Real Ideas member and Start Something Creative beneficiary Tom Nicholas.

Real Ideas member Tom Nicholas has been working for the last few years developing a successful Youtube channel with over 300,000 subscribers. He uses this vehicle to broadcast his in depth analysis of politics and culture and has made great use of his choice of studying a creative subject (drama) by deploying his acting, presenting, along with film making skills, into this full time one man show.

This meant that when our Start Something Creative business support opportunity launched to support young creatives, Tom was perfectly placed to apply and be successful. Tom’s business was doing that uniquely wonderful and challenging thing of moving from being a one- man, sole trader operation into the next phase of becoming a company and employing someone to help him manage the workload and take the business to the next level.

In my conversations with Tom I have been superbly impressed by the character and values he is bringing to deploying a recruitment process. His desire to find someone who can bring something ‘other’ than himself is really heartening. It is clear that Tom is up for the uncomfortable job of bringing someone into the business to influence the creation and direction of a brand that is literally Tom himself.

This approach meant that Tom was – without really knowing it – aligning himself perfectly with the principles of inclusive growth outlined in the Plymouth Charter. Tom is a great example of a young person setting up a modern business and trying to ensure that in doing so he recruits and employs in a way that benefits not only his business, but also the people he employs, and the community it exists in. Tom’s willingness to engage in and take the advice from support provided through our C-Care programme looking at recruitment and employment practice meant he was able to create a really good recruitment process right from the start.

Tom is really committed to supporting the development of local networks of creatives in Plymouth. He is committed to being a fair, inclusive and attractive employer for people looking to work in and contribute to the creative economy right here. Tom is in the process of building a new team in a new company and we are delighted to able to support him through this journey. We wish him every success for the future!