Creating value: the creative economy beyond culture by Marta Foresti
Marta Foresti explains the value of international cooperation as she becomes Chair of the GCEC.
Marta Foresti explains the value of international cooperation as she becomes Chair of the GCEC.
Understanding creative industries growth trends from 1991-2018 by mapping the geographical concentration and patterns.
We summarise some of the key sector-wide announcements from the Creative Industries Sector Plan.
A read out from Creative PEC Bernard Hay and Emily Hopkins On Wednesday 11th June the UK Government published its Spending Review, which outlines UK Government departmental budgets for day-to-day… Read More »What does the 2025 Spending Review mean for the creative industries?
Exploring regional discrepancies and a widening gap by class and ethnicity in terms of who engages with arts and culture.
Co-location of the Creative Industries with Other Industrial Strategy Priority Sectors Dr Josh Siepel The UK’s forthcoming Industrial Strategy identifies eight priority sectors, including the creative industries, to be targeted… Read More »All Together Now?
Dr Ruoxi Wang, University of Sheffield and Bernard Hay, Head of Policy at Creative PEC Self-employed individuals make up a uniquely high proportion of the creative industries workforce, as well… Read More »Creative self-employed workforce in England and Wales
First the facts: Creative Scotland announced the outcome of its new Multi-Year Funding Programme on 30th January 2025. Over the next three years, more than £200 million will be provided… Read More »What just happened to funding for culture in Scotland?
In part 2 of the blog, our Industry Champions discuss possible solutions to the challenges of lifelong learning in the creative industries
Introducing the Creative Corridors framework.
A new report published today by the AHRC-funded Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC) says re-imagining growth finance could boost the creative economy and help tackle regional inequality… Read More »With the right financial support creative industries could fuel the Government’s growth mission and help tackle persistent regional inequality
The Northern Creative Corridor is an initiative aimed at connecting creative clusters across Northern England to drive regional growth in the creative industries. Led by a coalition including the Royal… Read More »Policy Brief: Insights from the Northern Creative Corridor Workshops Sprint
The UK creative industries have been an economic powerhouse for over two decades, contributing £125 billion to the economy in 2022 and supporting nearly 2.4 million jobs. However, this growth… Read More »Beyond growth: promoting inclusive development of creative clusters in the UK
Towards multi-regional creative industries satellite accounts In today’s ever-evolving economic landscape, policymakers are increasingly recognising the potential of creative industries to drive growth, innovation, and export opportunities across various sectors.… Read More »Improving economic statistics in the creative industries
30 organisations meet to set out a bold new vision for the north of England’s creative industries Today (22 February) representatives and leaders from 30 organisations will meet to set… Read More »‘One Creative North’ plans finalised at summit ahead of Convention of the North
A Creative PEC State of the Nations report Place matters when it comes to creativity. Where do creative clusters arise and what can policymakers do to optimise intervention? This first… Read More »Geographies of Creativity
While the film, TV and games industries are one of the UK’s greatest success stories, new research calls for change from the sector to provide disadvantaged young people with better… Read More »New research calls for change in film, TV and games sectors to improve access and progression for disadvantaged young people
Today, the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC), led by Newcastle University, say there is a ‘clear opportunity’… Read More »Press release: With coordinated action North of England based creative industries could add £10bn to the UK economy
The Creative Industries are already a driver of growth across the UK economy. Export-intensive and major employers, they also attract significant investment from overseas. Large and small clusters of creative… Read More »Northern England’s Creative Industries
Today (Saturday 16 September), three major institutions announce a joint agreement to work together to determine the skills, policies and investment required to achieve sustained growth in the creative sector.… Read More »Press Release: ‘Creative Corridors’ can be the key to the UK’s creative industries’ ambitions
August 2023 – It’s a commonly held view that the arts drive gentrification. Many city leaders argue that new creative firms and a growing artistic population can support economic renewal.… Read More »Press release: Relationship between creative industries and gentrification overstated says new study
A new study by Tasos Kitsos, Max Nathan, and Diana Gutierrez-Posada finds only a minor influence of creative firms and workers on neighborhood gentrification in England and Wales between 2001-2011.… Read More »Creative Destruction? Creative firms, workers and residential gentrification
The UK’s Fashion and Textiles industry contributed almost £20 billion to the UK economy in 2020 and remains a major UK employer with 500,000 jobs supported across design, manufacturing and… Read More »Identifying and analysing UK fashion micro-clusters
27 April 2023 – Today, the Creative PEC launches a landmark report – The State of Creativity – reflecting on 25 years of creative industry policy, since the era of cool Britannia and… Read More »Press release: Landmark Creative Industries report says: prioritise creative education, end unequal access to the arts and focus on the regenerative power of the creative sector
This report looks at the role the creative industries can play for the Levelling Up agenda, as well as the challenges the sector faces outside London and the greater South… Read More »Building sustainable regional music industry clusters
The creative industries have long been heralded as a UK success story. The creative economy grew at twice the rate of the general UK economy during 2010-2016, resulting in the… Read More »Too many demands are being placed on universities to support their regional economies, without sufficient support and partnership
