Recognition of the creative industries as a growth driver
Anna Green of Broadsword attended the very first Creative Industries Growth Summit hosted by Department for Culture, Media and Sport at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Gateshead, representing EVCOM (Event & Visual Communication Association) and UKEVENTS (Org) with Rachel Parker representing the Events Industry Alliance Ltd and AEV Association of Event Venues Ltd.
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary gave an uplifting speech outlining the UK government’s modern industrial strategy for growth, setting out how the enormous growth potential and global influence of the creative industries sector with plans to increase growth and investment, starting with a £60m package of support and specialist taskforce chaired by Baroness Shriti Vadera and Sir Peter Bazalgette. The announcement underscored the critical importance of sustained investment and strategic support as the sector has significant growth potential to boost businesses and employment.
The government’s recognition of the creative industries as a growth-driving sector is a welcome development. Sitting alongside companies such as Netflix, Spotify, the National Gallery and the Edinburgh international festival, it was inspiring for the events industry to be a part of a positive and energised conversation and consider the critical role it will play to drive growth, as well as the increased economic value that could be achieved through a collaborative approach across all businesses that form the creative industry.
Changes are being brought forward so that shorter apprenticeships will be available from August 2025, recognising the needs of our sector for more flexibility and to widen the opportunity for more jobs to address the skills shortages we face in the creative industries. And in terms of the longer term future, creative education is being put back at the heart of the school curriculum as there’s been a huge drop off in the number of young people taking arts and creative GCSEs over the last decade.
Anna commented, “I firmly believe that this is where our world-class events industry belongs, now is the time to harness all the opportunities to drive awareness and growth as we confidently take our seat as a key player at the creative industries table.
