Creative Enterprise
Since December 2024, we have been hosting a series of online talks for all FAC members, with invited guests – often from beyond the arts sector – considering ‘if you were running an arts centre, what would you do?’
Upcoming sessions
The Autumn 2025 programme will be on the following dates:
Thu 18 Sep, 8.30am-9.45am – with Andy Street
Thu 30 Oct, 8.30am-9.45am – with Thangam Debbonaire
Thu 4 Dec, 8.30am-9.45am – with Dominic Campbell
Andy Street
Thu 18 Sep, 8.30am-9.45am
Sir Andy Street served as the first Mayor of the West Midlands from 2017 to 2024, helping to establish the West Midlands Combined Authority and oversee a huge influx of public and private investment into his home region. Prior to that he was managing director of John Lewis (having started his career there as a graduate trainee), guiding the employee-owned business to one of the most successful spells in its history – culminating in the department store chain being named the most trusted brand in Britain.
He currently chairs Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and previously chaired the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership. He has also served as the lead non-executive director for the Department for Communities and Local Government, as well as a member of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group. He was awarded a CBE in 2015 for services to economic growth, and was knighted in 2025 for services to public service.
Andy will be sharing with us: Thursday 18th September 2025, 8.30am-9.45am.
Thangam Debbonaire
Thu 30 Oct, 8.30am-9.45am
Baroness Thangam Debbonaire is a Labour Member of the House of Lords and was MP for Bristol West 2015-2024. She runs Red Frock Ltd., providing assistance to businesses and arts and culture organisations, clients have included Southbank Centre, the Opera network UK and The Art Fund.
She served in Keir Starmer’s Shadow Cabinets, most recently as Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Thangam’s current work includes arts policy, international cultural partnerships and diplomacy, copyright and AI. She chairs Labour Women’s Network and the Parthenon Project and sits on the boards of Sadler’s Wells and LabourList.
Before Parliament Thangam worked for 25 years in gender equality and domestic violence prevention, nationally and internationally.
Thangam will be sharing with us: Thursday 30th October 2025, 8.30am-9.45am.
Dominic Campbell
Thu 4 Dec, 8.30am-9.45am
Dominic is a public service entrepreneur with a background in organisational change, strategy and leadership. He is passionate about the role of 21st century approaches to transforming organisations and our economy, acting as an advisor and thought leader to all levels of government in the UK, US, Australia and many places in between.
With senior leadership experience in government, Dominic has delivered large change initiatives starting with the London Borough of Barnet and more recently the transformation of Homes England as their first Chief Digital Officer. In 2008, Dominic founded FutureGov, a UK and Australia-based consultancy that helped to bring digital and design into the heart of government transformation (acquired by TPXImpact in 2019).
Until recently, Dominic was based in Washington, D.C. where he spent a year as a Fellow at the Beeck Center at Georgetown University focused on enabling better governmental collaboration across all levels of public services in the United States. Now living in Barcelona, Spain, Dominic is Partner at UK public service venture studio Impossible Ideas, inventing and investing in transformative new organisations – from foster care to community lending, case management for community organisation to AI for social workers.
Aside from those roles, Dominic is an investor in promising public service start-ups such as Hello Lamp Post (community engagement), Beam (supporting the homeless into employment), Plinth (enabling public and third sector collaboration) and Bloom Money (banking underserved immigrant communities across the UK).
Dominic will be sharing with us: Thursday 4th December 2025, 8.30am-9.45am.