The Neverland Flying Academy has gained Advertising Week and the Promoting Affiliation’s 2025 Expertise Trailblazer Award, celebrating the organisations and people opening the trade as much as new expertise.
On a mission to deal with long-term range points throughout the advert trade, inventive company Neverland began out by talking to specialist organisations, akin to 10,000 Black Interns and the London Display screen Academy, to higher perceive what was holding underrepresented expertise again from in search of a profession in promoting.
Primarily based on these conversations, Neverland determined to deal with enhancing accessibility to the trade and setting the interns up for achievement.
This meant eradicating the necessity for particular academic {qualifications} or earlier expertise, whereas additionally providing internships that have been lengthy sufficient to be helpful, however quick sufficient to suit round work or training. The ambition was for interns to depart with hands-on expertise of the varied company departments.
Eight younger folks have been chosen from 113 candidates to hitch the Neverland Flying Academy, a six-week paid internship programme giving younger folks publicity to the company’s inventive, technique, manufacturing and consumer service groups. The interns collaborated on stay briefs and have been tasked with a private undertaking they later introduced to the crew.
Every intern was given a certificates signed by Neverland CEO Josh Harris and a private reference.
‘Boundless alternative’: How one internship is altering the sport for rising expertise
Of the eight interns, 4 now have full-time roles within the inventive trade and one has gone on to review strategic communications. The opposite three have both entered additional examine or work in different sectors.
The second yr of the Flying Academy, opened in December 2024, attracted 193 purposes. With solely eight placements obtainable, Neverland reached out to the broader trade for help, resulting in 50 further younger folks being given internship alternatives this yr.
“This award is about acknowledging these which might be making a distinction in opening up the trade to numerous expertise and providing inspiration,” says Advertising Week editor-in-chief, Russell Parsons.
“The Flying Academy is an ideal instance of one thing that does each. Effectively completed to Neverland on a significant initiative that others ought to take cues from.”
“It was one other nice yr for this award, with a really robust shortlist, and what stood out with Neverland’s Flying Academy was their dedication to this initiative as a enterprise,” provides Promoting Affiliation business director and inclusion lead, Sharon Lloyd Barnes.
“Not solely did they ship an unimaginable paid internship programme for the eight younger folks chosen, in addition they leveraged their trade community to search out further placements and actually scale the thought.”
Lloyd Barnes was joined on the judging panel by Giffgaff CEO Ash Schofield, Havas group chief folks officer Ewen McPherson, international managing director of Grace Blue Partnership Sarah Skinner and Davina Baker, gross sales director at Digital Cinema Media.
Actual expertise
Extremely recommended for the 2025 Expertise Trailblazer Award is The Challenger Academy – previously VCCP Stoke Academy – winner of the inaugural award in 2023.
The Challenger Academy goals to encourage, determine and unlock inventive expertise, enabling younger folks to pursue profitable careers in advertising and promoting with out the necessity to relocate to London. The academy’s aim is to make the trade accessible and socially numerous by work expertise alternatives, expertise coaching and profession steerage.
Since profitable the inaugural Expertise Trailblazer Award, the academy was rebranded to “higher replicate the spirit” of the younger folks it helps, described by VCCP as resilient, inventive people, unafraid to problem the established order.
The Challenger Academy has additionally expanded its focus in main and secondary training, partnering with Alpha Academies Belief – a community of six faculties in North Staffordshire – to create instructing assets that introduce college students to inventive careers at a youthful age.
The shortlist is rounded off by Blueberry Advertising Options, which has developed an inclusive, future-ready expertise pipeline providing part-time roles, placements and apprenticeships grounded in actual expertise.
The Leeds-based company developed an in-house digital onboarding platform delivering bitesize coaching modules to assist new starters construct important expertise, bridging the hole between training and employment.
Between January 2024 and June 2025, Blueberry Advertising Options welcomed 44 younger folks, a number of of whom have transitioned into full-time roles on the company.
Final yr’s winner of the Expertise Trailblazer Award was John Doe Group’s Unlocked Internship Programme. Launched in summer season 2023, the programme goals to kickstart alternatives for rising expertise trying to be a part of the UK’s inventive industries, based mostly on perception younger folks from low-income backgrounds are massively underrepresented.
Advertising Week has been calling on the trade to democratise advertising careers by growing entry to extra folks from extra numerous backgrounds as a part of its long-running Opening Up sequence.
