Press Story

The UK's creative industries could play a major part in rebalancing the British economy during the recovery, but only if they do more to embrace diversity and build on the sector's potential for growth beyond London, according to a new report from the think tank IPPR.

The new report will be published ahead of the 13^th annual Oxford Media Convention on Wednesday. The report urges the Government to support what it describes as 'the march of the modern makers'.

The report says the creative industries show strong signs that they are winning 'the global race' for creative content, with exports growing by 16.1 per cent from 2009 to 2011 compared to 11.5 per cent across the service sector as a whole. IPPR analysis shows that growth in the creative industries was nearly three times the average since the financial crisis in 2008 and nearly six times the average in 2012.

But the report argues that a lack of regional and ethnic diversity will prevent the sector realising its full potential. Over concentration of the sector in London combined with poor recruitment of people from non-white and less well-off backgrounds working in the creative industries is a threat to future competitiveness.

The report says that informal recruitment and poorly-paid internships have perpetuated a lack of diversity, which is particularly acute at senior levels. The proportion of non-white people working in the creative sector is roughly half of that of the rest of the economy, actually declining during the 2009-2012 downturn.

The report argues for a comprehensive and coordinated industrial strategy for UK creative industries, with a 10 point plan that includes:

Employer-led training programmes rolled out across the creative sector and supported by match funding from government, as at present. This should be co-ordinated through an industrial partnership approach, linking employers to education providers through the sector skills councils. Greater diversity would be encouraged across the creative sector workforce (in both public and private sectors) with specific initiatives to encourage training opportunities for under-represented groups in the creative workforce.

To help employers in the regions, skills spending should include the delegation of a proportion of funding for employer-led programmes to Local Enterprise Partnerships, as part of an integrated national skills strategy for the sector.

The development of a British Investment Bank with sufficient expertise to support longer-term investment in creative businesses, particularly for small businesses and especially in the nations and regions.

Government institutions should focus more of their time and resources on the support of creative clusters outside London, where there is significant potential for growth and job creation, including a more equitable distribution of Arts Council funding across the UK.

The report says that while there are many national institutions based in the capital, government spending on arts and culture is currently badly skewed towards London: with over 40 per cent of all DCMS arts and Arts Council England funding going to London. The report show that the BBC spent 54.2 per cent of its programming spend in London in 2012 and has only committed to reducing this to 50 per cent by 2016. While Londoners have £72 per person spent on the creative industries, people in the North West, East Midlands, East, South West and South East have under £30.

The report says that there are strengths in creative industries around the country that should be supported and nurtured to help rebalance the economy:

In Manchester: Advertising, Designer Fashion, Video & Film, Music, Publishing, Software and Games, Radio and TV
In Birmingham: Designer Fashion, Video & Film, Software and Games
In Cardiff: Designer Fashion, Radio and TV
In Teeside, Milton Keynes & Slough: Software and Games
In Brighton: Video & Film, Music
In Bristol: Video & Film, Music, Publishing, Software and Games, Radio and TV
In Glasgow: Video & Film, Publishing, Radio and TV
In Edinburgh. Cambridge & Oxford: Publishing

Will Straw, IPPR Associate Director, said:

"From Americans watching Downton Abbey, Asians listening to Adele and Africans tuning into the Premier League, British content is global. But competition from other countries is increasingly intense with countries that have more effective industrial policies quick to steal a march on us. In recent years the UK has slipped from third to sixth in global retail sales of computer games, with countries like Canada supporting its gaming sector through an aggressive policy of tax incentives.

"If the Government wants to ensure that the 'global race' to which it refers is a 'race to the top' then it should do everything that it can to support growth sectors with a clear comparative advantage and a rapid expansion in high skilled jobs. At a time when many jobs in the UK - particularly in the retail and hospitality sectors - are low-skilled, low-productivity and low-paid, the creative industries are notably bucking the trend. Because the sector is rich in good jobs, it is an important test case for whether Britain can win a global 'race to the top'.

"Creative clusters are emerging in every region of the country and could hold the key to rebalancing the UK economy. These creative centres are helping create a more dynamic and competitive economy overall but they have not been given as much support as London. The Chancellor should address this in the Budget and support the UK's 'march of the modern makers.'"

Notes to Editors

IPPR's new report - March of the modern makers: An industrial strategy for the creative industries - will be available from: http://bit.ly/IPPR11926

The creative industries, as defined by the Government, covers nine broad subsectors: advertising and marketing; architecture; crafts; crafts; design including fashion; film, TV, video, radio and photography; IT, software and computer services; publishing; museum, galleries and libraries; and music, performing and visual arts.

The new IPPR report highlights:

oGVA growth for the creative industries for 2011 and 2012 was 9.1% and 9.4% respectively compared to just 2.5% and 1.6% across the whole economy.
oGVA growth since the financial crisis in 2008 was 15.6% compared to 5.4% across the whole economy
oThe biggest increases have come from the advertising and marketing, film and TV, and design industries.
oEmployment across the creative industries grew by 8.6% in 2012.
oThe number of enterprises has grown from 187,000 in 2008 to 219,000 in 2012 - an increase of 17%

The final report IPPR North's Northern Economic Futures Commission - Northern Prosperity is National Prosperity: A Strategy for Revitalising the UK Economy - is available from: http://www.ippr.org/publication/55/9949/northern-prosperity-is-national-prosperity-a-strategy-for-revitalising-the-uk-economy