Creative industries upbeat for the coming year

Leaders within the creative industries said these developments reflect the increasingly high profile of the creative industries which are creating new jobs at a much faster rate than the rest of the economy according to a survey conducted by www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk, an industry and government partnership.

When asked to name the highlights of 2014 for the creative industries respondents most regularly-cited the extension of tax relief from high-end TV, animation and film to include video games and live action children’s TV, which is expected to encourage investment in indigenous games and entertainment content. Another highlight was the launch of Create UK, a unified, long-term growth plan for the creative industries which prioritised areas such as intellectual property, education and access to finance. Its aim is to almost double the value of the UK’s creative exports to £30bn by 2020.

Meanwhile, Manchester, Bristol and Brighton were seen as the UK cities outside London with the best future growth prospects in the creative industries.

Internationally, the US, China, Brazil and Japan were named as potential areas for increased trading by UK creative exporters but respondents also said London faces competition as the world’s creative capital from New York, Berlin, Sao Paulo and Paris.

Matthew Fell, director for competitive markets at the CBI, said: “Sales to south east Asia, India and China are increasing exponentially. As the middle classes in these markets continue to grow and increase expenditure on culture, leisure and entertainment, the UK’s creative industries have the opportunity to flourish.”

According to the DCMS report (June 2014 ) the creative economy accounted for 2.6 million jobs in 2013, an increase of 8.8% since 2011 – compared to the 2.4% rise in the total number of jobs in the economy during the same period.

Responses to the survey were supplied from the Advertising Association, Arts Council, CBI, Creative England, Creative & Cultural Skills, Design Council, DCMS, Microsoft, Ukie and UKTI.