Writing in Wednesday’s Financial Times, former ITV Chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette, currently co-chair of the UK’s Creative Industries Council and council chair at the Royal College of Art, highlighted the fact that if our screen- and music-based, fashion, advertising, publishing industries are to grow, “createch” needs an influx of workers skilled in traditional production, live events and real-time game engineering. He cited the contributions of Production Park in Yorkshire and Garden Studios in West London towards achieving this.
Tackle three important themes to drive growth
- greater continued and ongoing support for innovative clusters
- encourage more university spinout funds for createch
- define the skills needed for the future
The creative industries account for 6 per cent of the UK’s economy, employ 2.3 million people and continue to grow steadily. The sector now takes R&D seriously, but its inherent weakness is that it remains fragmented, characterised by clusters of small and medium-sized companies, and conspicuously unsupported by government policymakers.
There have been attempts in the last decade to stimulate regional growth and encourage partnerships between local businesses and universities. UK Research & Innovation funding of £56 million has been matched by £252 million from industry and other sources. Applied research from universities, connected with 2,500 SME’s, has yielded 700 R&D projects, 227 new start-ups and 558 new products and services.
Mondatum offer education consultancy and training for the creative industries, from bespoke course development to creative technical integration. For more information and to start a conversation about your organisation’s training and instruction requirements, get in touch via the Contact Us page on the Mondatum website.
Main image: Production Park