PQQ Section Two

 

Organisation Identity & Basic Details

1
Trading name: Fred Brookes Cultural Research and Strategy
Address: 4 Second Avenue
Sherwood Rise
Nottingham
Postcode: NG7 6JJ
Telephone: 0115 912 1117
E-mail address: f.brookes@ntlworld.com
Website: www.fredbrookes.com
Person to contact: Fred Brookes
Position: Director

2
In its present form my practice was established in August 2000.
Legal status: Sole Trader
VAT Registered: 755 6637 93
Employment status: Self-employed
Inland Revenue Office: Nottingham 1
Unique Taxpayer Ref No: 538 583 5480

3
This practice is:
Not an incorporated company.
Not part of a group or parent company.
Does not have charitable status
Does not have a Memorandum and Articles of Association or Constitution
Is not a member of any industry or professional association.

4
This practice currently employs two people, one full-time and one part-time.

5
Principal fields of activity:

  • Cultural and creative industries research and policy development
  • Evaluation of arts and cultural programmes and projects
  • Preparation of cultural and arts strategies for public and private sector clients
  • Organisational reviews and business plans for cultural organisations
  • Arts and cultural input into urban and rural development and regeneration programmes
  • Feasibility studies and production of funding bids for arts and cultural projects

Relevant experience:
I have worked in the cultural and creative industries as an artist, craftsperson and teacher, in arts organisation and management, as a development consultant and researcher, at a senior level in the arts funding system, and as an investor and company director. I currently chair Nottingham Media Centre Ltd (Broadway) and am a director of Advantage Creative Services Ltd, Comedia Research Centre Ltd, Nottingham Playhouse Ltd and the Kurt Schwitters in England Trust. I have had three spells of self-employment in my career to date, as a creative practitioner and as a researcher and consultant.

Since 2000, as an independent consultant and also an associate partner in Comedia, I have undertaken a wide range of contracts for public and private sector clients including several pioneering research studies of the creative industries, cultural and arts strategies, evaluation of local and national projects, organisational reviews of arts projects, substantial funding bids to regional and national sources, acted as advisor to a leading private foundation, and contributed to policy development at local, regional and national level. Until 2006 I took part in the management of the Creative Advantage Fund, the cultural industries venture capital investment fund for the West Midlands, for which I raised £6M of capital funding.

Information about current and future projects can be found on the projects page of this site. A full detailed cv is on my career page.

Position in the market:
I undertake consultancy and research work on my own account, in my role as a Comedia associate, and in collaboration with others, as suits the specific job in question. I like a varied diet of projects and to work at different scales, small and large, across a range of disciplines and spheres where I can bring my extensive experience and knowledge to bear. I am a freelance, essentially solo, operator with no corporate status or ambitions. All the work I undertake receives my personal attention, I have no staff other than some part-time administrative support. I only take on work which interests me and to which I feel I have something of value to offer. While much of what I take on comes to me by recommendation, I also bid for tendered contracts where they are relevant to my interests and capacities.

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