Shifting Employment Patterns in Creative Sectors Across English Industry Hubs, 1991-2018
The Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) has published a comprehensive report on the growth trends of the creative industry employment across Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in England from 1991 to 2018. The report, authored by Ben Gardiner, Director at Cambridge Econometrics, and Professor Peter Sunley, Professor of Economic Geography at the University of Southampton, offers valuable insights into the sector's development over the past three decades.
The creative industries experienced significant growth over this period, contributing substantially to the UK economy and employment. However, growth has been uneven, with more pronounced expansion concentrated in London and other major metropolitan areas, while mid-sized and secondary locations lag behind.
The sector faces challenges linked to skills development and training pathways, particularly given the rapid technological changes and structural shifts such as an ageing population. There is a low uptake of apprenticeships and structured training programs within the creative industries, partly due to the freelance/project-based nature of much work in this sector and barriers for small firms in delivering courses.
Innovation is identified as an important driver for productivity gains and growth within creative sectors but is unevenly spread and faces structural and systemic challenges to wider adoption and spillover effects.
To address these issues, the report offers several policy recommendations for mid-sized and secondary locations:
1. Targeted investment and support should be focused on mid-sized and secondary locations to decentralize growth away from London and increase regional inclusivity. 2. Develop more flexible and portable training and apprenticeship models that align with the sector’s project-based and freelance work character, reducing barriers especially for small and medium enterprises. 3. Enhance industry engagement with skills systems through partnerships and the creation of industry-led forums, such as the Creative Sector Skills Forum, to ensure training meets employer needs. 4. Encourage collaboration between government and industry to co-develop policies that address spatial disparities in growth and facilitate innovation diffusion. 5. Support the expansion of work-based learning opportunities and career pathways outside major urban centers, leveraging devolved governance where applicable to tailor strategies to local contexts. 6. Increase funding and resources targeted specifically at skills, export growth, and investment as part of broader sector plans to create an enabling environment for sustainable medium and long-term growth.
These insights and recommendations aim to ensure that the creative industries continue to thrive inclusively across the UK landscape, by addressing regional disparities, enhancing workforce skills, and fostering innovation and collaboration between government and sector stakeholders.
The report also recommends considering the lessons from the 2008 recession around the importance of a UK-wide recovery plan for the creative industries, which should be considered in the sector's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The report can be found on the websites of the authors, Ben Gardiner and Professor Peter Sunley. It is important to note that the responsibility for the views and interpretations expressed in the report lies with the authors, not PEC or its partner organizations. The report has been peer-reviewed prior to publication, in keeping with normal academic practice.
Since the recession, London's growth has proved particularly resilient, and creative industries employment has become more strongly concentrated in the Capital. Employment growth has been relatively fast in a relatively small number of regional cities such as Leicester, Bristol, Bath, Greater Manchester, and the Leeds city region. Many agglomerations of creative industries are found in the Home Counties and 'motorway corridors' from London to South West, West, and North East.
The report concludes by suggesting that a key goal for place-based creative industry policy should be to support creative industries in mid-sized and secondary locations, and that a UK-wide recovery plan for the creative industries is crucial in the sector's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The report was published on 16th June 2020.
- The report, published by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC), highlights that data from 1991 to 2018 shows growth trends of the creative industry employment across Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in England, offering evidence into the sector's development over three decades.
- The creative industries, though contributing significantly to the UK economy and employment, have faced challenges in skills development and training pathways due to the rapid technological changes and structural shifts, with a low uptake of apprenticeships and structured training programs within the sector.
- To boost productivity gains and growth within the creative sectors, innovation is identified as an essential driver, but its uneven distribution and structural challenges hinder wider adoption and spillover effects.
- To address these issues, the report proposes policy recommendations that involve data-and-cloud-computing technology, targeted investment, flexible training models, industry engagement, enhanced collaboration, and expanding work-based learning opportunities in mid-sized and secondary locations across the UK.
- The report also emphasizes the need for a UK-wide recovery plan for the creative industries, Learnings from the 2008 recession should be considered in the sector's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the ultimate goal of ensuring inclusivity and fostering growth across the UK landscape.
