The Founder of the EMMA initiative Mr. Bobby A. Syed has been committed to promoting social cohesion for many decades through the EMMA campaigns. This had developed through his strong academic background that included studying for a BSc (Hons) Social Science from the University of South Bank, a BA (Hons) in Peace & Conflict Studies from the University of Bradford, and a Master’s in Area Studies from the University of London at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He went on to undertake pioneering projects from setting up the “MA International Studies and Diplomacy” department at (SOAS, University of London), the most successful SOAS department to date. He then moved on to build a successful media career starting at Saatchi & Saatchi, to then set up Hearsay Communications that lead to the EMMA TV Show, alongside its many campaigns, which was broadcast on ITV & BBC for many years, which helped define modern Britain – by championing those universal Multicultural values. The word “Multicultural” means “Social and Cultural evolution”. 

EMMA’s high profile Multicultural initiative was the EMMA TV Show, as founded in 1997 to promote Social Cohesion within our diverse communities through a proper definition of Multiculturalism, rather than the version some officials referred to as an urban “ghettoisation” of Britain, amongst certain communities, that created a greater division. This misuse of the English language is damaging to society, especially if there is no common term to unite people, beyond the “us and them” politics. EMMA was behind promoting Social Inclusion within the powerful Creative Industry sector. 

EMMA has undertaken many groundbreaking media campaigns over many decades, whilst offering the client expert consultancy, training, and seminars to address issues related to promoting inclusion and creating a stronger community for better business and economic development. The many EMMA Ad campaigns have won numerous global awards through our Saatchi & Saatchi Ad agency partnership, alongside the Ad agencies over the years. Without EMMA, it is unlikely that our old-fashioned pre Colonial tag of Middle England wouldn’t have successfully hosted the London 2012 “Multicultural” Olympic Games, that helped to unite our United Kingdom. By default, Britain is known for its Multicultural heritage, stemming from its historical connections to the Commonwealth and its diverse UK workforce. Ironically, the Brits who lived or travelled throughout the colonies understood Multiculturalism and are labelled “Expats”.

EMMA successfully helped to brand the ‘London 2012 Olympic Games’ as a unique Multicultural showcase, displaying Britain as this significant Multicultural community around the world and challenging those Ghettoised notions created by politicians. The division created by them had displayed the lack of understanding for this unique term. The fact that Multiculturalism should mean creating an environment for social inclusion so that everyone can share in the UK’s distinct social values and build a prosperous nation-state that respects each other’s unique differences is crucial. The fact is that previous migrations from the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Normans, Flemings, Germans, and Russians Jews, to name a few, had formed our present UK multicultural society among the Celtic populations of England, Wales, Scotland, and even parts of Ireland for many centuries had defined Multiculturalism. It is a fact that the global evolution of cultures and society within all the nation-states can’t now be somehow rewritten to accommodate a particular group lacking Multicultural values. The Far Right’s dismissive approach to this has led to this fascist politics and conflicts.

To even question the term ‘Multiculturalism’ is very ironic. The previous migration from the Commonwealth Countries from those regions in the Caribbean, South Asia, Africa, Middle East, and beyond has now suddenly created this Multicultural debate due to the colour of their skin – this doesn’t seem to amply to White migration. This is a total oxymoron for communities who should be working towards social cohesion to build national unity to have this debate. Especially when the term “Multiculturalism” shouldn’t be up for any debate and when any grievances can be dealt through other English terms during any intellectual debate. When discussing issues, which involve communities migrating and adopting segregationist approach, by force either from the host communities or by design. In that case, this is another legitimate debate that should be heard in a non-racist way, so societies can come together. There should be an emphasis on defining our British culture; whereby all can have a part to play in making Britain great, without any political contradictions; based around stereo-typing a community with blatant racism, disguised as free speech that has to be countered.

One of the main reasons many from the Commonwealth migrated to Britain after The Second World War was to help rebuild a country ravaged by two world wars that was not the making of any migrant worker. The attraction to migrants was Britain’s history through the legacy of the formation of the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta, meaning “Great Charter” in Latin, is a landmark document signed by King John of England in 1215. Establishing the principle that everyone, including the monarch, is subject to the law and guaranteeing fundamental rights, like justice and a fair trial. There is no known bar to this human rights charter based on one’s colour or culture, as Britain at the time was a country full of ethnic diversity as the result of invasion and migration. The attack on the term ‘Multiculturalism’ is merely a smoke screen to create division.

