Blueprint to attract creative stars of the future

Creative England, a not-for-profit national organisation which collaborates with regional talent inside the creative industry, held an event at Google’s HQ in London yesterday, which helped to showcase the potential of Yorkshire’s creative businesses.

Three Yorkshire-based companies have been included in Creative England’s list of the top 50 rising stars in the creative sector.

It is hoped their inclusion in the list will encourage greater collaboration between London firms and Yorkshire-based creative companies.

A Creative England spokesman said: “Despite adding £76.49bn to the UK’s economy, the creative industries are often undercapitalised, under-skilled and have unequal access to the infrastructure they need to reach their full creative and commercial potential.

“Much of this talent is to be found outside of London, yet in many cases it is left undiscovered, having not had access to the networks and funds often concentrated in London”.

The Creative 50 list includes Duck Soup Films and Hebe Works, a media and technology company, which are both based in Leeds, and York-based Stashmetrics, a social media analytics tool which is designed to help brands build campaigns.

Lee Hicken, the creative director at Hebe Works, said: “It is vital that we help develop the next wave of creative talent coming through in the UK. Companies like Hebe Works cannot grow unless we have the right people with the right skills to take things to the next level.

“It is important for the region that we get better at retaining talent and that can start from an early age by showing young people that a path into a creative job exists outside of London.”

Yesterday, Ed Vaizey, the minister for culture and the digital economy, launched Creative Nation – Creative England’s programme to challenge small creative and digital businesses to develop services for businesses across other sectors.

The announcement included a “call to action” for a new corporate partner to join forces with Creative England and match its £250,000 pledge to find and invest in the country’s best creative firms.

Caroline Norbury, the chief executive of Creative England, said: “Creative England invests in and works with hundreds of small creative businesses all over the country, and I’ve been continually impressed and inspired by people I’ve met who are using cutting-edge technology, creativity and innovation to address a whole array of diverse market needs – in everything from healthcare to retail, insurance, education and hospitality.

“As digital technology becomes increasingly important to a range of industry sectors, more big brands are starting to wise up to the immense benefits of outsourcing innovation by collaborating with small creative disruptors. Creative Nation is our way of celebrating and showcasing just how powerful creative business can be when it comes to cross-industry collaboration and developing products that extend well beyond the creative industries themselves.”

At the launch event, Mr Vaizey said: “Government is already helping to create the right environment for UK businesses to continue to grow, so I am delighted to launch the new Creative Nation programme bringing large organisations and smaller companies together.

“It will encourage big businesses from across the UK to explore the boundless possibilities for growth and innovation that the UK’s many small, but exceptionally talented, creative businesses can offer.”