Government earmarks £380m for creative industries
The UK government has earmarked £380m in investment for the creative industries as part of its long-awaited Creative Industries Sector Plan.
This figure means the Department for Culture, Media & Sport will more than double its targeted funding for the sector.
It’s part of the government’s strategy to stimulate growth in what has been a sluggish post-pandemic economy. Given the creative sectors are a “place of strength” for the UK, leadership in Westminster is looking to “accelerate innovation-led growth” via increased public funding, led in part by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
UKRI plans to publish a new creative industries R&D strategy later this year, with £100m being committed to UKRI investment over the spending review.
The government has also committed to securing easier access to financing for growth startups and scale-ups in the creative industries in an attempt to address a £1.4bn “equity finance gap” in the sector.
“We will increase support from public financial institutions, catalyse private investment and support major investments such as Universal’s recent decision to build its first theme park in Europe in Bedfordshire“, the plan reads.
It continues: “We will harness the power of creators, entrepreneurs and investors, and establish the UK as the global leader in the emerging ‘createch’ sector.”
“Createch” is defined by the government as businesses in creative sub-sectors that “combine creative innovation and cutting-edge technology to generate novel products, services and experiences”.
According to the report, createch businesses “have the same growth potential as other technology firms” and are anticipated to generate £18bn in gross value added and 160,000 UK jobs in the next decade.
To ensure the development of future creative talent, the government is also seeking to train a new workforce by developing improved creative education, including greater inclusivity efforts for disadvantaged people to have access to creative enrichment.
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The investment comes on the heels of the UK ad industry winning 106 awards at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity that took place last week, including three Grands Prix.
Advertising Association CEO Stephen Woodford called it “brilliant” that the creative industry was “included as a key sector to drive growth for the UK in the new industrial strategy”.
Last week, Woodford led UK Advertising Experts Group (UKAEG) efforts in Cannes to improve export potential with leaders from international markets such as the US, Europe, China and Saudi Arabia.
Public-service media: Support and consolidation?
Apart from plans for the wider creative sectors, the government outlined specific efforts it will take to protect and spur growth among its public-service media, in particular broadcasters, whose leaders have warned of higher production costs and a changing video consumption market.
It will ask the Competition & Markets Authority to take into account changes to the sector as part of any future assessment of the TV and wider ad markets.
This could include potentially making it easier for public-service broadcasters (PSBs) to work more closely in strategic partnerships or allowing consolidation between broadcasters if it were to benefit their financial sustainability and audiences.
The plan reads: “In the context of a fragmented and highly competitive TV landscape, we want to ensure that domestic companies are able to compete effectively, ensuring that they are not held back from funding and producing the distinctively British content that brings benefits to audiences.”
Against this backdrop are persistent rumours that ITV could be sold, although it’s as yet unclear who might purchase the company.
In the meantime, PSBs have increasingly collaborated on a host of measures aimed at competing more directly with leading tech platforms for investment from especially small and medium-sized businesses.
At Cannes last week, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky launched a joint self-service marketplace in an effort to make it easier for brands to buy TV ads. Meanwhile, Lantern, a new joint measurement initiative set to launch next year, aims to track the short-term impact of TV advertising on business outcomes.
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