A double launch took place, kindly hosted by the School of Jewellery, featuring the new Jewellery Quarter Visitor Guide and a Jewellery Industry Careers DVD.
The Event was well attended and attracted a great deal of media interest through both a feature on Central TV and an article in the Birmingham Evening Mail.
The Jewellery Quarter Visitor Guide
Over 12000 copies of the new Guide will be distributed to Information Centres, Hotels, Visitor Attractions and through the Chiltern Railways station network.
The Guide design and layout was directed by Anna Gibson with the support of the JQ Marketing Initiative who were partners with the City Council and the Working Neighbourhood’s Fund who core funded the project.
The free Guide, whose main sponsorship was courtesy of Design Centre, features two models on the front cover who won a Sunday Mercury competition to become the ‘Face’ of the Jewellery Quarter. The cover itself is a vibrant purple to ensure that it catches the eye on Tourism Information racking.
New features include a shopping supplement (listing shops and specialisms) and an Itinerary Planner to help visitors make the most of their visit. If you haven’t seen a copy, pick one up at the JQ Information Centre.
The Jewellery Quarter Careers DVD
Following a successful pilot ‘pre-apprenticeship’ scheme for the jewellery industry, run by the City Council’s Employment Action Team, a Careers DVD was commissioned with the aim of circulating it to Careers Co-ordinators at Birmingham secondary schools and employment agencies.
The footage was shot by local firm Iconic Productions and a superb DVD has resulted which takes people behind the scenes and captures the refreshing enthusiasm of the new entrants to the trade.
Firms like Toye, Kenning and Spencer, Fattorini, L. J. Millington and Charles Green are to be commended for their participation as are the City Council run DesignSpace, the School of Jewellery and the Assay Office. The DVD also includes an excellent voiceover from Kay Alexander who very kindly agreed to volunteer her services to add the final professional touch.
The ‘pre-apprenticeship scheme’ itself, funded by the Working Neighbourhood’s Fund, included a package of pre-recruitment support, assessment tests and a training subsidy for the participating firms and it is hoped to secure further funding in the near future to continue the scheme’s success.
By Andy Munro