Meet Klio: A New Way to Connect with South West Creative Talent

So here’s a question: when was the last time you needed to find a freelancer and it was actually… easy? Right. Exactly.

There’s always that moment of panic-scrolling through old contacts, firing off “hey are you free?” messages into the void, or asking in seventeen different Slack channels if anyone knows a designer/copywriter/illustrator who’s available next week. It’s exhausting.

That’s where Klio Creative comes in, it’s a platform connecting freelance creatives with the businesses who need them – but everyone’s local to Bristol and the South West. Which is kind of refreshing, if we’re honest. Sometimes you just want to work with someone you can actually meet for coffee, you know?

The team behind it have been pretty thoughtful about who gets on there too. It’s not a free-for-all – freelancers are vetted which means less time wading through endless profiles and more time finding the right fit.

If You’re Hiring

In a world with millions of platforms trying to connect people – this one feels different because it’s actually focused on making the matching process less painful!

We especially loved the availability feature. You can actually see who’s free and when. No more sending hopeful messages only to hear “sorry, I’m fully booked until April.”

You can search for people yourself or post a brief and let freelancers come to you. There’s also a team on hand to help you find the right fit. It’s pretty flexible, which feels like exactly what we all need.

If You’re Freelancing

For those of you working for yourselves (and we know there are plenty of you at Gather Round), it looks like they’ve thought about your side of things too.

You can build a profile, add your work, and only show up as available when you actually are. No more turning down work you don’t have capacity for, or worse, getting enquiries when you’re two weeks into a big project.

You stay in control of who you connect with and when. Which, let’s be honest, is how it should be.

The Community Bit

This is the part we’re genuinely excited about. Klio aren’t just building a jobs board – they’re planning workshops, socials, events where freelancers and businesses can actually meet each other, IRL!

We love that. It’s very much our vibe. In fact, don’t be surprised if Gather Round gets involved too – we might just host a Klio Creative social in one of our event spaces. Think good people, good chat, maybe a drink or two (and pizza of course). Watch this space.

They want agencies involved too, hosting events or sharing live briefs. The whole thing feels less transactional and more about building something that strengthens the creative community here. Which the South West could definitely use more of.

The Timing Thing

They onboarded an initial group of 100 local freelancers to test the platform over the past couple of months – sharing feedback, ideas, and helping shape it into something built for real people doing real work. Klio are now ready to onboard creative freelancers ahead of the full platform launch in the new year.

If you’re a freelancer, getting your profile up now means you’ll be one of the first people businesses see when they start using it properly. If you’re a business, you get first pick of building relationships with great local talent before everyone else catches on.

Want to Look Into It?

If you freelance: There’s a waiting list to sign up to on their website.

If you’re hiring: You can book a chat with them by booking an appointment through this Calendly link.

If you’re just curious: Check out their Instagram to get a feel for what they’re about.