Creative Kitchen, an initiative intended to nurture and promote collaborative working for the creative sector, saw a successful launch today at Oh Me Oh My in Liverpool’s commercial district.

Over seventy delegates attended the developers’ breakfast with the shared purpose of developing contacts and sharing ideas.

Just over the road from the IFB hub at Mann Island, the quirky tea shop was abuzz as some of the cities most established creative professionals chatted over free coffee and bacon sandwiches.

Amongst the delegates were the team from Draw and Code, who have been commissioned to curate a unique audio-visual experience for Creative Kitchen.

Director John Keefe said:

“Coming along to Creative Kitchen is as much about supporting a cause for us, as it is about business development. Yes, the room is filled with ideal customers for Draw and Code, but really we’re here to help build a platform for the creative sector to share knowledge and ideas.

“When I first came to the city to work, I often felt quite isolated in my field, but there’s a new wave of creative businesses in Liverpool now who are joined in the aspiration to instil a more collaborative working environment and it’s great to see.

“Creative Kitchen is leading the way in forming a visible and tangible creative community for Liverpool and I’m delighted that we could support this in some way.”

Paul Hornby, head of e-commerce at Shop Direct shared his thoughts on the event too, saying:

“I came to Creative Kitchen solely to explore. Shop Direct as a business is now around 86% online driven, and over 50% mobile-led.

“We have a huge e-commerce team based in Speke, and working for a larger company like ours, it can be easy to become immersed in the internal working culture but we’re keen to get out and about and engage with the wider digital community in Liverpool.

“Coming along to events like this help us to learn more about digital innovations and unlock creative potential in our team. You never know the commercial benefit of something until you test it, and the ideas phase of any product or service is crucial so it’s great to learn about new technologies and hear people’s opinions.”

Creative Kitchen continues tomorrow with Grow It, Protect It, a session focussed on accelerated growth within creative industries. Chris Merrington from Spring 80/20 and Steve Kuncewicz from Bermans are guest speakers and will explore opportunities to boost business growth, and offer advice on the legal implications of collaborative working and how best to protect your assets and ideas.

Tomorrow evening, organisers are inviting local businesses to the Creative Kitchen Social and with over two hundred delegates already registered, places are limited. The evening will be an opportunity to talk to industry peers in an informal environment, make new connections and continue to exchange thoughts and insights.

Draw and Code will be animating the space, and have curated a vibrant exhibition of work from local artists. The Living Gallery, as it has been coined, is a projection mapped gallery of images and includes work from photographers, film makers, designers, illustrators and contemporary artists and will be brought to life by an eclectic music set to entertain guests throughout the evening.

Creative Kitchen has thrown open its doors for the week and will be a landing pad for creative professionals looking to hang out with colleagues from the industry. Staff at Oh Me Oh My have kindly offered free workspace, wi-fi and facilities as well as complimentary coffee for anybody dropping by.

For more information or to book your place at any of the scheduled events visit www.creativekitchen.co