Welcome to Lead On – the newsletter from Clore Leadership, which seeks to explore, stimulate and share perspectives on the issues currently impacting the leadership of culture.
It’s uncanny just how much the rhythm of the school year resides in muscles that know it’s July. The moment for pause, threaded through our learning in those formative years, now pleads to ignore adult work-life patterns.
Alas, the work continues…
Our sectors feature high on the agenda this month with the government launch of the Creative Industries Sector Plan and a raft of ambitious priorities to build on ‘a vibrant ecosystem of talent, infrastructure and ideas’ (Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy MP) and see creative sectors fully recognised as an engine for growth across the UK. Much of the plan is focused on business investment opportunities – to increase public and private investment in R&D; for place-based strategies through 12 creative clusters; broadening access to debt and equity finance though the British Business Bank; and research and innovation funding through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
With the backdrop of the sector plan being the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, the emphasis on the ‘industries’ part of our sectors – Screen/TV, Createch and Video Games has been noticed. There is recognition of music, the art market and theatre, though many continue to advocate for more overt recognition and public investment in the core cultural and heritage sectors, performing and visual arts, acknowledging the economic and societal spillover effects such support engenders.
The focus on skills is much welcomed, from a refreshed curriculum that readies young people for work in the creative industries; Skills Passports evidencing the skills gained across different employments; to the championing of a high quality workforce and increases in productivity, resilience and diversity. And notably, for a sector underpinned by SMEs and freelancers, the DCMS appointment of a Creative Freelance Champion brings these essential perspectives into the mix.
It’s a positive outcome for the sector bodies that have campaigned hard and collectively to gain government attention on culture. But we know government resources are constrained and there is inevitable concern about the limited funding to achieve the goals in the Sector Plan… Advocacy remains important. And united voices carry farthest afield.
Add your voice to the collective and optimise its impact. Our sectors benefit when we join forces for change.
Hilary Carty, Executive Director, Clore Leadership
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