EMMA had helped to increase UK’s tourism after winning the London 2012 Olympic Multicultural Games 2005 bid by 12%, adding £3.37 billion to the UK’s revenue. This helped to enhance Britain’s soft power. However, tribalism has in turn, weakened its previous successes, with race riots taking place from July 2024. The fragmentation of society through this division around racism has weakened Britain; this has even led Professor David Betz, who is an expert on War in the Modern World at Kings College, London, to claim that Britain is already in a state of “Civil War” as ignored by many politicians. EMMA was the answer to help promote true Multicultural values, by encouraging Ethnic Minorities to integrate, and indigenous people to be engaging.

The ground-breaking EMMA Awards broadcast on ITV and BBC was the first-ever Creative Industries show to be conducted globally. It defined the creative industry’s Multicultural roots through those creative ideas, when reflecting in our Metropolitan environment, which has evolved into a Cosmopolitan lifestyle reflecting fashion and those universal cultural values. We helped make global cities like London into major Metropolitan hubs with our unique Cosmopolitan lifestyle on TV. The many EMMA initiatives reflected our collective need to promote universal peace as a vital aspect of a Multicultural lifestyle in response to all forms of conflicts. This can only occur through improved communications and a deeper understanding of different cultures; by not stereotyping others, with an “us and them” mentality, which leads to conflict.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) was formed in 1997; at the same time, EMMA was founded to reflect the UK creative industries. The DCMS published its Creative Industry Mapping Documents in 1998; the same time that EMMA had conducted the first ever Creative Industries Awards ceremony, at the Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, London, which emphasised the need to appreciate our Multicultural values at its core for those UK creative ideas and initiatives. EMMA are pioneers whose contributions have been acknowledged by The Rt. Hon. Chris Smith MP, Secretary of State for DCMA at the time, who helped define the global creative industries with the DCMS White Paper that reflected society’s evolution. He attended the EMMA TV Show, where he witnessed EMMA’s pioneering contribution, globally.

The Rt. Hon. Maria Miller MP, Secretary of State for DCMS, stated in 2014, “Culture matters.” The reputation of UK culture equips us with a level of trust and soft power and influences many other major countries can only aspire… Over 1.68m people work in the UK’s creative industries. These people contributed to a sector worth more than £70 billion in growth last year than any other sector.” EMMA’s work has helped Britain achieve £125 billion towards its national income from the Creative Industries, deemed the most powerful industry that defines our success and failures.

With the formation of the Creative Industry Council in 2011, which had predicted in January 2014 that by 2025, the UK would become the global “Creative Service Hub.” This prediction was based on the revelation that the UK’s economy generates £8 million per hour from the creative industries; however, it was actually £13 million per hour, as EMMA believed in 1997 that this growth was possible. EMMA has been at the forefront of promoting the Creative Industries through our show on ITV & BBC.

The United Nations went on to recognise the Creative Industry sector in 2004 under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The UN has been aware of the EMMA historical work since 1997 to highlight the global Creative Industries, with the UN stating the following: “The creative industries are among the most dynamic sectors in the world economy, providing new opportunities for developing countries to leapfrog into emerging high-growth areas of the world economy.” EMMA had engaged with the United Nations in 2001 about the importance of the Creative Industry when it honoured Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, for his peace work that we defined through Creative Industry.

EMMA has created the Time4Peace concert as a platform to serve as a means to unite our divided communities and promote a genuine sense of national belonging. This is especially relevant to Generation Z, who are dealing with the growing threat of Knife Crime, Mental Health Issues, Modern-Day Slavery, and this growing Global Conflicts, as seen in regions like Europe, Middle East, and Africa, to name a few. We live in a world with multiple challenges that requires each one of us to become more proactive in today’s world by creating an environment that does foster genuine peace, love and harmony in our communities. If our society and nations deteriorate into open conflict then the risk of nuclear conflict increases, is this because certain organisations and individuals who promote this are fuelled with their own sense of “hubris”, by not appreciating or understanding EMMA’s objective for social cohesion.