Alan Bishop
Chief Executive, Creative Industries Federation
For the UK’s economy to innovate and grow, we need to prepare and train our future creative workforce. However, there are barriers that stand in our way, including a simple lack of public awareness of the nature and range of creative careers available and how to pursue them.
Creative industries are fundamental to the economy
Our world-leading creative industries, the fastest growing sector in the UK, contribute £91.8bn GVA (gross value added) to our economy – more than the automotive, life sciences, aerospace, oil and gas industries combined.
The creative industry contributes more to our economy than the automotive, life sciences, aerospace, oil and gas industries combined.
One in eleven people are working in the creative industries and the number of creative occupations is growing at double the rate of overall employment.
Put simply – our creative industries are absolutely fundamental to the health of our economy as a whole.
But our sector is facing severe skills shortages, particularly in areas that require a combination of technical and creative skills such as video games and architecture. With increasing automation and easy access to new technologies, the demand for creative skills will grow and grow.
Launching the Creative Careers Campaign
Next year we will launch our Creative Careers Campaign, which will work with businesses, entrepreneurs and schools to ensure that young people, parents, carers, and teachers have easy access to the materials, advice and guidance needed to pursue a creative career.
It will reach more than 600,000 11-16 year olds across the UK and will open doors to ensure that the widest possible range of talented young people are considering creative careers.
The vitality of our sector depends on it, but so too do the futures of the young people who have such an incredibly rich array of creative opportunities ahead of them.