‘More creative jobs in Yorkshire than London’ from Hull’s culture title

TWICE as many jobs will be created in the cultural sector in Yorkshire and the Humber as in London in the next decade, partly as a result of Hull hosting City of Culture in 2017, according to researchers.
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A study by the Warwick Institute for Employment Research predicts that there will be as many as 3,000 extra jobs for dancers, actors, authors and artists in the region by 2022.

While jobs in the cultural sector are predicted to increase by 11 per cent in London in the decade between 2012 and 2022, the figure will be nearly double that in Yorkshire and the Humber at 20 per cent.

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City of Culture chief executive Martin Green said: “It is easy to forget that creative industries play an increasingly important role in the economy of the UK. Hosting UK City of Culture 2017 in Hull should be a catalyst for job creation and investment in Hull and the wider area.”

The team behind the successful bid for Hull to host City of Culture set a target of 1,500 jobs to be created in the cultural and creative industries in the city, including jobs in the digital gaming industries, as well as hotels, bars and restaurants.

Jon Pywell, who is assistant head of service at Hull Council, said the announcement of Hull gaining the title was already having an impact with 16 new business start-ups in the past year. He said: “The key areas where we will see an uplift will be around the creative industries because there is a major push locally and nationally in jobs like gaming and graphic design.

“The other key area where there will be a major impact is through the visitor economy, which has a very broad church in our definition and includes jobs in hospitality, hotels and restaurants.”

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It is estimated City of Culture will deliver a £60m boost to the economy in 2017 alone.

English Heritage’s annual heritage survey Heritage Counts reported earlier this year on “very tangible early economic benefits” to the city, including a 15 per cent rise in hotel occupancy, a reported 33 per cent increase in business in local bars and 54 per cent increase in museum visits during holiday periods.

The team, from the Warwick Institute for Employment Research (IER), made the jobs forecast using labour market information (LMI) which is available online, basing their calculations on ‘Working Futures’ projections.

The projections themselves are based on trends in demographics, education, employment and the wider economy.

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Anyone can obtain the data that through the ‘LMI for All’ data portal on the web, a resource that was developed with funding from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

Professor Jenny Bimrose, from the IER, is encouraging people and organisations to take advantage of the database.

She said: “The Hull forecast is just one example of the type of information that is available through the ‘LMI for All’ data portal and a widget is currently being developed later this year to support the use of this free tool.

“The databases contain data on historical, current and projected employment numbers, salary data, occupational descriptions and skills, skills gaps and shortages. “These are available by region, gender, employment status and age.”