"Starting is the bit that matters with careers education” 

“We didn't plan this. We just kept saying yes.”– Bravand.

How a small digital agency accidentally built something - and why you don't need to do the same to make a difference. 

Fresh Meet CIC - the social enterprise we run alongside our digital agency, Bravand - wasn't born from a grand strategy. It grew out of a project we worked on, a problem we were briefed on, and a habit of saying yes to helping organisations solve problems. 

We've been doing careers education work since we started Bravand back in 2012 - fourteen years this year. We started in London. We relocated to South Yorkshire in 2023, and it's fair to say this region has got under our skin in the best possible way. 

How it started

The spark came early. Our first foray into careers education grew out of a project with a coalition of leading real estate consultancies trying to attract young people into property, construction and the built environment. 

They were wrestling with a problem every industry faces: not enough young people coming through who understood what a career in their field actually looked like, or who felt like it was for them. 

These were some of the biggest names in real estate - household names in their sector. And they were facing exactly the same talent pipeline problem that most industries face. It got us thinking. If organisations like these were struggling to find and develop the talent they needed, ours probably was too - and we weren't doing much about it. 

You see the same pattern in careers education generally. The organisations who show up most visibly - the NHS, financial institutions, the emergency services and Armed Forces, large manufacturers, infrastructure engineers and construction firms - tend to be the ones with a person or people and budgets dedicated to engaging young talent. It can start to feel like this is something only big organisations do. 

But it really isn’t. We're a team of a handful of people. We have deadlines, difficult clients, cash flow conversations, and every other pressure that comes with running a small business. We do this alongside all of that, not instead of it. And we’re not alone. 

So we took the initiative. We reached out to local schools, academies and colleges and asked if we could come in and talk to some of their students. Not because anyone asked us to. Because we wanted to help protect, grow and - crucially - diversify the talent pipeline coming into tech, creative and digital careers. 

That first session was just a talk. Jilly and I walked into a room, spoke honestly about what we actually do, and answered questions. The prep took about an hour. The session lasted about 45 minutes. 

The feedback from the teacher afterwards got our minds racing. One usually quiet learner had been on their feet the whole session. Some learners hadn't known that digital had career options within it for them. No-one grows up wanting to be a Project Manager - but several learners realised they might have a future in making stuff happen. 

We went back. Then we went somewhere else. We quickly realised not all young people hang around in classrooms. We wanted to get in front of those learners too. 

Then we started shaping what we did more deliberately - real industry briefs, proper pitching sessions, young people working on genuine challenges. And eventually, that became Fresh Meet CIC: a social enterprise that places young people aged 16–25 into paid internships on live commercial projects, running alongside our client work at Bravand. 

Last year we reached 1,115 young people through 21 engagements across Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. We've delivered 12 paid internships. Five of those young people are now in employment. One is running her own freelance business. Two became part of the Bravand team full-time, stayed with us for four and five years, and have since moved on to the next thing - which is exactly what's supposed to happen. One still works with us part-time, fitting it around their university studies. 

None of that was the plan. The plan was to go and talk to some teenagers for an hour. 

What we've learned

We're still learning. But here's what fourteen years of saying yes has taught us. 

The barrier most businesses cite is time. We get it - we're a small team, commercially driven, with clients and deadlines and all the usual pressures of running an SME. 

But a careers talk doesn't take much. Fifteen or twenty minutes of honest conversation about how you got into your job (that’s a really key part of this - squiggly careers, getting kicked out of your A-levels, life happening - and you turned out alright, didn’t you?), what you actually do on a Tuesday, and what you look for when you hire someone - that's it. 

You don't need slides. You don't need a budget. You don't need a dedicated person. 

What you do need is to show up. Because for some of the young people in that room, you might be the first person from your industry they've ever met. That matters more than you'd think. 

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Our early sessions were rough. We overcomplicated things, then underprepared, then found the version that worked somewhere in between. Iteration is fine. Starting is the bit that matters. 

When we first started this, we were an industry looking to solve its own problem. That is still a key driver, but now, it’s more and more about giving young people some hope and direction for the future. 

Remember, young people make up roughly a quarter of the world's population, but it is their ideas, energy, and development that hold 100% of the world's future. 

Want to see what it looks like before you commit to anything? 

We run Careers in Digital workshops and Innovation Labs across South Yorkshire - real briefs, real pitching, real conversations. If you want to come and see one, volunteer as a mentor, or just have a chat about where to start, we'd love to hear from you. 

About Ross Musgrove 

Ross Musgrove is Director of Bravand, an independent digital agency, and Co-Founder of Fresh Meet CIC, the social enterprise that grew out of it. He's spent 14 years helping organisations solve complex digital problems - and increasingly, helping young people find their way into the industry. Based in South Yorkshire, he’s a Governor at UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, and an Ambassador for See it Be it in Sheffield. He's also, by his own admission, someone who says yes before he's fully thought things through. It's worked out pretty well so far. 

ross@bravand.com | 07799 885 950 | https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossmusgrove

About Bravand 

Bravand is an independent digital agency that designs and builds things that are genuinely hard to get right - complex platforms, internal tools, user-centred products, and digital services that have to work for multiple audiences at once. Founded in 2012, originally in London, now based in South Yorkshire. Clients have included Schroders, UCL, Togetherall, Miconex, Little Village and the Financial Services Skills Commission, among others. Through Fresh Meet CIC, Bravand's commercial work creates real, paid opportunities for young people entering the digital industry. 

hello@bravand.com | 0331 630 1105 | bravand.com | https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravand

About Fresh Meet CIC

Fresh Meet CIC is a social enterprise built alongside Bravand. The model is simple: real digital project work generates income, and that income creates paid internship opportunities for young people aged 16–25 - with a particular focus on those furthest from the labour market. Interns work on live client projects, paid at Real Living Wage, for around 100 hours. They leave with a real portfolio, real credits, and real experience they can point to. Most programmes offer inspiration. Fresh Meet offers access, experience and paid work. 

hello@freshmeet.co.uk | 0331 630 1105 | freshmeet.co.uk | https://www.linkedin.com/company/fresh-meet-cic