Report Hails Economic Vitality of Britain's Creative Industries

Report Hails Economic Vitality of Britain's Creative Industries

LONDON, June 25/PRNewswire/ --

The value of Britain's flourishing creative industries to the economy is
now broadly comparable to that of the financial services sector, a new report
says today. But without careful policy-making, targeted public investment and
a supportive institutional architecture, the flow of creativity worth
commercialising may begin to slow, it warns.

Commissioned by the Department of Culture Media and Sport, the
independent report analyses the nature, role and scope of the creative
industries in Britain, declaring the creative economy to be a 'great unsung
success story', employing 1.8 million people (one million directly), and
generating more 'cultural goods' for export (worth US$8.5 billion in 2002)
than any other nation in the world(i).

From music to gaming, TV to fashion, industries powered by creativity are
steadily transforming the commercial landscape, the report notes. By their
nature, these industries have a higher reliance on knowledge, information and
interactivity in both organisation and transmission than other sectors.

The 13 creative industry sectors are advertising, architecture,
publishing, radio and TV, design, film, music, software and computer
services, computer games, designer fashion, crafts, performing arts and the
arts and antique market. Of these, software (including computer games and
electronic publishing), publishing and TV and radio between them accounted
for two thirds of overall creative gross value added.

Will Hutton, chief executive of The Work Foundation, said: 'These sectors
are all very different, but what they have in common and what sets them apart
is that they commercialise expressive value - they profit from creativity,
cultural meaning and symbolism. We need better understanding about the
mechanisms through which creativity generates value - both within the
creative industries themselves and in the wider economy beyond.

"Yet there is no doubt that Britain's creative knack is something to
celebrate. The stuff that creates new insights, delights and experiences,
that stirs our senses and enriches our lives, is also the stuff that is
propelling a larger slice of our economic output. The question is can we
continue to supply this growing demand? How we create the architecture that
will incubate rather than stunt creative industry growth is a major policy
question."

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said: 'I very much welcome The Work
Foundation's report. This analysis shows just how vibrant - and how
economically important - our creative industries are. It reinforces how vital
government investment in creativity is, nurturing talent which in turn
creates jobs and economic success. But it also emphasises the importance of
other factors such as education, access to finance and business skills. The
report is a key part of our work towards publishing a green paper on the
creative industries later this year, and we will consider its findings
carefully.'

The paper - 'Staying Ahead: The Economic Performance of the UK's Creative
Industries' - suggests there are eight 'drivers' of success for the creative
economy that future policy needs to note. They are:

1. Demand. The growth and productivity of Britain's creative economy is
closely related to the growth and character of sophisticated, educated
demand. Early exposure to culture, higher levels of education and developing
the capacity of Britain's cities to offer the full spectrum of cultural and
creative experiences will all contribute to this end.

2. Greater diversity. Diversity - especially cognitive diversity - is
critical to the continuing success of the creative industries.

3. A level playing field. Creativity flourishes in an environment which
encourages innovation and experimentation. Some creative and cultural content
industries, such as film and video games are characterised by a relatively
small number of large distributors. This may restrict the diversity of
creative products on offer.

4. Education and skills - ensuring balance and the appropriate supply.
There is a shortage of industry-specific skills in key creative industries
and of knowledge on how to commercialise creative ideas. Britain's powerful
art and design school tradition also needs to be celebrated and developed.

5. Networks - harnessing capacity. Very few creative firms or
organisations have the critical mass of in-house skills fully to exploit
market opportunities or generate creativity. The network model is intrinsic
both to creativity and commercialisation.

6. Public sector - fit-for-purpose public architecture, grants and
institutions. Most members of the creative and cultural industries have in
some way been helped to develop their franchise through public support and
investment. This interaction needs to be better understood, and where
relevant reformed. Grants need to be more strategically organised to maximise
their creative and cultural impact, and encourage strong spillovers and
connectivity between the core, the creative industries and the wider economy.

7. Intellectual Property - a clearly defined and enforced regime. The
UK's Intellectual Property framework is critical to the success or failure of
the nation's creative industries. The business model of the creative
industries depends significantly on their capacity to copyright expressive
value. But technological change, in particular digitisation (for example,
filesharing and downloading that are hard to police) may pose challenges in
the future to how enforceable this regime is.

8. Building greater business capacity. There are many small- and
medium-sized creative businesses with the potential to grow, but who struggle
to scale up in practice.

But the paper warns that commercialising expressive value is by its
nature an unusually risky business. Creativity relies on a mix of informal as
well as formal processes: 'lightbulb moments', trial and error, repeated
iteration, encounter and networking. Given this, policy needs to recognise
the distinctive processes of creativity, the paper argues, as well as promote
greater business-relevant capabilities within the sector.

Notes to Editors:

1. "Staying Ahead: The Economic Performance of the UK's Creative
Industries" is available from The Work Foundation. Will Hutton is available
for interview.

2. (i) The OECD reckons the UK's creative industries make up a greater
share of GDP than in other nations. According to UNESCO, the UK is the
biggest exporter of cultural goods, surpassing the US. In 2002 it exported
US$8.5 billion of cultural goods (compared with US$7.6 billion by the US and
US$5.2 billion from China).

3. A launch event for the report will take place will take place on
Monday 25 June at 11am at the National Film Theatre, Theatre 3. The Rt Hon
Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State at the DCMS, Shaun Woodward, Minister for
Creative Industries, and Margaret Hodge, Minister of State at the DTI, will
be launching the document along with Will Hutton. Press are welcome to
attend. Please rsvp to soverell@theworkfoundation.com.

5. The Work Foundation is an independent research organisation and
consultancy.

Source: The Work Foundation

Media enquiries to Stephen Overell on +44-(0)207-976-3507 or +44-(0)7966-252724.

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