Last night,  key figures in the education, skills and business world of creative media gathered in a Soho basement to wish Mandy Berry well in whatever she does next.

Mandy Berry has ran 01zero-one for the last five years. It is a fantastic resource for the UK creative media industry – a sector-specific training space, deep in the heart of Soho. Skillset has done many fantastic things with Mandy and 01zero-one in that time – things like First Post, cutting edge subsidised training courses for employees and freelancers, a brilliant networking programme called InSync, London Games Fringe, a new introductory qualification for new entrants into the industry… …

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people have benefited from 01zero-one.  Hundreds of lives have been improved, careers kick-started and fine-tuned, minds engaged and stimulated.

There are a number of remarkable things about 01zero-one. It is a media business-facing unit in the heart of a further education college. It has always been an establishment of partnership – borne out of a real drive to improve the creative industries in London. It has always kept industry at the very heart of everything it does (I sit on the industry board alongside other key figures). It has always been cutting edge – debates and discussions happen their before they bleed into the mainstream; courses available are always up-to-the-minute (some times too much; we once funded a course a number of years ago on multi-platform content that got little take up – at the time the industry didn’t see the point!). And it’s part of a wonderful Skillset Media Academy.

The success of 01zero-one is down to Mandy and her every brilliant team. She has always steered the work of it into interesting and crucial challenges. She has always worked collaboratively with key partners. She has always happy to experiment in content and delivery. She has always welcome our industries into the building with openness and great hospitality.

Wherever she goes to next, whatever she does, all of us at Skillset thank her for the support, dedication and hard work she has given our sector over the years and wish her the very best of her future endeavours.

Knowing Mandy as I do, I am sure they will be equally as important and impactful for our industry!