Founded in 2014, Agent Academy was set up to address the issue of individuals leaving education yet being locked out of industry opportunities due to a lack of connections and experience.
Agent Academy is a not-for-profit and sister enterprise of Agent, a Northern full-service marketing agency with studios in Liverpool and Manchester.
Agent Academy’s Liverpool programmes are delivered in Baltic Creative – a converted warehouse space which is a hub of creative and digital businesses.
Over In Manchester, the programmes are delivered at No. 2 Circle Square on the site of the former BBC’s New Broadcasting House building on Oxford Road.
We find out what happens across both sites…
Zoe Wallace, Director at Agent Academy, introduces us to the office….
“Agent Academy was conceived with the aim of helping learners with no previous experience in the creative and digital industry land their dream job. From the very beginning of our journey, our success has been underpinned by the fact that we create a real-world and immersive environment that can’t be replicated in a classroom and which equips our learners with the knowledge and skills they will need to succeed and land a high-profile industry job.”
Where is it?
Liverpool address: 43 Jordan Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L1 0BW.
Manchester address: No.2 Circle Square, Oxford Rd, Manchester, M1 7ED.
How big is it and what facilities are there?
Agent Academy’s spaces in both cities feed directly into the experiential nature of their programmes. The emergent talent gets to experience the creative, digital and tech industry first-hand as every programme is immersed within these workplace settings.
Walking from the main entrance of Baltic Creative to Agent Academy’s space, learners pass several sheds which are workspaces containing the kind of creative talent that the Agent Academy nurtures. This gives the learners the sense of what the ‘real-world’ of digital, creative and tech businesses look like and serves as a motivating factor as they experience first-hand the world of work that they are striving towards.
Similarly, Agent Academy’s learners in Manchester are front and centre of the city’s tech ecosystem in the bustling Oxford Road corridor. Agent Academy was previously located in another Bruntwood building before the permanent move to No. 2 Circle Square in 2021.
Both studios promote good mental health and wellbeing as part of the office culture, with pool bikes available for lunchtime exercise in Liverpool and a wide variety of refreshment options on the doorstep of both locations. Comfortable breakout areas allow learners to change their scenery or have some quiet space when needed.
What happens there and what sort of work goes on?
Agent Academy participants learn in an industry environment, breaking away from the conventional classroom and working in studio spaces as part of an experiential and immersive learning experience. Working by neighbouring digital and creative businesses brings them closer to their end goal of gaining high-value employment.
Frequently coming from a non-academic background, this co-working approach allows the learners to use the space as well as connect with industry experts and leaders. Agent Academy bridges the disconnect experienced by people who leave education with academic knowledge, but without the experience or insight to apply this learning to the real-world. The approach fosters their potential and connects them to employers who offer advice and open up new employment opportunities as a result.
In an age where there is a constant demand for experienced employees, many young people are unable to get a foot in the door as they can’t afford to work for free to build a portfolio that proves their ability. Agent Academy’s work, to boost the chances of those who are underrepresented and face barriers to getting on in the industry, is having a significant impact on North West communities and transforming the lives and future career paths of the young people who enroll.
Why is the workplace appropriate?
Agent Academy’s curriculum is co-created with experts and speakers who know what is happening at the forefront of the North West’s creative scene. Their finger on the pulse results in learners working on live client briefs and utilising current technology and tools. Everything the learners work on is applied to the real world and work with them does not stop until they have safely secured their first role.
Given the shared space with Agent, Agent Academy and Agent can frequently share services and knowledge with the parent agency, which again allows learners to work on live client briefs.
Who works there?
There is a core team of seven who are employed within Agent Academy, and this number is strengthened by its industry advisory board made up of leading digital, creative and tech figures, as well as the hundreds of expert speakers and leaders who volunteer their time to upskill the North West’s future talent.
