Intro
Creative Lincoln Shire Project (CLSP) is a research and development programme to support the growth of the creative economy across the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership area. The project is led by the Centre, together with local and regional partners, with a view to auditing and mapping the regional creative economy. This will enable the partners to understand the potential for growth, the benefits growth would bring to the area and any barriers or opportunities. This research will then be used to inform future plans and activities to boost the creative economy.
About
The cultural and creative industries are very important to our economic future. They are worth over £100 billion to the UK economy and employ two million people. They have grown twice as fast as other sectors since 2011 and now account for more than 5 per cent of the UK economy’s GVA (a measure of the increase in the value of the economy due to the production of goods and services, linked to GDP).
Lincolnshire has an emergent, but underdeveloped, cultural and creative industries. The County has not significantly benefitted from the very high growth of the creative industries nationally and internationally and lacks the both the creative hubs and the benefits they bring that can be seen elsewhere in the UK. The quality of place, access to talent (via the University of Lincoln and wider education sector), relatively low cost of living, and strong local culture, all point to the potential of establishing a high growth and high value creative economy:
The Cultural and Creative Industries in Lincolnshire presents a nascent and fast-growing sector of the economy. There are over 3,000 creative, cultural and digital businesses in the area and the sectors employ over 10,000 people locally. Although these are significant figures, the Tech Nation 2018 report shows all the Greater Lincolnshire Local Economic Partnership area is below the national average national density of digital and tech businesses.
The report shows that the cultural and creative industries sector in Lincolnshire can be described as one of significant potential and recommends two potential interventions:
- A new creative hub for Lincoln – hubs of workspace and activity space which convene talent and enable new types of commercial and R&D activity to co-locate and grow.
- A programme of creative industries business support, skills development and network activity
Further development and consultation is planned for the near future, in order to move forward with this important work for the local cultural and creative industries.
Vision
The Creative Lincoln Shire Project aims to support inclusive growth within the cultural and creative industries in the region, to connect the diverse geography of the County, and to help other sectors to innovate. Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy and We Made That were commissioned by the Centre and partners to undertake research and produce detailed plans to guide them in acting to stimulate growth in the Lincolnshire creative economy.
The three key tasks for the consultancy were:
- To provide a baseline position on the cultural and creative industries in Lincolnshire and assess opportunities for growth
- To look at opportunities for intervention and identify key priorities for sector investment and support
- To prepare detailed plans for action which can be carried out by the Centre and its partners
This Project comes at a time of continued growth for the cultural and creative industries, which have out-performed the rest of the economy for close to two decades. The sector – which includes a range of activities from visual arts to software building, film and TV to gaming – does not only continue to grow, but it continues to innovate.
By supporting the cultural and creative industries in Greater Lincolnshire to flourish, the partners want to capitalise on the potential of the region and:
- establish a high growth and high value creative economy which will benefit local people and small businesses
- ensure the region is competing in an important market sector
- retain talent
- bring additional benefits for other local industries such as tourism, tech and food
Project Team
Sukhy Johal MBE
Sukhy is the founding Director of the Centre. He is an all-round champion of the arts and creative thinking, and is passionate about the difference they make to lives and places.
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