Ally Owen says she fell into the advertising industry by accident. “I was temping as a secretary, crashing on sofas, juggling bar work. I didn’t know the unspoken rules, but I grafted hard and worked my way up,” the Brixton Finishing School founder and youth mentor recalls. “Looking back, I honestly don’t think I’d be able to break in today. It’s just too expensive, and those starter roles hardly exist anymore.”

It’s these experiences that led Owen to set up the school, which offers free programmes and mentorship to young people from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the UK’s creative industries. One recent study found that 90 per cent of the arts, culture, and heritage workforce are white, and only 8.4 per cent of people working in radio, TV, photography, and film identify as working class.

Over the last two decades, London’s rising cost of living and dwindling entry-level opportunities in its creative sector has only reinforced these disparities, ensuring that what few positions are left go to those with the financial security to take a risk, or who already have personal connections within the industry. “Social mobility is getting worse, not better,” Owen sums up.

“In 2016, after a moment of pure frustration, I thought, ‘Enough. Someone’s got to do something’,” she continues. “So I set up Brixton Finishing School to open the door for young people who’ve been shut out.” Back then, Owen had to remortgage her house to get the initiative off the ground, but this wager has since paid off. Through its ADcademy and Adventure programmes, BFS has helped hundreds of young people achieve jobs within the creative sector and delivered educational outreach to tens of thousands of students across the country. “I’m glad to say I’m still working at that same kitchen table today,” Owen adds. 

Particularly responding to the financial pressures on young people in the UK today, the BFS has also recently spawned a sister charity, The Finishing School Foundation, to help give working class and diverse youth not currently in education or training the breathing room to pursue upskilling opportunities. Support includes living cost grants, relocation deposits, and funding for neurodiversity or mental health services – in Owen’s own words: “Basically, if you’ve got talent, we’ll help you get where you deserve to be, no matter your background.” 

We’re seeing artists and creatives from diverse communities leaving the city because they simply can’t afford to stay.

This cause resonated on a personal level with Randel Bryan, managing director of city festival SXSW London, which kicks off next week (2-7 June, 2025). “I remember crashing on my aunt’s sofa in Brixton back in the 2000s, hustling to make my mark as an unpaid intern in the film world,” Bryan recalls, echoing Owen’s own experiences in the 2000s. “Back then, I managed to scrape by, but today, the cost of food and transport makes that path into the industry feel like a fantasy. We’re seeing artists and creatives from diverse communities leave the city because they simply can’t afford to stay.”

It’s in this spirit that SXSW London have partnered with BFS to provide shadowing opportunities and festival-wide platinum passes to ADcademy alumni, allowing the school’s talented roster to have both front-row and back-stage access to the live performances and industry talks across the week-long celebration. 

It’s exactly this kind of integration that allows working class and underrepresented youth to get a foot in the creative industries. One BFS alumni and current social media executive for a marketing agency, Shaznay Bartley, credits a school trip to advertising agency Clear Channel as the turning point in her career. It was there that a guest speaker introduced her to the ADcademy, and she has since found lasting employment in the creative industries. “I’m really proud of being a representation for others who might be in the same position I was,” she explains. “I hope I can be a reminder that if this is truly what you want to do, you can make it happen with or without a degree.”

For Owen, these personal stories are what BFS is all about. “At our core, we’re here to knock down barriers so the next generation can walk through doors with confidence,” she explains proudly. “I can’t wait to sit back one day, see a Brixton Finishing School grad become a CEO, and say, “Told you so’.”