Financial Support Cultivating the Creative Sectors
The Creative PEC, in collaboration with the University of Sussex and Mike Green at Green Doe, has recently released a new report titled "Growth finance for the creative industries." The report, part of the Creative PEC's 'State of the Nations' series, examines creative further education in the four UK nations and investigates foreign direct investment in the UK's creative industries.
The report, authored by Dr Josh Siepel, Dr Sawan Rathi, and Professor Marc Cowling, finds that investments in the creative industries tend to be directed towards firms within 'creative clusters', with 92% of all investments made in the 55 clusters identified by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in 2022.
London and the South East continue to be key hubs for creative industries, but the report highlights a deliberate trend to decentralize investment. The UK government’s recently announced £380 million Creative Industries Sector Plan aims to nearly double business investment by 2035, with a significant part of this investment directed to regions beyond London and the South East.
Key trends include the Creative Places Growth Fund, a £150 million fund devolved to six mayoral strategic authorities, which focuses on empowering local leaders to support creative businesses through mentoring, investment connections, and skills development programs designed to retain creative talent regionally.
The report also suggests re-imagining growth finance could boost the creative economy. It proposes a need for place-specific business support to ensure creative firms are investment ready, as nearly half of creative businesses report limited access to external finance as a growth barrier. To address this, the new sector plan incorporates expanding accredited lenders and backing intellectual property-based lending to improve venture finance access for creative entrepreneurs outside traditional financial centers.
In addition, the plan supports skills pipelines and research & development tailored to regional needs, aiming to build local ecosystems and make the creative industries more investable across UK regions. Initiatives such as the new Executive Master’s in Leadership for the Creative Industries starting in March 2026 highlight an effort to increase management and investment-readiness capabilities in creative sectors outside London.
The report also discusses skills mismatches in the UK's creative industries and the importance of arts, culture, and heritage in the UK. It further delves into UK trade in a global creative economy and considers the role of higher education in the arts and culture sectors.
In summary, the current investment trends in venture capital finance for UK creative industries beyond London and the South East involve enhanced public funding initiatives, targeted regional investment schemes, expanded lender support, and capacity-building to unlock private capital for sustainable regional creative sector growth. The report can be accessed at Siepel, S, Rathi, S and Cowling, M (2024) 'Growth finance for the creative industries', Creative PEC State of the Nations Research Series. United Kingdom: Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC). DOI:10.5281/Zenodo.13889750)
- The Creative PEC's new report titled "Growth finance for the creative industries" emphasizes the need for targeted investment in creative industries across the UK.
- The study, part of the Creative PEC's 'State of the Nations' series, underlines the significance of creative further education in the four UK nations.
- Investments in the UK's creative industries predominantly focus on firms within 'creative clusters', according to the report.
- London and the South East remain key hubs for creative industries, but the report calls for a deliberate trend to decentralize investment.
- The UK government's recently announced Creative Industries Sector Plan aims to nearly double business investment by 2035, with a focus on investing in regions beyond London and the South East.
- The report highlights the Creative Places Growth Fund, a £150 million fund, as a significant initiative to empower local leaders to support creative businesses.
- To boost the creative economy, reimagining growth finance could be crucial, according to the report, with a focus on place-specific business support and improving access to external finance.
- The report suggests that initiatives like the new Executive Master’s in Leadership for the Creative Industries can help increase management and investment-readiness capabilities in creative sectors outside London.
- Arts, culture, and heritage are important in the UK, and skills mismatches in the creative industries are discussed in the report.
- The report also examines the UK's role in a global creative economy, considering the role of higher education in the arts and culture sectors.
- The report stresses the importance of evidence-based policy-making, internationalisation, and data-driven strategies for sustainable regional creative sector growth, and can be accessed at the given DOI.
