from the room.

While many UK organisations have made progress on gender and ethnicity representation, socio-economic bias remains a stubborn and growing issue. A 2024 Demos & Co-op report highlights that class-based prejudice is now one of the most entrenched forms of discrimination in the workplace. White men from upper socio-economic backgrounds are 33 times more likely to hold senior roles in financial services than working-class women from ethnic minority backgrounds, despite overall improvements in other diversity metrics.

The economic consequences are equally stark: low social mobility is estimated to cost the UK up to £19bn per year in lost GDP, with £6.8bn in potential tax revenue unrealised. In a post-AI landscape, where adaptive thinking and originality are critical assets, continuing to overlook class diversity means missing out on significant talent and insight.

What Exclusion Looks Like Today

Despite years of diversity pledges and pipeline talk, the doors to the creative industry remain bolted by structural barriers. These are embedded in our systems and prejudices, and they cost the industry dearly, economically, creatively, and reputationally.

• Credentialism is still king. Degree requirements, “polish,” and industry familiarity are used as proxies for potential. This filters out working-class, neurodivergent, and ethnically diverse creatives who haven’t had access, but do have the talent.

• “Culture fit” hiring quietly reinforces sameness. When hiring managers default to what feels familiar, they shut out differences in thought, expression, and experience.

• The CV trap persists. Traditional résumés reward privilege and past access. But raw potential, creativity, and drive don’t always fit neatly on a page.

What Letting Talent In Actually Looks Like

At the forefront of reimagining access is Brixton Finishing School (BFS). Our core mission? To break the link between privilege and potential. BFS proves that talent is everywhere, access is not.

Our tiered model spans:

• ADventure: The industry’s largest educational outreach programme, introducing creative careers to under-18s in state schools. 

• The ADcademy: A free national course for socially mobile 18-30-year-olds that fits around their responsibilities.

• The original BFS: An IRL, 8-week Summer School delivered in collaboration with employer partners, whose selection process filters in high-growth-potential talent.

What sets BFS apart isn’t just training. It’s transformation. BFS prepares talent for the ‘dark arts’ of the office - an alien environment to most emerging talents. By focusing on behaviours, drive, and coachability, not polish or pedigree, BFS launches career-ready creatives into real jobs, not token internships. BFS is building the entry-level careers of the C-Suite of the future. 

A Working Model: INVNT × BFS

One way we drive meaningful change is through partnerships with industry allies equally committed to action. A long-standing collaborator is INVNT, the global brand storytelling and creative agency actively rethinking how, and where, it discovers the next generation of talent.

“We don’t need to look harder; we need to look elsewhere,” says Claudia Stephenson, managing director of EMEA at INVNT.

That mindset shaped a partnership with BFS that goes far beyond surface-level outreach. INVNT has reimagined the recruitment process itself, embedding strategies that yield real results, not just performative gestures.

• No CV filters: Talent is evaluated based on potential and not privilege. 

“From my own experience, engaging with candidates multiple times before a formal interview gives us a much more accurate sense of their capabilities than a traditional CV ever could,” says Stephenson.

• Access-led mentoring: INVNT sponsors BFS talent into real roles and professional networks through structured support. INVNT builds relationships early by running mock interviews, offering feedback, and opening doors to their wider team, so when opportunities arise, these candidates are ready and confident.

• Genuine career opportunities: Rather than box-ticking internships, INVNT provides real placements, a conduit to real jobs. 

“I’ve seen firsthand how this pipeline works, meeting students during BFS Summer School sessions, celebrating their graduation, and then seeing them join us as colleagues,” explains Stephenson.

Real Impact, Real Voices

BFS has nearly 4,000 alumni and has placed an estimated 500 into the creative industries. Many are now shaping campaigns, influencing brand narratives, and mentoring others just like them.

Desislava Nikolova, production coordinator at INVNT, shares her experience:

"Before BFS, I felt invisible in a sea of CVs. But BFS gave me the chance to connect with industry professionals face-to-face and show who I really am. Just 18 months later, I’ve gone from Intern to Production Coordinator at INVNT. It’s fast-paced and creative, with projects like a Female Quotient x Hitachi Vantara event at NVIDIA GTC, where I handled branding, activations, F&B, venue comms, and AVL. Most recently, I worked with PepsiCo in Barcelona, and helped deliver an amazing blend of strategy and storytelling.”

A Broken Model (and How to Fix It)

Let’s call it what it is: the traditional junior talent acquisition model is broken.

• It’s expensive: Filtered internships, endless grad schemes, and long hiring cycles.

• It’s inefficient: It prioritises polish and ‘class pedigree’ over potential.

• And it’s exclusionary: Disproportionately blocking working-class, neurodivergent, and racially diverse creatives.

There’s a better way, and BFS proposes a flat investment model that gives agencies direct, continuous access to trained, diverse, high-potential talent. It’s a radical rethink of the outdated, transactional junior hire.

The Business Case for Inclusion

When we talk about 'The Business Case for Inclusion', there really is one. This is not charity. What you are really gaining is a competitive advantage. 

Research consistently shows that diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones across creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. In the UK, EY’s 2025 DE&I report highlights that businesses embedding inclusive practices and prioritising diverse hiring see measurable gains in productivity and innovation. In a post-AI world, where adaptive thinking, originality, and emotional intelligence are at a premium, these fresh perspectives are more valuable than ever.

When creative agencies diversify their hiring, they don’t dilute quality, they expand it. They don’t compromise brand, they future-proof it.

Call to Industry

The time for passive support is over; what’s needed now is structural change.

1. Stop waiting for “qualified” candidates to apply: The gate isn’t keeping the wrong people out, it’s stopping the right ones from coming in.

2. Invest in access, not polish: Stop rewarding privilege masquerading as potential and start building on-ramps.

3. Redesign recruitment to include, not exclude: Skills-based hiring. Ongoing mentoring. Sponsorship, not gatekeeping.

The Future Is Already Here

The next generation of creative leaders isn’t waiting to be discovered; they’re already out there building, learning, and leading. The challenge is not their readiness, but our ability to recognise them beyond traditional frameworks.

  Yes, nurturing talent remains vital, but right now, we’re overlooking a wealth of potential that is simply locked out by outdated hiring practices, unconscious bias, and limited access.

Because talent isn’t scarce.

Access is.

And when we expand where we look, we transform what and who we find.