<p>Speaking of his new appointment, Paul said: “I am really excited about joining the team at Plymouth College of Art. Working with students looking to become self-employed and freelancers, or those who want to set up their own studio, and supporting them in developing their own careers is very refreshing.”</p>

<p>With over ten years experience of providing business support to private sector and charity sector organisations, Paul has supported over £2.5m worth of successful funding applications. Explaining his role at Iridescent Ideas, where he continues to work part-time, he said: “Iridescent Ideas is a social enterprise, we work with other social enterprises as well as charities and smaller community groups in the South West, ranging from the likes of the Eden Project to the Racial Equality Council in Plymouth, to help them with business planning and funding, as well as evaluating their impact which then feeds back into supporting funding applications.”</p> <p>Supporting students with establishing themselves as a practising creative, Paul will advise on a broad range of topics, from creating a brand and applying for loans and grant funding, to understanding HMRC.</p> <p>Paul said: “I will be working toward implementing a structured programme that benefits a wide range of students, where they can go through the process of learning all the different steps you need to take to start a business. I look forward to seeing students return to the college and share their experience of being their own boss with the next cohort of students.”</p>

<p>With support from the Careers and Enterprise team and financial aid via the college’s Charitable Trust Bursary, students have recently completed internships with notable industry-leading specialists such as <a href="https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/">National Theatre</a>, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.co.uk/">Penguin Random House</a> and <a href="https://www.kilgour.com/">Kilgour</a>, Savile Row. Direct industry experiences such as these, promote innovation and preparation for a higher level of creative employment following graduation, allowing students to actively contribute to the £84bn added to the economy by the creative sector each year.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/careers-enterprise">Find out more about the Careers and Enterprise team, and the support they offer to students and graduates</a></li><li><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/posts/real-clients-real-briefs-working-with-the-agency">Learn more about our in-house design agency, The Agency, and other resources on our Business Services page</a></li></ul>