10.11.2022: UK Music has welcomed the announcement from the Government that creative businesses in six English regions are to benefit from a new £17.5 million funding pot to help expand their operations, attract additional investment and create jobs, alongside a £950,000 careers programme for the sector that has also launched in England.

Companies in six regions will receive support through the Create Growth Programme to help get themselves investment ready. The regions are Greater Manchester; the West of England and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly; Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire; Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire; Kent, Essex and East and West Sussex; and the North East of England.

Each of the six regions have been awarded £1.275 million in grant funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to develop a targeted programme of business support.

Regions will also benefit from a number of investor building activities such as networking and pitching events to attract investment and exchange ideas.

Businesses across the six regions will also be able to apply to a new £7 million investment fund to fuel their expansion.

Companies applying for finance will need to demonstrate their potential to grow rapidly and become sustainable through private investment. The investment fund and investor building activities will be delivered by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.

Alongside this, the Government has chosen ScreenSkills, the screen industry’s skills body, to lead the delivery of a £950,000 Creative Careers Programme. This programme, targeted in 53 priority areas across the country including Barking and Dagenham, Wolverhampton, Rotherham, Slough and Swindon, will help young people from underrepresented backgrounds break into the creative industries. 

The programme will provide specialist guidance to 11 to 18-year-olds on careers and help pay for industry-led digital and in-person events, lesson plans, a dedicated careers website with careers information and resources, and training for careers advisors. This will help ensure more young people from a diverse range of backgrounds can take advantage of the fantastic careers opportunities in these sectors.

Creative Industries Minister Julia Lopez said: 

“From product design and video games to music and film, the creative industries are a stellar UK success story. 

“Today’s plans will help get more creative businesses off the ground so they can spread jobs and wealth and help more people, including those from underrepresented backgrounds, break into these world-class sectors.”

UK Music Director of Education and Skills Dr Oliver Morris said:

“We welcome this news and are excited to be working on the second round of the Creative Careers Programme with partners from across the creative industries.

“The creative industries are an exciting and vibrant place to work and good careers advice is key to help individuals better understand the breadth of opportunities.

“It is wonderful to see this support for better careers advice along with support for creative businesses in the regions.

“The creative industries offer so much in the way of opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment and any steps to further strengthen their growth is to be lauded.”