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World's leading creative businesses come to the UK

DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT News Release (112/08) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 23 October 2008

World leaders from the creative and financial industries will convene in the UK next year to help ensure that our creative industries continue to grow and thrive.

The inaugural Creativity & Business International Network (c&binet) will take place at The Grove in Hertfordshire from 26 - 28 October 2009 and will bring together the people with the power to shape the future of the global creative economy. It will give people from different creative fields, and from commercial and business communities, the opportunity to do business, share ideas and work together to secure enduring success for creative industries around the world.

C&binet has been developed following a commitment in the Government's 'Creative Britain: New Talents for the New Economy' to create an international creative business conference to help maximise the contribution of the creative industries to the wider world economy.

An influential international panel will act as ambassadors to ensure c&binet addresses the issues that face creative businesses, their customers and investors and creates an environment for making successful, profitable partnerships. A group of these ambassadors will meet in Liverpool next month to agree on the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the global creative industries and to set the agenda for the first forum.

Peter Molyneux OBE (MD, Lionhead Studios), Lucian Grainge (Chairman, Universal Music), Tony Orsten (CEO, twofour54), and Charles Chao (President, Sina.com) are already confirmed as ambassadors.

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said:

"Britain has always been the natural home of the creative industries and we aim to cement that by establishing this prestigious international conference, which in time we hope will be the Davos for creative businesses. In the UK, creative industries make a major contribution to the economy, employing over two million people and contributing £60 billion a year. And while the last decade has seen the UK's creative industries grow at twice the rate of the wider economy, there are real pressures both from international competitors and wider economic conditions.

"With businesses around the world feeling the effect of the economic slowdown, the Government needs to focus its efforts to support key growth sectors. This makes our commitment to develop an international conference, bringing together world leaders from both the creative and financial sectors, even more important. C&binet will bring together those people with the power to shape the future of the global creative economy.

"To succeed, and cement the UK's position as the world's creative hub, it's vital that the agenda is set by those global decision makers who can identify the key challenges and opportunities facing all creative businesses. That's why I am pleased that such influential ambassadors have committed to work with us to develop c&binet into one of the most relevant and significant events on the business calendar."

Charles Chao of Sina.com said:

"Creativity drives the global economy. Without people thinking of new and innovative ways of doing business, new models for bringing creativity to life and making it a commercial reality, we wouldn't have witnessed the growth and prosperity recently experienced in countries such as China. The internet has been one of the most important facilitators of this. C&binet will help ensure that the exciting future the world's creative industries are building, is realized."

Peter Molyneux of Lionhead Studios said:

"The creative industries share a passion for innovation - a willingness to challenge convention and find new ways of doing things. This shared passion unites us and means that together we can achieve great things. But it also means that we must address the challenges we face collectively.

"At first it might be difficult to see how our expertise in games development has any relevance to architects or fashion designers, but when you dig a little deeper it's clear that we face similar issues, such as intellectual property rights and skills shortages. C&binet will help us address these issues together, guaranteeing the growth and development of this increasingly important economic sector."

C&binet is being managed as a not-for-profit initiative. DCMS is the initiator and founding funder.

Meanwhile, progress has been made across all the other commitments set out in Creative Britain. From unlocking and developing talent to putting creative businesses at the heart of the economy, the strategy is designed to develop the UK's position as the world's creative hub.

New creative apprenticeship schemes specialising in live events and promotions, the music business, technical theatre skills, costume and wardrobe, running cultural venues and community arts have been established by Creative and Cultural Skills, the sector skills council. Already, 160 employers have signed up to these schemes, which are a significant step towards the ambition of creating 5000 new creative apprenticeships each year by 2013.

Encouraging young people to fulfil their creative ambitions has been at the heart of much of the work undertaken. From the launch of the 'Find Your Talent' scheme through to other projects, such as a pilot scheme by the University of Arts which is bringing together a range of schools into an 'Academic Hub' providing intensive support for young people to gain creative skills.

A range of organisations and other government departments are also leading on many aspects of the work to enhance the growth of Britain's creative economy. UK Trade and Investment are leading work to enhance the international position of the UK's creative industries, and the UK Intellectual Property Office are promoting better understanding of intellectual property through a major exhibition at the Science Museum next year.

Eight months after the launch of 'Creative Britain' the success of the UK's creative sector continues to thrive as well as helping to inspire future generations of creative talent.

Notes to editors

1. High quality images of the c&binet branding are available from DCMS press office.

2. Future news on c&binet will be available at http://www.cabinetforum.org

3. "Creative Britain: New Talents For The New Economy" is available at http://www.culture.gov.uk.

4. A full update on the 26 commitments in "Creative Britain" follows:

1. We will establish the 'Find Your Talent' programme- piloting five hours of culture a week for children and young people. Secretaries of State in DCMS and DCSF have now launched the Find Your Talent Programme. 10 Pathfinders have been selected, to test in different ways how best to deliver a five hour offer of culture to children and young people in their areas. This will include opportunities to take part in a wide range of high quality cultural experiences across all art forms as both spectators and participants. The intention is that the pathfinders will collect the evidence and develop the argument for national roll out so that this offer becomes universal. Delivery Plans in each of the pathfinders have now been signed off and work in the pathfinders is underway.

