It was on a performing arts course in 1997 at Worcester Tech, that the young James West, then an aspiring actor saw the power of using questions to help guide performance. “For a year there was a lecturer, Mandie Wright, from the Royal Shakespeare Company that sticks in my mind. She’d ask us: ‘How does that feel?’, ‘Have you tried this, or that?’ I admired that lack of intrusion and the empowering feeling to directing,” says James who later went on to do an Arts and Cultural Management BA at Leicester’s De Montfort University, followed by a professional diploma with the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Despite his Dad’s long-time experience as MD with Alcan/British Aluminium James didn’t enjoy working for big corporations. “There was a tension inside an organisation, I can work there but I flourish much better outside,” he reflects.

Alongside this restlessness as an employee he’d benefited from his Dad’s practice of asking questions – both helped forge James’ business approach. “Dad was always curious about people. A lot of the style I’ve got is influenced by how my Dad made me think. It’s so much nicer to be asked a question when shaping your future than being told what to do.”

Eventually in February 2013, James set up West Creative. His business specialises in branding, marketing, market research and business consulting often working with large organisations delivering a level of social change or community focused services.

Right from the start James also wanted to offer business advice direct to creative professionals. For many years he worked in the creative sector – at the Leicester Comedy Festival, an opera festival in the Peak District and he ran an arts centre in a former gothic church to name a few. “I always knew I could connect business thinking with creative practices – I knew this skill had to be a part of West Creative somehow.”

SHARING 

“Business advice can be anything from cash flow problems, to improved delegating, or product diversification. In the early days advice for small creative practices was around 5% of my turnover but 10 years on it’s now 30%,” says James wearing a striking pink and blue jumper – if it was warmer weather, he’d be in one of his bright patterned shirt designs that few people forget. “I love the excitement of knowing that you are playing a really key role – directly involved in something that makes a difference to people’s livelihoods. Giving advice is really fulfilling and really matters to me, but it’s also very concentrated listening, so a day or two a week is probably best,” he says.

Offering business advice covers a huge range of creative professionals, as you can see in this book. Of the 400+ businesses James has advised over the decade, stand-out sessions include supporting the 2015 community-run Pallet Paradise, which saw two of James’ friends from Harringay Warehouses District install an adult playground out of 750 pallets on an old car park in Tottenham. He offered comms support and looks back happily to helping them “generate press coverage in the Evening Standard, BBC Radio 3, and the most clicked event on Time Out London for all things happening that weekend.”

Then in 2022 James was thrilled to be involved with another voluntary-run group, this time the campaigning Friends of Joiners Arms.

James, 41, often works from his flat, bought during his West Creative time. His light-flooded office, where he’s often using Zoom, is in Hackney, and filled with his fiancé George’s plants. Today’s interview is at James’ kitchen table, accompanied by tea and delicious galaktoboureko (Greek custard pie) made by George who is a doctor. There’s also a box of treats from Claire Ptak, who runs the famous east London bakery, Violet, that’s just down the road.

To make space on the kitchen table James shifts a dish of porcelain vegetables and pineapple-based lamp. There’s not much room as every surface of the kitchen/sitting room is filled with quirky art and colourful ceramics, many collected by George.

MAKING IMPACT

Delicious food, style and exuberance are as much a part of James as good listening skills.

“I’ve seen people being directive with business advice and I don’t like it. People reflecting on past business advice will often say ‘it didn’t work’, because their advisor ‘didn’t understand me’. Unless you ask questions, you can’t understand people’s confidence, their level of resilience or test their pinch points,” says James who uses the first session to listen deeply to what his client really needs.

That’s why his advice is never one-size-fits-all.

“I’d say 98 per cent of my clients are on government-funded contracts/awards, so the funder will have some sort of expectation around value for money. It’s important to have that focus even in a limited amount of time. We quite quickly need to find things that they can change in the short and medium term, and potentially the longer term… but for impact, most of the changes require eight to twelve months to see if there is a green shoot, and I don’t have that relationship with the client afterwards,” says James. To tackle this he prioritises, “giving people the tools to resolve a similar situation, should it come up. Some advisers would say ‘what you need to do is XYZ’; I’d rather give a tool – like how to do a competitor analysis – so they can check on competition and can do that exercise again and again as they hit future hurdles.” Nearly everyone goes away with at least one tool that has longevity, such as magpie marketing, product diversification and even visualising success.