Creative Industries Council

A new Creative Industries Taskforce set up to help deliver a plan to grow the creative industries met for the first time this week. Jointly led by the Creative Industries Council's (CIC) current co-chair Sir Peter Bazalgette and future co-chair Baroness Shriti Vadera, the taskforce includes more than a dozen leaders from across the creative sector. The taskforce will work closely with CIC members to help develop the government's new Sector Plan, which will set out policies and interventions to enable further growth and innovation by unlocking private investment, boosting exports and building a highly-skilled creative workforce. At their first meeting this week, the taskforce discussed how to work with the Government to inform the development of the plan, with a focus on policy issues identified in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper, including investment, access to opportunity, people and skills, and supporting innovation. The plan will be published next spring alongside the national Industrial Strategy. The taskforce includes: ▪️ Francesca Hegyi OBE, CEO, Edinburgh International Festival ▪️ Prof Hasan Bakhshi MBE, director, Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre ▪️ Caroline Norbury, OBE OBE, CEO, Creative UK ▪️ Stephen Page, executive chair, Faber and Faber ▪️ Caroline Rush CBE, CEO, British Fashion Council ▪️ Christopher Smith, Executive Chair, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) ▪️ Tom Adeyoola, co-founder, Extend Ventures, and non-executive board member, Channel 4 ▪️ Lynn Barlow, academic and TV producer ▪️ Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire ▪️ Philippa Childs, deputy general secretary, Bectu Sector of Prospect ▪️ Saul Klein OBE, investor and member of the Council of Science and Tech  ▪️ Sir William Sargent, chair and co-founder, Framestore ▪️ Prof Jonathan Haskel CBE, professor of economics, Imperial College Business School ▪️ Syima Aslam MBE, founder and CEO, Bradford Literature Festival https://lnkd.in/e-mafda3

The largest production studio campus in the North of England has announced further plans to expand in 2025. Production Park will grow to 145,000 square feet, with four new live music and film production studios, and expanded facilities for education and collaboration with supply chain partners. The West Yorkshire campus provides an ecosystem of facilities, technology, and talent for live music rehearsals, TV, film, and commercial shoots, as well as cutting-edge XR production. It is also home to the Academy of Live Technology, which offers undergraduate, postgraduate, short courses, and bespoke training for live events, experience, and entertainment production. This year, the campus has hosted tour rehearsals for a host of A-List names, including Kings of Leon, Kasabian, New Order and Massive Attack, as well as the cast and crew of the Les Misérables arena tour. Other highlights included acting as the production base for Netflix's new crime drama Adolescence, hosting virtual production shoots with Russell Hobbs and Primark and trialling streaming live music directly into 3D worlds with the BBC. https://lnkd.in/eePrAPpQ

The government will remove the £15,000 advertising and sponsorship limits for most of the UK’s 300 community radio stations from next April, so they can meet rising operational costs. Stations’ operating licences will also be extended for a further 10 years, where previously they had to be renewed every five years. Community Media Association Chair Terry Lee said the changes would provide greater financial sustainability and reduce administrative burdens for community stations. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will set a fixed revenue allowance of £30,000 for five community radio stations broadcasting in areas where there is an independent commercial radio station operation - including Angel Radio Isle of Wight, DevonAir Radio, Phonic FM, Takeover Radio 106.9 and VECTIS RADIO CIC - to avoid the risk that increased competition for local advertising could have a negative market impact on small, independent commercial operators. https://lnkd.in/erxN2xu8

A £13.5 million investment in developing two of the UK's creative clusters has been announced by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The funding will support two new five-year programmes designed to strengthen the West Midlands and Liverpool regions as centres of creative innovation. 🌟 CreaTech Frontiers in the West Midlands will focus on developing the region’s micro, small and medium-sized businesses, specialising in research and exploration of creative technologies like video games, virtual production and immersive reality. Creative SMEs will be able to apply for grants from a £1.8m fund, access academic R&D expertise, mentoring and training, and use research and development labs to create new products and services. More than 70 paid internships and 16 funded PhDs will be made available through the initiative, while Birmingham Opera Company will engage young people from deprived areas in the West Midlands in co-creating performances and discovering potential careers in the sector. The list of industry partners also includes Capture Ltd and Elemental Compute, with support from sector bodies WMCA, TechWM, Create Central, and Culture Central. It's being led by Birmingham City University in partnership with Coventry University, the University of Birmingham, The University of Warwick and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Industry and sector partners such as the West Midlands Combined Authority, TechWM, Create Central, Culture Central, Vodafone, Digital Catapult, Rebellion, Holosphere, Reach plc, Elemental Compute and HOLLYWOOD GAMING LIMITED have also been lined up to participate. 🌟 Liverpool City Region’s MusicFutures project will establish the region as a music research and development (R&D) powerhouse and ecosystem. The scheme aims to fuel artistic, technological and intellectual property breakthroughs, support the creation of high-paying jobs and open pathways for music professionals into sectors like gaming, film, and extended reality XR. It will include funding for SMEs, bespoke training for music makers, and industry mentorship. A new MusicFutures clinic will serve as a hub for legal and business support, specifically designed to assist small businesses, independent creators, and innovators who lack access to professional IP services. More than 20 strategic partners from across the area will be involved in the programme, The ACC Liverpool Group, Adlib, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Liverpool City Council. https://lnkd.in/ezxkVT3D

