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The Vice-Chancellor of Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ Leicester (Æß²ÊÖ±²¥) has said that the growth of the UK creative industry is being held back by the financial challenges facing the university sector.

Speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, Professor Katie Normington said that major new arts research was often jointly-funded by government and universities.

 

But with many universities having to make cuts amid financial pressures caused by frozen tuition fees and drops in international student applications, money for such research was simply unavailable.

At an event hosted by Creative UK, Professor Normington said: “A lot of major new research is funded through bodies like the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

“They provide 80 per cent of the costs and universities provide the remaining 20 per cent. But the financial situation in higher education right now means there are fewer institutions able to provide that and, as a result, creative innovation is being harmed.”

The event, which saw Professor Normington talking with Andrew Chitty, Professor of Creativity and Innovation at Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ and Chair, CoSTAR Network, and Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, was a discussion on why more investment is needed in creative research and development.

The panel also discussed how regional creative clusters can drive socio-economic change for the UK.

Professor Normington said: “In Leicester, the creative industries are a vital part of the economy. We have more than 30,000 people working in the sector and around 1,400 businesses. This is about two-thirds more than national data suggests.

“The challenge for a place like Leicester is in scaling this up, because a lot of those businesses are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). There is a lack of knowledge and support to scale these organisations up.

“At Æß²ÊÖ±²¥ we have a Barclays Eagle Lab which gives support to start-ups and help with growth but we really need something on a bigger scale to make the most of the creative talent we have in the region.”

The importance of the UK’s creative sector was echoed by the Prime Minister in his speech at te conference.

Sir Keir Starmer said the UK is a nation “known for our creativity and artistic skill.”

He said: “Everyone deserves the chance to be touched by art, everyone deserves access to moments that light up their lives, and every child deserves the chance to study the creative subjects that widen their horizons, provide skills employers do value, and prepares them for the future, the jobs and the world that they will inherit.”