A Creative Future for Dorset? by Dr Tom Fleming, Director, Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy

"In the global marketplace, knowledge, skills and creativity are needed above all to give the UK a competitive edge. These are distinctive assets of a knowledge driven economy" (Department of Trade and Industry).

The last ten years has seen the rise of the Creative Industries in the UK economy. The Creative Industries refer to activities for which the production of new creative products, content and intellectual property is central. This includes design, music, media, software, visual and performing arts, fashion and publishing. It is a large sector, contributing around 8% of Gross Domestic Product. It is over a third of the size of the overall UK manufacturing sector. It is also a rapidly expanding sector, growing at around 8% per annum, while the UK manufacturing sector contributes 50% less to the economy than it did in the 1950s.

The Creative Industries are important to add value to other parts of the economy and locations. Good design, for example, increases competitiveness and a commitment to working with creative practitioners, leading to innovative concepts and products. A strong Creative Industries sector can help to reposition a town or city as an innovative, progressive place, attracting knowledge economy workers and cultural tourism. Think Bilbao, Manchester, Brighton and Antwerp: each has renewed its economy and repositioned its destination appeal through an increase in Creative Industries activity.

In Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and East Dorset, the Creative Industries are an increasingly significant sector. From design and media firms at Ferndown Business Park to crafts at Walford Mill in Wimborne; from larger creative companies such as outdoor clothing specialists Animal in Poole, to micro practitioners such as artists and designers, the Creative Industries are on the rise. Not only are creative graduates from Bournemouth University and the Arts Institute choosing to establish businesses in the area, the high quality of life offered by the area provides people with the 'space for creativity'. Improvements in technology and stronger sector networks allow creative people to base themselves in the area whilst retaining links to markets and trading relationships in London, the South East and beyond.

The Creative Industries in Dorset are, however, a fragile collection of small and emergent firms. Local markets are underdeveloped, recruitment of appropriately skilled individuals is challenging, networks could be stronger, and specialist support is required. As such the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) with a wider partnership of Arts Council England - South West, Culture South West and Business Link, have introduced four supportive projects for the sector:

The recently-launched Creative Enterprise Gateway service provides a telephone helpline, offering basic business information and advice; plus referral to further, more specialist business support and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities. The Skills Development Programme aims to overcome known barriers to the growth of the creative industries (non-media), by creating routes to relevant training and CPD for businesses, to address identified skills gaps and build the capacity of trainers and business support professionals. The Intelligence Gathering Programme addresses gaps in sector intelligence such as barriers to sector growth, economic impact, and scrutiny of where investment and policy support could make a difference. The Infrastructure Development Programme enables the work of the Creative Industries Strategy South West Steering Group and the four sub-sector forums to continue and develop responses to emerging sector intelligence and address the skills agenda through the establishment of a regional branch of the proposed Creative and Cultural Industries Sector Skills Council.

Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy - a strategy and research company specialising in the Creative Economy. www.tfconsultancy.co.uk