Creative industries have become one of our most powerful economic engines - Lucy Frazer

As somebody who grew up in Leeds, I remember Emmerdale, visits to the IMAX in Bradford, and the arrival of the Armouries. I soon learned at school that across the M62 Manchester was one of the cradles of the Industrial Revolution – a city dubbed ‘Cottonopolis’ in honour of its place at the epicentre of our thriving cotton industry in the 19th century.
By Lucy Frazer
Published 16th Nov 2023, 06:00 BST
Updated 16th Nov 2023, 12:21 BST

But Manchester is also a thriving place for our culture. Creativity is part of the fabric of the city today.

When I was made Culture Secretary at the start of this year, I made growing creative industries one of my main priorities.

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In the past decade or so, these industries have become one of our most powerful economic engines of growth.

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lucy Frazer pictured at the Conservative Party annual conference in October. PIC: Danny Lawson/PA WireSecretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lucy Frazer pictured at the Conservative Party annual conference in October. PIC: Danny Lawson/PA Wire
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lucy Frazer pictured at the Conservative Party annual conference in October. PIC: Danny Lawson/PA Wire

And if we can help more people across the country to discover and nurture their creative potential, then we will see our economy and wider society grow and grow and grow.

Earlier this year we set out a long-term plan for the future of the creative industries.

The Sector Vision was developed jointly, as well as through government, with industry too through the work of the Creative Industries Council. It’s a blueprint with three very simple aims, to grow our Creative Industries by an extra £50bn by 2030, to create a million extra jobs – all over the country – by 2030 and to deliver a Creative Careers Promise that harnesses the potential of young people and constructs a pipeline of talent into our creative industries.

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We’re already making progress towards those ambitious goals set out in our sector vision, unveiling millions in new funding to drive growth in our grassroots and scale ups and banging the drum for our creative careers.

We are doubling the number of areas in the Create Growth Programme, with almost £11m additional funding which means we are able to provide targeted support to around 1,800 creative businesses so that they can access private investment and scale up.

Thanks to this new funding, businesses in the East and West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Hull and East Yorkshire, the South-West and the East of England will benefit from tailored workshops, mentoring and training to maximise creative potential.

We’re also launching applications to the £5m Supporting Grassroots Music Fund to ensure support for the lifeblood of our world-leading music sector.

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Creative Careers Week is an initiative supported by my department to inspire the next generation to go into the creative industries so we can build that pipeline of talent and I welcome the many events happening across the country to encourage more young people to consider a job in these inspiring sectors.

Government, industry and academic leaders across the North are already forming a grand coalition to develop a new regional strategy – The Northern Creative Corridor.

I also recognise that it’s a difficult time at the moment. The cost-of-living has been a bit of a perfect storm: whether that’s the tight labour market, access to finance or the possible future impact of AI.

But none of this should dampen our ambition.

I and my Ministerial team can’t wait to work with you to make our Creative Industries in the North as big a success in the years to come.

This is an adapted version of Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer’s speech at the WeCreate: Celebrating the Creative Industries Conference.

Related topics:LeedsIMAXBradford