2. We will create a talent pathways scheme to support and inspire young people from all backgrounds to pursue careers in the creative sectors. DCMS is looking at several examples of pathways including Channel 4's work related learning strategy, with a view to identifying any gaps.

3. The DCMS will work with its NDPBs, and through them its sectors, to agree actions to promote a more diverse workforce. The department is currently developing a diversity strategy to work across all of its sectors.

4. We will conduct research to ensure that academia is equipping students with the skills they need to make the most effective contribution they can to the creative economy. DCMS has awarded a contract to the Arts Design Media Higher Education Academy in Brighton to carry out this research. They will report in summer 2009.

5. We will encourage employers and skills providers to set up ground-breaking new innovative places of learning.

We are in discussions with a number of organisations into setting up a number of academies and places of learning. Since the launch of Creative Britain, the National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural skills has gained approval for a £15 million project that will help to significantly reduce skills gaps and shortages in backstage and off-stage skills UK-wide.

6. We will explore the impact of a brand new 'Academic Hub' supporting collaboration between schools, further and higher education to provide end-to-end development of creative skills for people aged 14 through to 25.

The University of the Arts London has launched a pilot scheme bringing together four secondary schools and two further education colleges in Newham into an academic hub. This will provide intensive support for progression in creative skills for young people aged 14-25.

7. Apprenticeships will be established across the creative industries for up to 5,000 people a year by 2013.

This year Creative and Cultural Skills, the skills sector council, have established a framework called Creative Apprenticeships with six specialist pathways in:

1. Live Events & Promotion

2. Music Business (Recording Industry)

3. Technical Theatre (Rigging, Lighting & Sound)

4. Costume & Wardrobe

5. Cultural Venue Operations

6. Community Arts

They aim to create 1000 places in the next few years and have enlisted 160 employers to date including Tate Liverpool, the Royal Opera House, Royal Shakespeare Company, and Theatre Royal Newcastle among others.

8. The Technology Strategy Board will provide £10 million to inspire new collaborative research and development ideas for the creative industries. Grants of over £7million have been offered to 13 larger collaborative projects involving a range of companies from across the creative industries sector. The Technology Strategy Board is also funding 11 smaller SME led projects and has offered grants of up to £15,000 to 75 SME and micro companies to help them develop innovative ideas for new products and services.

9. NESTA will launch a £3 million Creative Innovators Growth Programme. Since March 2008 four Innovators Growth sector pilots have been launched. 1. Digital Innovation in Film is a £500,000 project in partnership with the UK Film Council. It teams film distribution businesses up with technical partners to explore new revenue streams via digital distribution of film.

2. Raise the Game is a set of pilot initiatives designed for games SMEs who have the capacity for high growth. The pilot is being run in partnership with TIGA, the UK trade association for games developers. The value of Raise the Game is approximately £450,000.

3. NESTA has partnered with PACT to develop contract templates for TV producers and digital media producers to work collaboratively on convergent content. The budget for this project is £20,000.

4. In December, NESTA launches Creative Business Catalyst, in partnership with HEFCE and five UK business schools. This programme teams high-growth creative businesses with MBA students to deliver a growth plan for the businesses. The budget for this project is currently £350,000. All projects are listed at: http://www.nesta.org.uk/creative-economy

10. The Technology Strategy Board will launch a Knowledge Transfer Network for the Creative industries.

The Technology Strategy Board announced a new consortium in May to manage the knowledge transfer network, comprising of the University of the Arts London, Imperial College London, The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and TIGA. The Knowledge Transfer Network will begin work this autumn.

The Technology Strategy Board also announced a new £5m collaborative R&D programme to open in March 09 - themed "Accessing and Commercialising Content in a Digitally Networked Age" specifically designed to help digital content creators and rightsholders realise and maximise the commercial return on their intellectual property.

11. The Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills will commission research to better quantify the economic benefits of the creative industries, with special attention to the value added by innovation in those industries.

A research project to look at how value is generated in creative industries and how they might spread value to other parts of the economy is now underway. DIUS expect to publish a report on the research findings in spring 2009.

12. Arts Council England will help deliver the objectives of the Creative Economy Programme.

Arts Council England have been drafting a delivery plan identifying key areas of work that will help deliver the objectives of the Creative Economy Programme.

These key areas of work include:

-Support for the 'Find Your Talent' pathfinders, and the commitment of £6 million over the next three years towards a universal cultural offer from 2011;

-Turning talent into jobs through the work in the learning and skills continuum and partnership working with our Regularly Funded Organisations;

-Supporting creative clusters through their commitment to the regional creative economy strategic frameworks pilots and the development of Mixed Media Centres.

13. The Regional Development Agencies will establish a network of regional beacons for the creative industries in the South West, South East, North West, North East and West Midlands.

