Is the Creative Industry in the UK getting the Support it deserves from the UK GOVERNMENT?

This is a question very close to my heart, as Dischromatics established Dischro Creative last year in order to exploit the undoubted opportunities available to any forward thinking enterprise with the experience, knowledge and wherewithal available. Dischro Creative offers filming forevents, showreels, testimonials etc., graphic design, web design, and app creation. 

I read an article recently in the Director magazine that absolutely hit a chord with me as it mirrored my own thoughts and experiences. The article was based on the views of ex Dragon Doug Richard who certainly has the credentials and credibility to make anyone sit up and listen. His views are that the UK actually leads the world in this area but the UK government only pay lip service to it without giving credible and tangible support.

He goes on to say that the creative industry generates over £70,000 per minute in this country and accounts for 10% of exports and this is still a relatively young sector with huge potential for growth in this hi-tec area of our economy. Imagine what a significant financial boost from our politicians would do for the future economy, creating huge profits with a significant increase in exports and in high paid employment which would in itself have a positive knock-on effect for the whole economy.

Our own experience of the lack of support from our politicians is commonplace. Here in Wales. the Welsh Government continually pay lip service to how important the creative industry is to Wales and they have run a series of ‘seminars’ in the country to give the impression that they are being proactive but the truth is that they are offering very little tangible support to the creative sector itself. As far as the WG is concerned size I everything, they very rarely recognise small creative enterprises but this is where the most significant opportunities arise. 

The past is a painful reminder of how our politicians in Wales fail to recognise the future lies with indigenous small to medium enterprises. It’s always about headlines with politician. The failed bid to establish LG in Newport is a poignant reminder of their incompetence, paying huge subsidies to LG and others for that matter only for us to see them fail and withdraw. I remember at the time, all the Ministers turned out for the photo call when the company moved in but they were not to be seen or heard when they moved out again.

What is needed is a body that includes leaders from a cross section of the Creative Industry, from large and particularly small enterprises together with politicians appointed by the WG who fully understand or who are prepared to learn, to get together to see how, collectively, we can progress in order to expand this valuable area of our economy. Instead of looking for publicity to boost their own egos, we need people who are genuinely interested in making this a success, to have the patience and understanding to learn what is needed, to offer support in whatever area is required ensuring there is cooperation with our universities so that courses can be adapted to suit what is required by our young and vibrant creative sector to the benefit of us all!