In 2019, the UK’s live music sector was valued at over £1.3 billion. After almost a decade of strong growth the sector helped push the UK music’s overall GVA from… Read More »Live music ecologies in the UK: A local perspective in the context of the pandemic
Creative services such as advertising, publishing, and design are an important part of global trade. Their rise has been partly due to technology, which has made it easier to trade… Read More »Trade in creative services: scale, trends, and geography
Research shows poorest parts of Manchester have few firms & little/no employment in creative sector 29 September 2022 – Manchester has long been considered a creative industries success story. It… Read More »Press release: Poorest areas excluded from Manchester’s creative industries success story
Universities are important for driving growth in their local creative industries. At the same time, the creative industries is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy, and in… Read More »The role of the university in enhancing creative clusters
The aim of this paper is to ‘take stock’ of the creative industries in Manchester and to explore their geographies through analysing official statistics on employment and workplaces; in terms… Read More »Creative clusters and sparse spaces: Manchester’s creative industries and the geographies of deprivation and prosperity
The Department for Communities (DfC) recently awarded £4.7 million to Future Screens NI (FSNI) to create 72 three-year posts in arts organisations in Northern Ireland as part of the Art Work scheme.… Read More »How a placed-based employment programme is bringing creative workers back to Northern Ireland
This policy brief is based on a PEC Discussion Paper: Creative Industries Innovation in Seaside Resorts and Country Towns Pre-pandemic, research suggested that being located in intensive, largely urban clusters… Read More »Policy briefing: Creative industries innovation in seaside resorts and country towns
Read our four page policy brief for key recommendations based on this research: Insights for Policymakers: Creative Industries Innovation in Seaside Resorts and Country Towns ______________________________________________ The creative industries in… Read More »Creative industries innovation in seaside resorts and country towns
Could investment in the Creative Industries be key to year-round, economic development? Could investment in the Creative Industries be key to year-round, economic development? 1 September 2022 – As August… Read More »Press release: What happens to coastal towns when the holiday-makers leave?
The welcome page for our Levelling Up resources for local authorities This collection of resources is designed for those working in Local Authorities (LAs) who are considering investing in their… Read More »How to use up the Levelling Up Resources
Data and evidence to help local authorities understand levelling up and the creative industries These resources are designed for those working in Local Authorities (LAs ) who are considering investing… Read More »Levelling Up and the Creative Industries: Resources for Local Authorities
What are the Creative Industries? The Creative Industries are a diverse and complex sector made up of a variety of sub-sectors, from performing arts to computer games, and graphic design… Read More »Eight things to know about the Creative Industries
Creative Clusters – Case Studies The creative clusters in these case studies share some common factors that can lead to success. For example, the role performed by ‘anchor institutions’ (often… Read More »Creative Clusters Case Studies
The Levelling-Up White Paper produced by the Department for Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities notes that ideas and innovation are key drivers for rebalancing the economy. Since 2018, UKRI’s £56.8m Creative Industries Clusters Programme (CICP) has… Read More »How Research and Innovation can help level-up the Creative Industries
The creative industries have the potential to play a major role in the development of rural communities and businesses. Our new research, funded by NICRE and the AHRC Creative Industries Policy and Evidence… Read More »How can policy makers help rural creative businesses contribute to Levelling Up?
More targeted support could unleash the potential of Rural Creative Enterprises It is well documented that creative industries are clustered in urban areas. This leads to a possible policy bias… Read More »Mapping and examining the determinants of England’s rural creative microclusters
This submission from the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre aims to answer the questions posed by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS Committee), specifically: Read the DCMS committee… Read More »Response to the DCMS Committee ‘Cultural Placemaking and the Levelling Up Agenda’
The economic geography of the UK is highly uneven, with many of the largest clusters concentrating in the greater South East of England and some large metropolitan areas in the… Read More »Supporting the Creative Industries: The impact of the ‘Preston Model’ in Lancashire
This Discussion Paper was commissioned by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) and delivered by AEA Consulting (AEA) in partnership with Professor Geoffrey Crossick. It explores the relationships… Read More »The relationships between cultural organisations and local creative industries in the context of a cultural district
The research will cover everything from fashion and music, to migration and seaside towns The PEC’s open calls for commissioned research are a fantastic opportunity to develop cutting edge ideas… Read More »PEC announces the launch of six new commissioned research projects
In September 2021, we consulted a Panel of our Industry Champions on their experiences of the development and sustainability of ‘Creative Places’, and how policy can support this. This Panel was commissioned… Read More »Placemaking, Culture and Covid
The UK’s creative industries – from film to fashion, and from video games to the performing arts – are integral to local communities throughout the country. This is in part because… Read More »PEC’s comment on the 2021 Spending Review and Autumn Budget
The UK’s creative industries – from film to fashion, and from video games to the performing arts – are integral to local communities throughout the country. This is in part… Read More »PEC’s Representation to the Autumn Spending Review
