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CREATIVITY is becoming increasingly big business in 21st Century Britain and Cumbria looks well placed to benefit from the boom. The sector, known as “the creative industries” includes far more types of business than the arts and crafts than the term typically brings to mind. As defined by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the creative industries include advertising, fashion, film and video production, software and computer business and many new media activities. Business such as these, together with more traditional “creative” skills, have collectively shown more growth than virtually any other sector of the British economy. Nationally, the creative industries grew by an average of eight per cent a year between 1997 and 2001. The most recent figures from the Department of Trade and Industry show that, in June 2001, the creative industries in the UK accounted for 8.2 per cent of Gross Value Added and contributed £11.4 billion to the balance of trade. The importance of the sector to the Cumbrian economy can hardly be overstated. Last year the creative industries accounted for five per cent of all businesses in Cumbria with some 2,000 ventures providing work for more than 5,000 people (3.3 per cent of employment in the county) and contributing a combined Gross Value Added of £104million to the local economy. Moreover, the creative industries are generally acknowledged to have serious potential to continue growing and becoming an ever more important aspect of economic activity. That prospect is in stark contrast to many heavier traditional industries such as shipbuilding and steel production where the last two decades have generally been a tale of decline and fall. Indeed, Cumbria has been experiencing continued problems with traditional manufacturing industry with more redundancies at Barrow’s dockyards, at Cavaghan and Gray in Carlisle and, more recently, with the announcement by Corus that it is to “consult” on ending rail production at its Workington plant. However, Cumbria is well placed to take advantage of the rise of the creative industries. The county has, after all, been immortalised in oils by greats such as Constable and Turner and, of course, embedded in the national consciousness as a place of creative inspiration in the poems of William Wordsworth. The environment here continues to inspire the artists, but it could also turn out to be a key factor in helping to attract and keep creative talent of different kinds. Thanks to the digital revolution in communications technology many of the new creative industries have become footloose. Graphic designers, film companies and other creative ventures no longer need to be close to their clients and can now make choices about where to locate based not on the physical proximity of markets, but on criteria such as quality of environment and quality of life. As Bruce Bennison, Cultural Services Manager at Cumbria County Council, points out: if Cumbria can develop itself as an attractive home for the creative industries, it will also be providing skilled, high-value jobs which will encourage training and keep young people within the county. Plenty of effort is now going in to achieving just that. Mr Bennison, said: “There is a lot going on here at the moment. Creative industries are one of the real growth areas that we have in Cumbria. Their importance is recognised in Cumbria County Council’s economic strategy and its focus on small and medium sized enterprises Last year the county council supported £7million worth of earning capacity in the cultural sector, supported hundreds of full and part time jobs, helped around 2,000 artists in their work and backed Cumbrian events seen by well over a million people. “What we are trying to do, along with our partners, is to get the conditions in Cumbria right for the creative industries. Having a creative environment and a very attractive and rewarding place to live and work will pull in investment and create high-quality jobs and that has to be good for Cumbria.” To that end, there is plenty of business support available for the creative industries. Support has come from many sources including Cumbria County Council and other local authorities in the county, from the English Rural Development Fund, the Learning and Skills Council, Cultural Business Ventures Cumbria, the Arts Council North West and even from the EU through Objective 2 money. Bodies such as Cumbria Vision and the Rural Regeneration Company are also ready and willing to help. New funding from the North West Regional Development Agency, which is now actively targeting the creative industries, has recently been used to set up a new Creative Industries Partnership called Creative Cumbria. Peter Booth, acting co-ordinator of Creative Cumbria, explained: “Unlike almost everything else, creative industries are a growing sector in the county, so what we need is a dynamic organisation like Creative Cumbria to bring together all the various initiatives to try to grow the sector’s contribution to the area’s economy.” One good example of an exciting young, creative company flourishing in Cumbria is the Kirkby Stephen-based firm, 3 Bears Animations. Bryony Catlow is a 23-year-old director of the company which has a growing list of credits including a current Cumberland Building Society TV advert and a string of industry awards such as Best Animated Film at the Manchester International Film Festival in 2000 and a best commercial award in the 2002 British Television Advertising Awards. Miss Catlow, who runs 3 Bears with her twin sisters, Cadi and Linnhe, 27, says there is no need to head for Manchester or London to run their business, which last year got a grant from the Rural Regeneration Company help pay for a new 35mm camera they could not other wise have afforded. “We like it here – it’s a nice place and we have lived here for 15 years,” said Miss Catlow. “People are friendlier and it’s cheaper to run a business here than in London or Manchester and for us it doesn’t matter where we are.” The sisters also enjoy the fact that there is a creative community in the county and 3 Bears is now looking forward to the imminent arrival of broadband which “will make life a little easier". But it is not only the newer creative industries like 3 Bears that are flourishing in Cumbria. The more traditional creative endeavours are also doing well. Potters, woodturners, sculptors and all kinds of artists and artisans are working all over the county and many of the best come under the banner of Made in Cumbria. Since its creation by Cumbria County Council in 1989, Made in Cumbria has provided support for artisan ventures throughout the county and has gained a national reputation for getting it right. Craft work has, perhaps surprisingly, offered opportunities for some workers from declining heavy industries to direct their skills in a new direction. Nik Schofield, a development officer at Made in Cumbria, explained: “We have quite a few machinists from the shipbuilding industry who have turned their hands to woodturning and so on – many industrial skills can be very transferable.” Creative industries have also helped take some of the pressure off members of Cumbria’s beleaguered farming community who have in recent years had to contend with BSE, foot-and-mouth and falling farm incomes. Many have, with help from Made in Cumbria, tapped into the growing interest in the “slow food” movement and turned to retailing at farmers markets and on the internet, to bolster their businesses. But Made in Cumbria offers more than just business support – it can also involve members in a creative community where people can share ideas, expertise and even come together to form buying groups to cash in on economies of scale which would otherwise be unavailable. “That is what we’re all about – members support and act together to find synergies and networks,” said Mr Schofield. Moreover, he added, Made in Cumbria is also helping the tourist trade by making its presence felt at events outside the county, such as the Royal Horticultural Society’s famous Tatton Flower Show, where it showcases some of the best of Cumbria’s creative output and raises the county’s profile as a destination for a large market of visitors interested in arts and crafts. Such considerations may not seem to be the hard and fast stuff of which business is usually made, but such things are ultimately part and parcel of creating the right environment and providing fertile soil in which the creative industries can continue flourish here. All in all then, Cumbria is well placed to benefit from the rise and rise of creative industries. Thanks to the efforts and resources of a multitude authorities and organisations, there is serious support in place to make sure Cumbria does indeed reap the rewards of the creative boom. The benefits of success will be many. The sector could help provide quality jobs to replace those which seem to be slipping away in too many traditional industries, bring visitors to the area and, perhaps most importantly, help to attract serious investment to the county and, in so doing, keep hold of the homegrown talent that the economy needs. Contacts: Creative Cumbria – e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Made in Cumbria - 01539 732736, e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.madeincumbria.co.uk RRC - Call 01931-711130, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.ruralcumbria.co.uk Bruce Bennison, Cultural Services manager at Cumbria County Council can be contacted on 01228-606060, or e-mail bruce. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it For more information on 3 Bears Animations visit: www.3bears.co.uk |
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