Creative UK launches advocacy toolkit for the cultural and creative industries at Westminster reception

Today, Thursday 9 July, Creative UK is delighted to welcome members and stakeholders to its inaugural Westminster Summer Reception. During the event, Creative UK will launch a new advocacy toolkit for the cultural and creative industries – outlining clear priorities that any party should consider in its policymaking, to unlock more economic growth within the sector and to ensure its social benefits are felt by communities up and down the country. 

Creative UK is the only network representing all UK creative subsectors and will set the stall for cultural and creative organisations looking to influence policy at the upcoming political party conference season. 

Spanning creative skills and education, investment, protection for IP in the age of AI, regional funding, trade and exports and more – The Case for the Creative Industries: An Advocacy Toolkit highlights key opportunities for future action and reflects on successful policies that have been introduced as part of the Sector Plan and beyond. 

The toolkit is intended to be used during political party conference season and was developed in consultation with Creative UK’s sector-spanning membership. 

Asks include: 

• Adopting a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics) approach to creative education – in order to further strengthen connections between creative and technical disciplines 

• Ensuring UK Government employment initiatives – like the Jobs Guarantee scheme – work closely with creative employers to support young people to access opportunities  

• Accelerating progress on IP-backed lending, and expanding access to finance for the creative industries 

• Maintaining the UK’s gold-standard copyright framework, underpinned by robust transparency requirements and a licensing-first approach to ensure fair remuneration for creators and rightsholders 

• Build on the success of the Creative Industries Clusters Programme and devolved investment by strengthening the infrastructure that supports creative growth across the UK 

• Providing UK creative businesses with the support they need to capitalise on international trade opportunities with major markets such as the EU, US, China and India, as well as fast-growing entertainment and media economies worldwide. 

Creative UK’s Westminster Summer Reception is being delivered with the support of headline sponsor, Spotlight and supporting sponsor, ERA, the digital entertainment and retail association. ERA’s new Manifesto for Cultural High Streets highlights the cultural and social value of record shops to the UK’s hard-pressed town centres. 

Commenting on the toolkit’s launch, Emily Cloke, Chief Executive of Creative UK said:  

“The cultural and creative industries are an extraordinary growth driver for the UK – representing £146bn in GVA (Gross Value Added) and 2.4 million jobs. This toolkit is designed to highlight to policymakers from any political party what interventions could drive even more growth. 

“It has been developed in consultation with our fantastic membership, and is a follow on from Creative UK’s manifesto, first published in 2024. We intend to use this toolkit during party conference season and beyond – to keep pushing for more investment in this fantastic sector.”

The toolkit was officially launched today at Creative UK’s Westminster Summer Reception, taking place in the Churchill Room. The reception represented a key convening moment for the sector ahead of summer recess – and an opportunity to cement policy priorities ahead of conference season.” 

Matt Hood, Spotlight Managing Director said:  

“Spotlight is proud to support the launch of Creative UK’s advocacy toolkit for the creative industries. It is vital that the sector works collaboratively and speaks with a clear, collective voice about the opportunities to sustain our world-class industry. Spotlight’s actor members may be the most visible face of that success, but they represent the strength, depth and breadth of the UK’s incredible talent pool. We welcome any initiative that seeks to ensure the continued growth of our sector, and sustainable, supportive careers for the professionals within it.” 

Kim Bayley, ERA CEO, commented: 

“While the UK’s creative industries are worldbeaters in creative expression, too often they lag behind other sectors in expressing their wider economic and social value to the UK. We warmly welcome the launch of Creative UK’s Advocacy Toolkit and are pleased to make our own contribution to the cause by highlighting the often-under looked contribution of cultural businesses like record shops to the UK’s High Streets.”