The first meeting between the Regional Development Agencies was held in May in Birmingham where two additional regions joined the network, Yorkshire and the East of England. Further meetings are scheduled. Seven out of the nine government regions are involved. An interim report will be issued by Christmas with results of specific projects published in the spring.

14. We will encourage bids for Enterprise Capital Funds from the creative industries and expect to see increased investment flows as a result. DCMS has received interest from a number of bodies wanting to pursue bids for funding and we are working with them through the process.

15. We will consult on legislation that would require internet service providers and rights holders to co-operate in taking action on illegal file sharing - with a view to implementing legislation by April 2009. In July, the Department for Business launched a consultation paper on tackling the unlawful downloading of copyrighted material. The paper focuses on the Government's preferred, industry-led approach based on giving a statutory footing to a memorandum of understanding signed by the six major Internet Service Providers, four major record labels and six major film studios.The agreement involves the signatories working together to create a self-regulated environment where users are educated about illegal file sharing, legal downloads are made more easily available, alleged infringers are notified and repeat offences are investigated. The consultation closes at the end of October.

16. UK-IPO will put into action a plan on IP enforcement. UK-IPO has been taking forward action in a number of areas. Recent progress includes:

- Consulting on possible changes to the existing penalties for online infringement of copyright (which closes on 31 October)

- Working in partnership with the Crown Prosecution Service to provide a portfolio of IP training material for the new Global Prosecutors' E-Crime Network (GPEN).

We are exploring options for the new National Centre of Excellence for tackling IP crime and good progress is being made. Plans for a pilot with London Trading Standards aimed at removing fake goods from London's streets are also progressing well.

17. We will promote better understanding of the value and importance of intellectual property.

DCMS has given its support to the Young Enterprise Quick Start Music programme which gives children the chance to create and run their own mini-music enterprise in school. The Department is also looking at other ways it can encourage the understanding of intellectual property within schools.

UKIPO has agreed to sponsor a major exhibition at the Science Museum next year aimed at promoting a better understanding of IP and its role in generating value from creativity. The exhibition will also aim to encourage a positive respect for IP.

18. The Regional Development Agencies will pilot regional creative economy strategic frameworks in two regions, the North West and South West. Both RDAs are making progress on their pilot schemes which started in May this year, and we are also aware that a number of other regions are interested in getting involved in their own pilots.

19. The Government will review what the barriers to investment in next generation broadband may be. The review conducted by Lehman Brothers was published on 12 September this year.

20. Through the Local Government Association, and with the RDAs, we will develop a 'menu for local infrastructure.' DCMS is funding this toolkit which will help local authorities to support creative industries in their area. The Menu will be published by the LGA next spring.

21. The UK Film Council, in association with Arts Council England and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, will help develop 'mixed media centres.'

We outlined six venues that would be used as indicative case studies. They are Broadway, Nottingham; Cornerhouse, Manchester; Foundation for Art and Creative Technology, Liverpool; Sheffield Media and Exhibition Centre, Sheffield; Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; and Watershed, Bristol. Arts Council England and the UK Film Council are preparing plans for a digital network of mixed media centres. This will build on and enhance the work that the venues are already carrying out and will maximise the opportunities afforded by new digital technologies.

22. In line with the recommendations of the Live Music Forum, we will encourage the protection of live music venues, building on the example set by the work of the Mayor of London.

DCMS is considering how we continue to build on the work already done by the Mayor's office to protect live music venues.

23. UK Trade and Investment will lead a five-year strategy to enhance the international competitive position of the UK's creative industries. A new film showcasing 50 years of Creative Britain was shown at an event to celebrate Creative Day during the Olympics in Beijing. A version of the film will be made available towards the end of the year for embassies, events and industry people.

Lord Digby Jones hosted a Creative Industries and Motorsport reception in July, and UKTI continues its work to promote the international competitive position of the UK's creative industries.

24. We will initiate the launch of the World Creative Business Conference. DCMS has confirmed today the launch of the Creativity and Business International Network (c&binet) with the first event to be held next year on 26-28 October 2009 with a smaller event to be held in Liverpool this November.

25. We will work with the Mayor of London and other partners to champion London's many creative festivals - and forge better, mutually beneficial links with important festivals around the country.

DCMS has had several discussions with the Mayor's office and continues to work with them to champion London's creative festivals. We are working with the British Fashion Council to explore a range of options to find a suitable permanent location for London Fashion Week. The BFI are working hard to deliver a robust business case on their proposals to build a new film centre on London's Southbank and the plans to create an up-to-date archive facility in Warwickshire. A decision by Ministers on both of these projects is expected in the near future.

26. We will put in place the right structures to ensure that the Creative Economy Programme keeps pace with developments on the ground. DCMS has set up Governance structures to ensure the CEP is kept up-to-date with any changes, and the department is also setting up a new Creative Economy Programme Website. DCMS is also developing a research framework to support the gathering of evidence in the creative industries.

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