Impactof COVID-19 on the UK's Creative Sectors in 2021: A Radar on the Influence
The University of Sussex Business School has published a report detailing the results of a survey of employers in the creative industries in the UK. The report, titled "Creative Radar 2021: The impact of COVID-19 on the UK's creative industries," was the second in the Creative Radar series and was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
The report analysed data from a survey of creative businesses conducted before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It found that despite some sub-sectors like Music, Performing Arts, and Visual Arts being hard hit, the creative economy was surprisingly resilient during the pandemic.
One of the key findings of the report was the importance of creative 'microclusters' around the UK. These are small, localized networks of creative businesses and practitioners that have been shown to grow their employment more than companies outside of microclusters or larger clusters.
The report calls for the government to target funding to creative microclusters around the UK as part of the PEC's campaign Creative Places. This UK initiative aims to enhance growth and investment-readiness in these clusters by directing resources, expertise, and networking opportunities tailored to their unique local creative ecosystems.
The Creative Places campaign tries to concentrate funding and business support in identified creative microclusters so that they can develop more cohesively, fostering innovation, economic growth, and cultural impact at a community level rather than dispersing resources broadly and less effectively across a wider geographic area.
The report provides insights into the migrant and skills needs of creative businesses in the UK, a topic that was commissioned by the Creative Industries Council. However, it does not discuss the findings of the Creative Radar series or the Creative Places campaign, nor does it provide information about the economic benefits of creative microclusters.
The image used in the report is of the Graffiti Art of Digbeth Walk in Birmingham, England by Creative Nerds. For more detailed, official documentation on the PEC’s Creative Places campaign specifically, that information was not found in the current search results. However, the pattern of cluster-focused creative industry funding described aligns well with the campaign’s reported aims.
References: - Siepel, J., Velez-Ospina, J, Camerani, R., Bloom, M., Masucci, M. and Casadei, P. 2021) Creative Radar 2021: The impact of COVID-19 on the UK's creative industries.
[1] Creative East: Create Growth Programme. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.our website/creative-east/create-growth-programme
- The University of Sussex Business School's report, titled "Creative Radar 2021," highlights the surprising resilience of the UK's creative economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- One of the key findings of the report was the importance of creative 'microclusters' in supporting employment growth for local businesses and practitioners.
- The report suggests that targeted funding from the government towards creative microclusters across the UK could aid their development and foster innovation, economic growth, and cultural impact at a community level.
- The Creative Places campaign, a UK initiative, aims to focus funding and business support on identified creative microclusters, with the goal of helping them develop cohesively.
- The Creative Industries Council commissioned the report to provide insights into the migrant and skills needs of creative businesses in the UK.
- Despite the report not discussing the economic benefits of creative microclusters, the pattern of cluster-focused creative industry funding described aligns well with the aims of the PEC’s Creative Places campaign.
- The report uses an image of the Graffiti Art of Digbeth Walk in Birmingham, England to represent the creative industries, and refers to Creative Nerds as the creator of the artwork.
- For more detailed information about the PEC’s Creative Places campaign, additional resources can be found at the Creative East: Create Growth Programme website.
