Ghostwriter / Gig Lab : Case Study

Ghostwriter is a live music consultancy and event production company formed in 2019, connecting venues, artists and audiences to create seamless live experiences.

With a team of industry specialists - ranging from promoters and venue operators to festival experts and H&S consultants - Ghostwriter delivers everything from intimate grassroots gigs to arena-scale festivals and national tours. Their distinctive blend of independent values and big-company experience ensures they approach every project with both creativity and commercial pragmatism.

Support Received: 

• Participated in the North East Create Growth Programme
• Received tailored mentoring from Ali Kazmi 
• Benefited from expert-led workshops on networking, branding, financials, investment, legal and business planning 
• Received pitch support and grant writing guidance from Andrew Hodgson and Wayne Bryant 

Impact of Support: 

• Gained strategic and actionable insight into investment readiness, business development and financial structuring 
• Enhanced pitching capabilities, helping position Gig Lab for further growth and funding opportunities 
• Leveraged expert workshops (notably in networking, branding and financials) to evolve business planning and creative strategy 
• Made valuable connections with other creative founders across the North East 
• Supported the scaling of Gig Lab, their new tech-led platform for live music engagement, building on their Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award 

Key Opportunities Secured: 

• Showcased at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music  
• Showcased at Creative UK’s conference in London  
• Pitched at VentureFest by Innovation SuperNetwork - powered by UMi  
• Attending SXSW London  
• Attending Climb in Leeds  
• Pitch practice support from Andrew Hodgson & Wayne Bryant  
• Grant writing support from Andrew Hodgson   

Founder’s Perspective: 

"At Ghostwriter Consultancy & Events, we’ve been incredibly lucky to have the support of fantastic organisations in the North East while developing Gig Lab. The programme helped us make the most of our Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award. It definitely helps when everyone involved is such great craic, but with a bunch of North East creatives, what else would you expect?” 

"If you run a creative business and you're trying to figure out how to grow, get investment, or just take things up a gear, Creative UK North East's Create Growth Programme is 100% worth a look. 

We did it last year and got so much out of it. The workshops were genuinely useful (not just the usual surface-level stuff), proper advice on investment, business planning, financials, networking, branding & legals, all run by people who actually understand the creative sector. Some of the key stand out workshops for me were Networking with Jeni Smith, Branding with William van Rest and Financials with Sophie Weller FCA, PCC. 

Ali Kazmi was an incredible mentor during the programme; supportive, knowledgeable, and genuinely helpful at a really key moment for Ghostwriter Consultancy & Events and Gig Lab 

And the best bit? We met and got to spend time with some amazing creative founders, plus had a few great nights of beers and food to go with it." 

"The support team are lovely humans who genuinely want to help you grow. Dale Glenister and Kristian Foreman are people you want in your corner, and great connectors across the North East and beyond."