Earlier this year the Council commissioned BOP Consulting, an international consultancy specialising in culture and the creative economy, to explore the scale and impact of the cultural and creative sector in Warwick District – including Film, TV, Video, Radio and Photography, Museums, Galleries and Libraries, Music, Performing Arts and Visual Arts, Advertising and Marketing, Architecture, Design and Software Design.
BOP Consulting partnered with Warwick Business School to carry out the study and also consulted with the District’s cultural and creative sector via an online survey and workshops.
- Read the full BOP report: ‘Warwick District’s Creative Sector: Analysis of Impact and Strategy for Growth’
- Read the Press Release
More findings from the report
The bigger picture
In 2017 the creative industries contributed £101.5bn to the UK economy, an increase of 53.1% since 2010 (£66.3bn). This is now 5.5% of the total UK economy and creativity is consistently one of the fastest growing sectors in the UK.
The creative industries are expected to deliver close to £130bn GVA by 2025 and approximately one million new jobs could be created by 2030.
Arts Council England have found that for every £1 generated by the arts and culture industry, an additional £1.30 is generated in the wider economy.
Warwick District’s creative sector makes a significant contribution to the local economy. Overall, the creative industries contributed nearly half a billion pounds of Gross Valued Added (GVA) to the economy of Warwick District in 2017.
As well as encouraging investment in the District, the creative sector encourages tourism. Tourism brings over 3.8 million people to the Warwick District each year with a combined spend of over £282.6m.
In the NESTA report, The Geography of Creativity in the UK, Leamington Spa was placed at 17th in a ranking of growing creative clusters across the UK. This placed a town in Warwick District higher than any other creative cluster in the Midlands.
Around 130 of the UK’s best games businesses are based in the West Midlands - notably in and around Leamington Spa. At any one time, there are between 2,000 and 2,500 full time employees in 50+ games companies in and around Leamington, out of a total of 3,000- 3,500 games industry professionals across the West Midlands.
Warwick District’s creative sector supports 12,975 jobs which is considerably larger than its retail, accommodation & food services and manufacturing sectors.
17% of Warwick District’s creative sector workers are freelancers. The District also benefits from an unusually large number of workers in creative occupations outside of the creative industries. 70% of those in creative occupations in the District are not working in the creative industries – a much higher proportion than in Coventry (55%) or Coventry and Warwickshire (58%).
The majority (40%) of respondents to consultation indicated a lack of space is a major barrier to the development of creative businesses in the District, closely followed by a lack of networking opportunities.
In 2018 cultural organisations and practitioners based in Warwick District received a total of £3.4m from public authorities to support their work in the area and beyond.