Date: Thu 25th June, 2009
Venue:
Number of Guests Attended: 100
How can you nurture the region’s creative industries? That was the question on everyone’s lips at the Insider Creative Industries Forum, held in Bath in late June.
Nearly a hundred creatives and professionals attended the panel event for a lively hour of debate from our panel of experts.
Until recently, the strength of this diverse sector went relatively unnoticed by those charged with driving economic development, but these days a city like Bath can see the real benefits of nurturing a creative cluster that brings in high-value jobs and adds an attractive cultural dimension to the city’s story.
John Betty, strategic director for development and major projects at Bath & North East Somerset Council, said it was time all councils in the region recognised the value in the creative industries and also understood that the sector’s development has to be a long-term vision.
“Although there is a real will to make a difference, some of the change we aspire to bring about will take time,” he said.
So what changes are needed to bring about further growth of the sector? Mike Bennett, chief executive of support organisation Bristol Media, said that getting the right creative hubs for innovation and collaboration to flourish was essential.
“Paintworks in Bristol is for me the perfect model for how this works: there was nothing there not that long ago but in just a few years developers created an aspirational space that now has a long list of businesses waiting to move in,” he said.
The issue of university support was also on the agenda. Pradeep Sharma, head of school of art and design at Bath Spa University, said it was trying to get as close to industry as it could do and said the university took the fostering of motivation and ambition among its students seriously. However, Bennett said there was still a massive skills gap in the industry.
On the subject of the recession, Malcolm Brinkworth, chief executive of Touch Productions and a Creative Bath steering group member, said the region hadn’t fared too badly, but the challenge now was to professionalise. Graeme Fearon, partner and head of the IP team at Thring Townsend Lee & Pembertons, agreed and said the right support would help some of the region’s businesses to take things to the next level.
