Key information
Date: 25 - 26 June 2026
Duration: 2 days
Format: In-person
Fee: £1,000 (no VAT is charged)
Sponsorship: This course is free for successful applicants with a UK-based saddlery or leathercraft business, through sponsorship by the Worshipful Company of Saddlers in partnership with the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers. (£250 refundable deposit required).
Faculty: Dr Sara Jones , Dr Ruben van Werven , Dr Nettra Pan and Dr Jingshi (Joyce) Liu
Programme overview
The creative industries play an essential role both economically and culturally. Today, creative individuals find themselves at the forefront of innovation, expression, and entrepreneurship.
For someone with a specialist skillset who has spent time perfecting a craft, understanding business operations and strategy is essential for turning your talent into sustainable success.
Who is this short course for?
Whether you are a saddler, leatherworker, jewellery maker, carpenter, artist or any other creative professional, this short course offered by Bayes Business School will provide the skills and knowledge you need to elevate your business.
Throughout this two-day course, you will experience a series of engaging modules covering key topics such as innovation in entrepreneurship, expanding market reach, revenue models, pitching your business and digital marketing. Delivered at Bayes Business School by our leading academic experts, this short programme will help you better navigate the complexities of the business world.
Course overview
Day 1 AM – Creativity and Innovation in your Business
The morning will cover business models and innovation in the context of craft businesses, and will include some practical exercises to get you thinking differently about the future of your business.
Delivered by Dr Sara Jones, Reader in Creative Interactive System Design, and Director of the Centre for Creativity in Professional Practice.
Day 1 PM – Innovation for Scaling and Growth
The afternoon will be delivered by Dr Ruben van Werven, Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship. During this session you will discuss various approaches to growing or scaling a craft business, as well as the various types of external funding available to business owners who want to expand. This discussion will take the form of an interactive workshop, during which you will be asked to think about how the topics covered might apply to your own business.
Day 2 – Value Creation
On the second day of the course, you will gain new knowledge and skills to understand digital marketing and how to gain new customers.
In the first part, you will explore the ever-evolving digital marketing landscape and learn about utilising social media, paid advertising, and SEO and how to create content for these platforms.
Later in the session, you will learn about the properties of technology and recent technological change and how these created new opportunities for value creation.
Together, we will discuss what a future-proof version of your businesses could look like and what individual skills are needed to make this vision a reality.
This session will be delivered by Dr Jingshi (Joyce) Liu, a Lecturer in Marketing and Dr Nettra Pan, a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship.
Sponsorship and Open Applications
Developed with the Saddlers’ Company to support UK saddlery and leathercraft businesses, this course is offered free of charge to eligible UK-based businesses through sponsorship from the Saddlers’ and Leathersellers’ Companies. Creative practitioners from any background are also welcome to apply, with places available for a fee of £1,000 (no VAT is charged).
