Optimising Regional Creative Clusters

Background

In collaboration with the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, this project compares the economic context and political ecosystems of two regions in the UK with well-established and high-growth creative clusters; the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and Cardiff Capital Region (CCR).

Creative industries have been a growing part of the UK economy for the past two decades. However, with the threats posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the UK’s EU exit, the creative clusters in the UK’s regions face substantial challenges. The UK Government’s Levelling up agenda places a major focus on regional development of the country’s ‘lagging regions.’ The WMCA region is home to an increasing BBC presence and a world-class video game development cluster in Leamington Spa, the CCR houses a substantial screen sector dominated by BBC Wales, S4C, ITV and Bad Wolf.

The screen and digital sector are high-growth, have great potential for immediate exports of services, and cross-collaborative potential with the application of digital technologies to other sectors including healthcare and aerospace, but are suffering from skills gaps in senior positions, and a lack of a clear training infrastructure. The levelling up agenda appears to largely overlook the role of universities in regional development, both in terms of anchor institutions and training provision.

Funder/client: The PEC is part of the Creative Industries Clusters Programme led by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and funded through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

Timescale: 2022

Contact

Project Lead: Dr Matt Lyons (m.lyons@bham.ac.uk)

Project Support: Dr James Davies (j.davies.9@bham.ac.uk)