Createch is an emerging field that combines technology and creativity in novel ways. This report is a foundational piece of research that examines where createch businesses are in the UK,… Read More »Createch activity in the UK
Local government has been hit hard by austerity. On average, grants from central to local government have reduced by 49.1% in real-terms over the period 2010- 2018, translating into a reduction in… Read More »The austerity decade: local government spending on culture
Making the case for targeted funding to creative microclusters around the UK. The creative industries are engines of growth. One in eight UK businesses are part of the creative industries,… Read More »Creative places: Why we must invest in our local creative industries
A paper examing the long-term impacts of the creative industries on surrounding urban economies
The UK Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ agenda aims to address regional disparities in economic prosperity and the impact these differences have on “people’s lives through their pay, work opportunities, health and… Read More »When policy meets place: ‘Levelling Up’ and the culture and creative industries
This is in part because of the economic importance of the sector: one in eight UK businesses are part of the creative industries, and together they contributed almost £116 billion… Read More »Creative places: Growing the creative industries across the UK
Future Screens NI and levelling-up in a pandemic environment Future Screens NI is one of nine creative clusters in the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Creative Industries Clusters Programme, of which… Read More »Cultural brokerage and creative clusters
This is the second report from the Creative Radar series, by PEC researchers at the University of Sussex, and funded by the AHRC. The authors analysed data from a survey… Read More »Creative Radar 2021: The impact of COVID-19 on the UK’s creative industries
Creative technologies (“CreaTech”) will play an increasingly big role driving innovation and growth in the creative industries. The pandemic has only accelerated investment and interest in CreaTech, particularly in culture,… Read More »Mapping the R&D landscape for creative technologies
Our response to the 2021 Budget The PEC’s response to the 2021 Budget The creative industries – from film, to fashion, art, advertising, games, design and more – are a… Read More »Response to the 2021 Budget: R&D, migration, skills and levelling-up
We analyse the Spending Review and the extent our recommendations feature in today’s announcement The creative industries – from film, to fashion, art, advertising, games, design and more – are… Read More »Artificial intelligence, levelling-up and R&D: the PEC’s response to the Spending Review 2020
Study shows the importance of micro creative clusters as engines of local and national growth – The Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre finds 709 ‘microclusters’ of creative businesses in… Read More »Press release: Small engines of growth: New research finds over 700 small communities of creative businesses in cities, towns and villages across the UK
Think about a creative cluster: What comes to mind? Creative clusters are the buzzing centres of the creative industries, where creative individuals and companies mingle, share ideas, and shape the… Read More »Small engines of growth: Understanding creative microclusters
Major urban centres are the sorts of places we would expect to find creative businesses clustered together. Yet go beyond London’s Shoreditch, Manchester’s Northern Quarter, or Edinburgh’s Cowgate, and you… Read More »Creative radar: Mapping the UK’s creative industries
A systematic literature review and future research agenda The geographical clustering of creative and cultural industries is a topic that has gone from being relatively obscure to mainstream in the… Read More »Evolution and trends of creative cluster research
Applications closed on 21st September 2020. An invite to take part in an online workshop and a call for papers The Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries at King’s… Read More »Call for papers: Creative and cultural ecologies in European urban and regional development
New research shows that following the global financial crisis in 2008 we saw an accelerated trend towards a greater concentration of creative businesses in London. This should warn us against repeating… Read More »The importance of a UK-wide recovery plan for the creative industries
The Creative Industries are seen as an key part of the knowledge economy, and policymakers invest considerable resources into developing new specialisms in the sector. The academic literature on local economic development… Read More »Relatedness between the Creative Industries and the wider economy: A primer
As part of our research agenda around local growth, we consulted our Industry Champions on their experience of local policy interventions aimed at growing the creative industries. Our Industry Champions are trusted… Read More »How policymakers can support local growth in the creative industries
Creative industries have long been a focus of urban researchers and policymakers. There is a good reason for this: creative industries tend to cluster heavily in cities. In the UK, for… Read More »A first look at connections between the presence of creative industries and the wider urban economy
The UK’s Creative Industries have been growing rapidly, both in terms of employment and economic output. They also make a valuable contribution to the UK’s balance of trade. However, our latest… Read More »Looking at regional inequalities in the UK’s creative industries
Using official Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Economic Estimates, this Discussion Paper examines the distribution and growth of the Creative Industries in the UK at the regional… Read More »Mind the gap: regional inequalities in the UK’s creative industries
The economic value of our creative industries is clear. But are they a priority for Britain’s political leaders? The impressive growth performance of the UK’s creative industries, from design and… Read More »Silence speaks volumes
Location matters, especially in the creative industries. The area of work I am leading will be looking at two important ways that location impacts the creative industries: creative clusters, and… Read More »How location impacts the creative industries