The UK government has announced £77 million of new funding for the creative industries.
The funding has been earmarked as part of the government’s Creative Industries Sector Vision which aims to help grow the sector by £50 billion by 2030 and to create one million extra jobs. The plan has been developed with industry via the Creative Industries Council.
The funding package includes £50 million to grow clusters of creative businesses in six locations in the UK. The government has already invested £80m in nine hubs, including Cardiff, Bristol and Bath, and Yorkshire and Humber.
£10.9m is being invested in the government’s Create Growth Programme, which helps creative businesses to scale up.
There is also money to support music exports and grassroots venues, an additional £5m for the UK Games Fund, and £2m for London Fashion Week and £1.7 million for the BFI London Film Festival.
As part of the Sector Vision announcement, the government also unveiled a list of preferred bidders for a national virtual production research lab in Buckinghamshire and three regional labs in Yorkshire, Dundee and Belfast.
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The research labs are part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s Convergent Screen Technologies and Performance in Realtime (CoSTAR) programme.
The national lab will be led by Royal Holloway, University of London alongside core partners including Pinewood Studios and the National Film and Television School (NFTS).
The Yorkshire regional lab will be led by York University and be based at Production Park Studios, West Yorkshire. Core partners include Screen Yorkshire and Vodafone.
The Dundee lab will be led by Abertay University and based at Waters Edge Studios. The Belfast lab is led by Ulster University and based at Studio Ulster with partners including BBC Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said: “Our Creative Industry isn’t just about the glitz and glam of the red carpet in Leicester Square. It brings in £108 billion a year to help fund our public services, supports over 2 million jobs, and is world renowned.
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“That’s why we’re backing it as an industry to drive our economic growth, keeping the UK at the top of the world’s cultural charts with a multi-million-pound boost.”
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