EN. Agency

The embodiment of street culture in North Staffordshire

Hustlers of Culture

The idea behind Entrepreneurs, A.K.A. EN. Agency, was to inspire people to create, build and make something of and for themselves within the realm of street culture. We did this by aspiring to be entrepreneurial in every facet of the business, and bring that culture to the masses.

We felt that street culture in North Staffordshire was massively under-represented. When Rob, Tom and I got together in 2013, we hatched an ambitious plan to bring our interests to the forefront of our city. Based on the four pillars of graffiti, streetwear, music and youth culture, we built a business that quickly became a bastion of the local cultural landscape.

Role

Co-founder
Creative Director

Period

2013–19

This video showcases the first six months of the existence of the business and highlights the people behind the business

I created a brand identity which encompassed all of the company’s endeavours

Agency projects

There were many ways we could have brought our culture to light in Stoke-on-Trent. We chose to initiate a series of projects, in true entrepreneurial style, that would do this. We created five individual businesses that represented various aspects of the brand pillars of graffiti, streetwear, and youth culture.

51–53; Retail store / Present Workshops; Screen printing studio / Upstairs Gallery; Art gallery / New Horizons; City-wide mural initiative / Hall of Fame; Legal graffiti area

51–53

51-53 was a menswear store rooted in graffiti and street culture selling apparel, footwear, skateboarding hardware, graffiti paint and artist supplies. It was the centre point of a large creative business, providing an entry point for individuals to interact with street culture at any level—and enabled us to move forward with other projects outside of retail. The store acted as the front door to our business in the form of a cultural hub on the high street of Stoke-on-Trent’s Cultural Quarter.

See more on the 51–53 project page here

Present Workshops

An independent, creative screen printing workshop. Open to the public on a monthly membership basis, whilst also hosting practitioner led workshops in screen printing, sign painting, letterpress printing and more. The aim is to bring the crafts of our time to the forefront in a series of weekly workshops with the aim to educate, inspire and create a new breed of artisan within our fine city.

Present Workshops is a screen printing studio: We ran print workshops and produced art print and garments for artists and commercial clients

New Horizons

New Horizons is a project that brought boundary-pushing and cutting edge street artists to Stoke-on-Trent. With a meticulous strategy and through the rejuvenation of blank — and often miserable looking — walls around the city, we curated locally, nationally and internationally renowned street artists to create artworks that engaged with the public and inspire them to become more knowledgeable about art, and be inspired by their city.

Mural credits: Vibes, 2014 / David Samuel & Harry Fieber, 2015 / Faust, 2015, Krek FMS, 2014 / David Samuel & Harry Fieber, 2015 / 45RPM, 2016 / Faunagraphic, 2015

Upstairs Gallery

Upstairs Gallery is a gallery space in the Cultural Quarter in Stoke–on–Trent’s city centre. The focus for the gallery is to showcase art from all over the world— from the graffiti, design, typography and photography sectors, including (and open to) many more. The space is also a place for lectures, talks, screenings and events, and is available for hire. We brought in top creative talent to exhibit in our gallery, winning two Arts Council England grants in the process.

Exhibitions: Darren John, 2016 / Faust, 2015, 45RPM, 2015 / Toby Curtis / 2016, Krek FMS / 2016 & Famous When Dead, 2016. See more here

Hall of Fame

The only fully indepedent legalised, sheltered graffiti area outside of London. In association with the Highways Agency and the Stoke-on-Trent City Council, we enabled this facility to come into fruition and continue to maintain the site. It is our job to keep this area clean, accessible and a safe haven for the writers of the city, UK and beyond. Location wise, the H·o·F is situated a few miles from the city centre — purposefully out of the way from residential and retail areas. This works well for all concerned parties — the writers don’t get hassled, and the public are safe in mind that their property stays un-decorated.

The Hall of Fame is the biggest legal graffiti space in the country outside of London. We held annual events hosting artists from all over the UK