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Leaders back bid to boost North creative industry

Kerry Brown Crew filmingKerry Brown
The partnership is intended to unlock the "huge potential of the creative industries"

Local leaders and company bosses in the North of England have committed to a special new plan to boost the region's creative industries.

The Northern Creative Corridor would make the area "one of the best regions in the UK for creative industries to thrive".

Next steps will involve workshops in January and February with stakeholders.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said creative industries had "always thrived in the North of England".

"We know great things happen when creative industries work together, and the Northern Creative Corridor is going to maximise the potential of these sectors so communities across the region can benefit from new opportunities and investment," she said.

Image shows exterior of BBC Quay House and the Studio Block at the BBC's Northern base at MediaCity Salford,
Lucy Frazer highlighted "cutting-edge screen facilities" in Yorkshire and Salford's MediaCityUK

A background briefing paper written by Creative PEC sets out how it could bring in an additional £10bn each year across the region.

There are 27 signatories of the charter, including the mayors of Liverpool City Region, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and the North of Tyne, and sector leaders including Creative UK, North-East Screen, the N8 Research Partnership universities, Ubisoft, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.

West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin said those involved were "united in our shared ambition to level up our towns and cities by turbocharging our cultural offer in the North of England."

BBC director general Tim Davie added: "By coming together as a cross-sector coalition, we are committing to putting the full weight of the creative industries behind the northern growth agenda - with jobs, skills, investment, and innovation as the prize."

Andy Haldane, chief executive of the RSA, said: "There are pockets of creative genius right across the North of England.

"But the potential to nurture and grow these pockets into a northern creative supercluster, by working in pan-regional partnership, is simply enormous."

Updates on the plans will be reported at the time of the Convention of the North in March 2024.

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