📢 Here's our monthly round-up of opportunities for UK creative organisations, businesses and freelancers. If there is an opportunity we've missed, please add it in the comments. ✅ Launchpad: immersive & creative, Coventry & Warwickshire. Funding for businesses to grow innovation activities in the immersive and creative industries innovation cluster centred on Coventry and Warwickshire in the West Midlands. Apply by 11 December. ✅ Arts For Impact. UK arts and culture charities can apply for a place in Big Give’s seven-day online match funding campaign. Apply by 18 December. ✅ The Department for Business and Trade is running a series of trade missions over the coming months, including a UK delegation to the Kidscreen Summit in San Diego, USA, in February, a digital and immersive tech delegation to the RLC Global Forum in Saudi Arabia in February (apply by 18 December) and a trip to Expo 2025 in Japan in June for businesses in Greater Manchester (apply by 20 December). ✅ Mindset extended reality (XR) - Innovate UK funding to develop digital therapeutic XR solutions for mental health. Apply by 15 January 2025. ✅ SXSW London. Applications to perform or curate a music showcase at the first European edition of the iconic Texan cultural festival close on 13 January. Applications to show your short film or music video close on 31 January. ✅ Collaborative R&D: Creative Catalyst. UK businesses can apply to Innovate UK for a share of up to £2 million for projects that develop new innovative products and tools for the UK creative industry. Opens 9 December, apply by 29 January. ✅ Locally Unlocking Culture through Inclusive Access (LUCIA) - UK research organisations can apply for funding to form a community-driven research network to enhance access to culture. Funded networks will create partnerships across communities, researchers, and policymakers, to promote urban cultural renewal. Apply by 10 April 2025. https://lnkd.in/eggjV-Ku

⚡ Our latest newsletter is out on Substack, jam-packed with useful news, research, events and opportunities from across the UK creative sector. Learn about the great work being done by Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, Ukie, Culture Commons, The Sutton Trust, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), BBC, Digbeth Loc. Studios, Digbeth Estate, Arts Council England, Julie's Bicycle, Pop Up Projects CIC, Alchemie Technology Ltd, The British Library, Design Council, SXSW London, West of England Combined Authority + more. https://lnkd.in/ev_C8tG9

Baroness Shriti Vadera has been appointed as the new industry chair of the Creative Industries Council. Baroness Vadera currently chairs the Royal Shakespeare Company and Prudential plc, and co-chairs The World Bank Private Sector Investment Lab. She'll succeed Sir Peter Bazalgette, who has chaired the CIC since 2021, next summer. In the meantime, they'll work together to lead a taskforce to help Department for Culture, Media and Sport develop the government’s creative industries growth strategy. The taskforce will draw on the membership of the Creative Industries Council, along with additional expert contributors. The creative industries are one of eight growth-driving sectors at the heart of the government's new Industrial Strategy. The new taskforce will work with government on a plan for the creative sector, to be published in the spring, which will set out new policies and government interventions to enable the sector to deliver even greater economic growth, jobs and opportunities for the British people. https://lnkd.in/eXNDNjuj

Have you subscribed to our newsletter on Substack yet? Get a panoramic view of the UK creative industries delivered to your inbox twice a month. It's jam-packed with news, research, case studies and opportunities. 📩 Subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/esJgEgaj You can also find us at our other digital outposts: Our website - https://lnkd.in/efPzpvkT Bluesky - https://lnkd.in/eftmXPpF X - x.com/CreativeIndsUK

Games industry body Ukie have proposed a new GCSE in Digital Creativity to fill growing demand for skilled workers in the creative sector. The qualification would sit alongside the Computer Science GCSE, focusing on practical skills in areas such as audio production, visual design, and game development. The case for the qualification is outlined in a new report from UKIE, which describes the proposed new subject as a "perfect fusion of creativity, art, technology and science, the full breadth of STEAM skills that a 21st economy needs. Games Workshop Ltd co-founder Ian Livingstone has backed the proposals, saying it would "allow students to explore the full potential of technology, equipping them not just to consume the digital world, but to shape it". https://lnkd.in/eWZ3fxki

New research from the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre explores the important role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the UK's creative sector. Key findings include: 💸 The UK's global share of FDI is second only to the US, with 7% of all FDI flowing to UK companies. 💸 The creative sector accounted for 10% of all UK FDI projects between 2013 – 2023, though both inward and outward FDI have seen a decline over the past five years. 💸 Just over half of foreign direct investment into the UK creative sector over the past decade was in the form of mergers and acquisitions, while 32% went into new (or greenfield) projects. This contrasts with other sectors, where 47% of investment went into new projects, on average. 💸 The USA is the main source of investment, providing nearly 45% of all inward FDI in the UK over the past decade. Canada is the second largest investor (7%), while Europe collectively generated roughly 30% of FDI projects over the period. 💸 90% of inward FDI is concentrated in three sub-sectors: IT, software and computer services; Advertising and marketing; and Film, TV, radio, and photography. The remaining share of projects mainly across the Publishing (4%), Music, performing and visual arts (3%), and Architecture (2%). https://lnkd.in/eKafxrYm