The creative industries could be worth £128.4 billion to the UK economy by 2025 and help to create up to 1 million new jobs by 2030 according to an independent review of the sector published on Friday 22 September 2017.
Following the UK government’s Industrial Strategy Green Paper in January 2017, the Independent Review of the Creative Industries was commissioned by Culture Secretary, Karen Bradley, and Business Secretary, Greg Clark, and led by Chair of ITV, Sir Peter Bazalgette. It outlines key recommendations for how the creative industries can underpin the UK’s future economic growth and highlights how the sector is continuing to outperform other sectors in terms of employment, having already grown 300,000 jobs between 2011 and 2015.
The review makes a number of recommendations on how government and the creative industries can work together to remove barriers to growth, spanning issues from access to finance and intellectual property to trade and creative clusters – areas with high concentrations of ambitious companies that drive regional growth.
Other recommendations include a strategy to attract and develop young talent to make the creative industries more accessible, including introducing a careers programme for Secondary schools and expanding the UK’s network of Saturday Clubs.
The review’s recommendations will be considered by the government as part of its Industrial Strategy and used to inform work towards a sector deal. In response, the government has announced the opening of an £80 million Creative Industries Clusters Programme competition led by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). It is hoped that the programme, which is supported by £39 million from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and matched by industry, will help catalyse economic growth, provide the skills needed for the jobs of the future and respond to challenges identified by the creative industries in their cluster.
Culture Secretary, Karen Bradley, said:
‘The UK’s creative industries are an economic powerhouse and the government is committed to removing the barriers to its growth. The key challenge now is turning these ideas into a strong partnership, which is credible and has buy-in from both government and industry. I encourage the sector to do what it does best – think creatively and work with us on achieving a compelling and ambitious deal that allows the UK creative industries to continue to thrive.’
Business Secretary, Greg Clark, said:
‘The UK’s booming creative industries contribute nearly £90 billion to the economy and employ more than two million people. The review unveiled today demonstrates our world-class talent and expertise in these areas and reflects the industry’s vision for how we build on these strengths, now and in the future. We are grateful to Sir Peter Bazalgette for his excellent work. We will be working with him in the coming months towards a sector deal that helps us grasp the opportunities ahead. The £80 million Creative Industries Clusters Programme being launched today will deliver a further boost to our creative industries, help spread prosperity and grow the creative skills base across the UK.’
Sir Peter Bazalgette said:
‘In every scenario, the creative industries are set to be of central importance to the UK’s future success. We have two great assets: the English language and our creativity but the skills and business models of this sector are of increasing importance. My report recommends simple ways of maximising the potential of this crucial sector which I’d like to see become part of the government’s developing Industrial Strategy. I urge government to ensure the final strategy is based on a fundamental understanding of what these industries need to thrive.’
