My Experience of Firm Foundations - Elisa Harris

The invitation to go on the Firm Foundations course came at the perfect time for me. Krowji had secured the match funding for Phase 2 of our redevelopment project and we were waiting for news of our ERDF bid – we have since been told it was successful!

The course is true to its name – designed to enable you to create a solid foundation before embarking on a capital project, there was a huge amount packed into just two days with a good balance of talks, site visits and tasks making it very engaging. During the first half of the course we were given direct access to an impressive list of experts covering everything from board structure to funding and marketing to risk management.

Highlights for me included a talk by Eden’s CEO Gordon Seabright, in which he spoke very candidly about the successes and challenges he’s faced during his time at Eden, and an informal surgery with Phil Gendall of Wolf Rock focussed on creating a clear message in your marketing materials. The risk assessment of preparing and eating a cream tea was also a lot of fun!

Firm Foundations has been designed for small groups of delegates in order to create an open, honest and safe environment in which to share experiences and ask questions. It’s relevant to all levels so there’s a good mix of people who have worked on capital projects and those who have never done anything like this before.

CMP have generously paired each of us with a mentor, one of their team of experts, so that we are supported in the months between the two halves of the course – an invaluable resource which I intend to make full use of. I’m now very much looking forward to diving into second instalment of the course come February, in particular attending an exclusive evening with Jamie Fobert over supper at the Tate!

– Elisa Harris, Krowji Studio Manager

To find out more about the Firm Foundation programme click here