The creative sector is one of Britain’s biggest assets and is a huge economic driver that cannot be overlooked – that was the key message from stars and mayors alike at Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
Writer and satirist Armando Iannucci was among the star speakers at Creative UK’s conference programme as the national cultural and creative industries body aimed to showcase the sector’s successes.
In a week when six mayoral regions each received £25m to grow their creative industries, the event heard about some ongoing successes around the country, from a West Yorkshire production hub used by Beyonce to a fashion museum in Bath.
Mr Iannucci, creator of The Thick of It and Veep, described the creative industries as being a “sizeable chunk” of the UK’s economy and that it should not be regarded as an “afterthought” or a “luxury”.
He said: “Its GDP is equivalent of the oil and the car industry together. If it was an IT system or an AI system or a weapon system, ministers would be out all around the world trying to sell it.
“The reason so many people come from around the world, especially America, to make their movies and to make their shows here is because our skills are amazing. Our talent is amazing. Our studios and resources are brilliant.
“So it’s an industry that actually should be in the top table in terms of prioritising it. It’s a key industry that requires that injection of growth.
“The knock-on effect that has throughout the generations, but also to our economy, is immense.
“That’s why I talk about it as often as I can, to defend this industry that we have here, that if we’re not careful, will just get broken up.”
At another Creative UK event at conference, a panel debated the creative sector in the regions of England – and how developing creative “clusters” can help grow the industry outside London.
Chair Carol Bell, regional associate director North for Creative UK, said: “Regional centres are not just rising, but leading the charge”.
Prof Andy Salmon, pro vice-chancellor at Bath Spa University, talked about the ambitious plans for Bath’s Fashion Museum, which he said would promote the city as a design centre. He said the museum’s work would go far beyond fashion, and the venue would be “the nexus for a lot of interesting activity”.
And he said that the creative industry’s impact went far beyond firms in the sector itself.
He said: “Everything is designed. This isn’t something about the creative industries. It’s about engineering, it’s about aerospace, it’s about everything that you could possibly mention.”
Robert Jones talked about how the Sadler’s Wells East dance centre in Stratford was part of a new cultural cluster and creative hub in East London.
He said: “To me, the creative cluster is about collaboration, innovation, being bigger than the sum of its parts.”
He said Sadler’s Wells East wanted to be a “bit of a beacon” for accessibility and creativity. And he said the venue was “very much a physical manifestation” of the company’s aim to show that dance is for everyone.
Jim Farmery, director of external affairs at Production Park, explained how Production Park had grown from a small staging company in Leeds to a huge production complex that regularly welcomes world-famous stars and hit TV shows.
It includes 100,000 square feet of purpose-built rehearsal space, workshops and storage space which has been used for filming and tour rehearsals by stars from Coldplay to the Rolling Stones and from Beyonce to Lady Gaga. Critically-acclaimed show Adolescence was also filmed in and around the South Kirkby venue, and Production Park has also developed its own university courses.
He said that when governments local or national wanted to develop creative clusters, they needed to make sure there were strong private sector partners locally to make that happen.
Talking about Salford’s MediaCity, he said: “You’ve also had a very proactive commercial lead in peel, working alongside those public partners”.
And looking more widely, he said: “I think equally we’ve seen over the years a lot of attempts to kickstart very publicly funded, public sector-centric kind of developments that have failed because they haven’t got that commercial rationale behind them… I think it’s got to be a balance between the two”.
Prof Salmon from Bath Spa agreed, saying that in Bath they had seen “huge collaboration” between universities, councils, the combined authority and industry. He added: “It’s about people believing in the thing, and having that vision and energy. It’s not easy… you have to keep that tightness, and keep going”.
Bristol has a great long-term heritage in the creative sector thanks to Aardman Animations and BBC Natural History Unit, while the council-owned Bottle Yard Studios and Channel 4 regional hubs show how the sector is continuing to thrive in the city and beyond.
Helen Godwin said she was delighted that the South West had received £25m from the Creative Places Growth Fund. And she said: “That’s just enormous. It changes everything. It gives us a label, it gives us something to look at how we get investment, how we secure partners, how we attract production companies…
“It will help the fashion museum. It will help to really grow the sector. But it also enables us to be much more strategic about how we plan for the future.”
And she said other cities around the UK needed to promote themselves as creative hubs.
She said: “We are all really wanting to lead that charge and make sure that we get heads turning away from London and Manchester into places like Leeds and Bristol and beyond.”
Tracy Brabin praised the work of the Production Park team and said its success should be more widely known.
She also welcomed the Creative Places Growth Fund, which will see £25m of investment in West Yorkshire.
And she said investments in Leeds such as Channel 4’s HQ, and tech firm Go Cardless’s decision to open a base there, all helped promote the city as a hub for digital creativity.
The mayor also discussed the One Creative North initiative, chaired by Jude Kelly, which aims to support and grow the creative sector throughout the North of England.
She said: “If we’re talking about clustering, that’s clustering on an epic scale.”
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