CIISA Business Plan
Driving Culture Change Across the Creative Industries
The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) stands as a pioneering, cross-sector initiative committed to transforming workplace culture across the UK’s creative industries. Backed by industry, CIISA is setting a new unified approach to tackling harmful behaviours – such as bullying and harassment – by embedding accountability, safety, and respect into the heart of creative work environments.
As we enter the second year of our foundational Corporate Strategy (2024–2026), CIISA is building on the strong foundations laid in our inaugural year. Our 2025–26 Business Plan outlines the next phase of our journey – one defined by delivery, collaboration, and long-term sustainability.
This year, we will finalise and launch our first suite of services, beginning with our flagship Reporting Service. Designed in close consultation with future users and key stakeholders, this service will provide a trusted, independent route for raising concerns – marking a major milestone in our mission to create safer workplaces.
We are also expanding the reach and impact of our Standards, which were successfully launched in early 2025. Working with a cohort of ‘Trailblazer’ organisations across the Screen, Music, and Theatre sectors, we will co-develop practical, sector-specific resources to help embed these Standards into everyday practice.
Internally, we are strengthening our governance and operational resilience, while exploring sustainable funding models to support CIISA’s long-term growth. This work will ensure we are equipped to serve every corner of the creative industries – now and into the future.
Finally, we are looking ahead. Through wide-ranging engagement across the sector, we will begin shaping CIISA’s next strategic chapter: our 2026–2029 Corporate Strategy.
2025–26 is a pivotal year. It marks the transition from vision to reality, from planning to impact. Together with our partners, we are building a future where every creative industry professional can thrive in a safe, inclusive, and respectful working environments.
Our business year runs from April 2025 to March 2026.
About us
CIISA’s purpose is to uphold and improve standards of behaviour across the creative industries
and to prevent and tackle all forms of bullying and harassment, including behaviour of a discriminatory nature.
CIISA will do this by:
- Establishing a single, unified vision of professional Standards within the creative industries on workplace behaviour, using existing best practice from across the sector
- Enabling people to safely report concerns regarding workplace behaviours and using its authority to address and resolve individual concerns
- Promoting safe and inclusive environments through its work, ensuring that CIISA is contributing to the well-being of everyone working in the creative sector.
CIISA’s vision is to create consistently safe and inclusive working environments for creative industry professionals through pro-active interventions and advice, providing a single place of accountability where behaviours of concern can be reported and looked into, and building capability to prevent and tackle bullying and harassment and behaviour of a discriminatory nature.
The defined objectives for CIISA to meet this vision are:
- The creative sector embeds best practice for working environments through our Professional Standards through training, support, and educational pathways. This is seen through data and insight, highlighting improvements in workplace experiences for creative industry professionals.
- By providing better accountability and learning across the creative industries, there is an overall marked change in workplace culture, leading to a reduction in reporting of poor workplace behaviours.
- By providing structured training, accreditation, and educational resources built on CIISA’s Standards, more people in the creative sector feel better equipped to develop their professional capabilities to help embed safe and inclusive workplaces and are able and confident in resolving concerns early.
Overall, CIISA will work to create a healthier, more respectful, and thriving environments for all creative professionals.