West secures £25 million to bolster world-class creative industries

Creative businesses and freelancers in the West of England are in line for major government support to help them innovate, up-skill and attract private investment.

The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority is one of six UK regions with strengths in creative industries to have been awarded £25 million as part of the Government’s Creative Places Growth Fund. 

This funding will grow the already booming creative industries of the West of England, including film and TV, music and createch. The UK’s third largest production hub, the West of England is a global centre for natural history film making and a film tourism hotspot. The new arena at the Brabazon site also presents a major opportunity to elevate the region’s music sector.

The landmark allocation comes just days after the West of England’s new Growth Strategy. Named the sector as one of its five key growth areas for the next ten years. Since 2015, almost 18,500 jobs have been created in the creative industries in the West – the most of any English region, including London. The West’s new Growth Strategy targets 28% growth across its overall economy in the coming decade, a third more than the one before.

The fund was announced in the Creative Industries Sector Plan in June, as part of the Industrial Strategy, where the Government shared their intention to invest £150 million in the creative industries of six regions outside of London – Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, North East, West of England, West Midlands and West Yorkshire. 

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has today revealed that the fund will be split equally across these regions to drive growth, innovation and investment. The fund will empower regional Mayors to support creative professionals, businesses and young people in their communities with access to finance, mentoring and networking opportunities to help them connect with investors and skills programmes.

Lisa Nandy, Culture Secretary, said:

“Creativity has no postcode – whether it’s a musician in Bristol, a filmmaker in Bath, or a video games developer in South Gloucestershire.

“We know that it is not one size fits all. That’s why we are committed to growing our creative industries in every corner of the nation as part of our Creative Industries Sector Plan, and hope that this devolved funding will be just what these regions need to make their creative industries the best that they can be.”

Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, said:

“Creativity is at the heart of the West’s identity and our economy, from Oscar-winning animators to our world-famous festivals and so much more. With this £25 million investment from government, we can help businesses grow and create more opportunities for local people.

“Last week, we published our new regional Growth Strategy. I told everyone that the West is the best place not just to invest and spend money, but also the best place to spend time – and our cultural offer is a big part of why. Today, this £25 million is a major vote of confidence in our vision for a brighter future in this new chapter for the West of England.”

This is a new approach to supporting creative industries by devolving funding to high-growth potential Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs). The £25 million allocations will be awarded to the six MSAs over three years, starting in the 2026 financial year, for them to distribute according to local barriers and opportunities. This is part of a whole range of support announced in the Creative Industries Sector Plan supporting creative growth across the whole of the UK, including providing business support for local creative businesses, regional skills initiatives, innovation capacity building programmes, or by providing sector-specific support such as TV and film production funds.

Separately, today the Government is announcing that more than 100 micro, small, and medium-sized creative enterprises across twelve regions, including the West of England and Cornwall, are receiving a share of £8 million in grants through the Create Growth Programme.

The grants, ranging from £20,000 to £140,000, are aimed at helping these high-growth businesses commercialise their ideas and access resources, knowledge and private investment to scale up – turning today’s growing businesses into tomorrow’s success stories.

The businesses in sectors such as gaming, music and marketing are based in Greater Manchester; Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire; North East of England; West of England; Devon and Cornwall; South East; Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Greater Lincolnshire; Nottingham and Nottinghamshire; Hull and East Yorkshire; West Midlands; West Yorkshire; and Hertfordshire.