Helen Gill Completes Creative Growth Programme - Hull & East Yorkshire

Our founder, Helen Gill, has successfully completed the Create Growth Programme delivered through the University of Hull.

The programme supports ambitious creative businesses across England, helping founders strengthen leadership skills, refine their business strategies and explore opportunities for sustainable growth. Delivered with partners including Creative UK and HEY Growth Hub, the initiative brings together creative entrepreneurs to learn from industry experts while building valuable peer networks.

Helen brought more than 20 years’ experience in design and marketing to the programme before launching HelloU Creative. Her career has focused on strategic thinking, storytelling, digital innovation and exploring how technology can be applied in real-world settings.

She founded HelloU Creative to create a more flexible and meaningful creative practice. Today the business develops immersive digital experiences, hands-on creative tools and learning content, alongside delivering creative and technology workshops with young people, augmented reality experiences, and community art projects.

One example of this work can be seen at the Digital Construction Academy run by Sewell Group. HelloU Creative was commissioned to create a series of portraits that come to life using augmented reality. When activated by a smartphone or tablet, digital avatars based on real construction professionals share insights into their roles, helping inspire young people to explore careers in the sector.

Reflecting on the programme, Helen said it came at the right time for the business.

“The business had grown organically, and it felt important to strengthen the foundations, bring clarity to my offer and explore future opportunities. Creative Growth provided a supportive environment to reflect on the business while learning alongside other creatives.”

The programme helped Helen further develop the strategic direction of HelloU Creative while reinforcing the importance of keeping creativity at the centre of digital innovation.

Looking ahead, Helen plans to continue developing HelloU Creative’s creativity-first approach, building sustainable and repeatable projects that combine technology, storytelling and meaningful experiences for businesses, young people and communities.