The Industry School

Innovative, cost effective training for marketers
Training with The Industry School is developed and delivered by experts in their fields. And it covers a huge range of topics and skill sets.
Whether you work at an agency or a direct brand, we can provide the training your people need through open or in-house workshops.
In open workshops, training takes place in a virtual classroom with attendees from varied organisations. With our in-house training, we’ll run the workshop for your colleagues only. And we can tailor them to your business’s specific needs.
Our workshops incorporate core business skills, case studies and skills practice. The sessions are immersive and relevant while our interactive training techniques make it easy to apply learning and new knowledge.
To arrange a free 1-hour consultation to discuss your learning and development requirements, drop us a line.
Don't take our word for it...
Business Director
Account Management – The Advanced Account Handler.
Polly was very supportive, engaging and encouraging. I came out with an uplift to my confidence and some new knowledge.
November 2020
Assistant Producer
Effective Resource Management.
The pacing and structure of the workshop was fantastic – especially considering that it was online and some activities had to be translated into the virtual version. Jo held our attention throughout and was insightful and welcoming, establishing a warm camaraderie and an open atmosphere to ask questions.
February 2021
Communications Supervisor for Europe
Project Management
Prior to the training, Jo and Melissa set up a call to define a plan. The training itself was fantastic. Melissa was structured, to the point and inspired discussion about how the tools can be applied. The team was engaged and found the takeaways practical and applicable. I also recommend the MapsTell personality test as the results are very accurate.
July 2021
Project Manager
Content Production, from script to screen.
The content production session with Leila was brilliant. Not only is she a charismatic trainer, she’s also really passionate about the subject, which is infectious.The session as incredibly informative, with tons of useful information and tools that I’m certain I’ll use in my day to day role.
July 2020
Meet Our Trainers
Melissa Smith
Founder/Project Management Trainer
Having spent 20 years working in project management and senior operational roles across some of London’s leading agencies, Melissa has delivered our Project Management course since 2012. A qualified trainer, Melissa brings a mix of project management techniques and first hand agency experience to arm your team with the skills and techniques to deliver projects...
Jo Petroccia
Resource Management Consultant & Trainer
Jo has over 20 years agency experience in resource management and operational roles. Tired of seeing resource management treated nothing more than a game of human tetris, Jo developed resource management training that helps businesses get the most value from their resource management planning – from new business pipeline to final project delivery.
Leila Bartlam
Content Production Trainer
Leila has worked in production since 2000. In this time she has headed up film output at agencies including Iris Worldwide, Havas Worldwide London and adam&eve and held the MD role at edit facility Cut+Run. Leila’s work has won many awards, including Creative Circle, D&AD, British Arrows and Campaign Big.
Ben Willmott
Project Management Trainer
Ben is an experienced Agile delivery lead and is currently head of a team of 15 Project Managers for the global agency. Ben’s worked on web & app development projects across the banking, travel, media and finance industries and has a passion for creating delivery approaches that are adaptable to his teams & client needs.
Sarah Vick
Chair / Non Executive Director for creative and digital businesses
Sarah has 20+ years experience at executive level in agencies, mostly as a Managing Director. 5 years as a Non-executive Director and Chairperson across multiple agencies. Worked for 2 PLCs managing P&Ls of up to £30m. Sarah is currently Chair / Board advisor to: JH, Wilderness, Distributed, WY Partners.
Polly Lygoe
Client Services Director & Coach
Polly started her career as an Account Exec and in the space of 5 years earned a seat on the board of the £10m turnover, 100-people strong independent digital agency. In her 20 year career, Polly’s roles have spanned both client services and strategy in integrated and digital agencies including Helpful Digital, Catch Digital and...
John Almond
Marketing Consultant, Trainer and Coach
John worked at some of the best creative advertising agencies including CDP, TBWA and DDB Needham. For the last ten years he has advised and coached clients at all levels on how to become more creative when contributing to marketing communications development. Clients include Unilever, Kraft Foods, J&J, Apple and others.
Jay Foster
Print Production Trainer
Jay has worked in the world of print, production and advertising for over 25 years. He has worked for some of London’s most successful agencies including Ogilvy, TBWA, Wunderman, Elvis and Dare in senior production & creative services roles and heading up production departments. Jay is now the Commercial Director at ‘Tangent On Demand’.