Annex A: NESTA's Support for
the Creative Industries
In the last year NESTA has invested over £1
million in creative industries in the UK, helping to launch over
50 new businesses. NESTA's work in the creative industries revolves
around four key areas:
Education
— As part of its Creative Pioneer Programme,
NESTA has created the Academy, an 11 month programme of training
events. It starts with a four-week residential programme in two
stages—the first looks at business idea exploration and
the second at business building. This is followed by up to £35,000
of investment for the businesses with the strongest potential.
The emphasis of the programme is not only on helping individual
creative businesses grow, but also on influencing the image and
profile of the sector as a progressive and sustainable driver
of the UK economy. In the first year of the Academy, NESTA invested
£365,000 in 13 companies, and within a year the companies
had gone on to make £453,000.
— NESTA has worked with the Glasgow
School of Art, The Lighthouse and Scottish Institute for Enterprise
on "Insight Out", offering business training and start-up
funds for recent creative industries graduates. This model is
now being rolled out across the UK's nations and regions, with
six up and running by 2007. Insight Out Learning is developing
online materials for undergraduate programmes that will be rolled
out across Scotland this year, followed by the rest of the UK.
— NESTA is funding a number of action
research projects to learn more about how to inculcate entrepreneurial
thinking into children and young people.
— With the Art, Design and Media Subject
Centre of the Higher Education Academy, and a wide range of other
partners, NESTA is undertaking research to explore how higher
education institutions can enhance the entrepreneurial potential
of their art, design and media students.
Business and professional development
— For participants of the Academy,
NESTA runs a professional development programme that responds
to the particular needs of early stage creative businesses.
— NESTA has created "small/medium/large"
in conjunction with Pembridge Partners and the Design Business
Association. In 2005 the programme took eight companies and fast-tracked
them through a high growth period with the aim of maintaining
their creativity and meeting other objectives such as an increase
in turnover and stability. This project is being run again nationally
this year.
— NESTA is helping to create networking
opportunities between creative entrepreneurs, investors, sector
specialists and business support agencies. A Creative Entrepreneurs
Club was developed in Scotland with The Lighthouse, Scottish Enterprise
and the Scottish Executive and others have since been launched
in the West Midlands, Northern Ireland and Wales.
— "Pocket Shorts", developed
in partnership with Short Circuits, is an opportunity for new
filmmakers to experiment with mobile technologies. It offers eight
individuals from the North West, North East and Yorkshire/Humberside
regions up to £2,000 in production funding, a film industry
mentor and support in distributing their new works. The winning
shorts—either a one-minute film or four 15-second ones—for
mobile phones and PDAs will also be showcased at key UK film festivals.
The project was also rolled out in Scotland this year in partnership
with Scottish Screen and Scottish Enterprise Tayside.
— "IdeaSmart" is a two year
pilot project (2004-06) that provides early stage grant funding
(up to £15k) and bespoke support to creative industry start-up
companies in Scotland. It is run through the Lighthouse, working
alongside a voluntary industry Panel and is funded by NESTA, Scottish
Arts Council, Scottish Screen and Scottish Executive. The project
collaborates and signposts to other relevant agencies like Princes
Scottish Youth Business Trust, the Innovators Counselling Advisory
Service for Scotland, Business Gateways, Cultural Enterprise Office,
IdeasFactory and the Lighthouse Creative Entrepreneurs Club, to
offer a cost-effective rounded delivery for clients' benefit.
Finance
— The Invention and Innovation programme
aims to turn ground-breaking ideas into innovative products, services
or techniques with commercial or social potential. It also prepares
promising projects for further investment elsewhere. The programme
consciously tailors its services to each and every business and
provides mentoring and business management support. Through the
programme NESTA invests in new creative businesses that have commercial
and social potential. NESTA is the UK's biggest single source
of early-stage seed funding, enabling the development of projects
that might otherwise not get off the ground.
Creating a CI Platform
— NESTA co-chairs a Parliamentary forum
on the Creative Industries, bringing together leading practitioners
in the field with senior decision makers on policies and developments
affecting the creative sector.
— NESTA held UK-wide seminar discussions
with practitioners and policy-makers around the research into
investment in the creative industries in 2005, and will do the
same with its new research in 2006.
Research
NESTA has published research on barriers to
finance facing new and young creative businesses, identifying
a mismatch of expectations between investors and creative entrepreneurs.
— "Creating Value: How the UK
can invest in new creative businesses". This research reveals
the lack of private investment in the sector and the "patchwork"
nature of business support and development services. It shows
how the answer lies in a more coherent "landscape" of
investment and support for new creative businesses, including
a greater focus on the commercial potential of these businesses.
(Published in April 2005.)
— "Creative industries business
growth and development": NESTA's current research, to be
published during the Creative Economy Programme, investigates
business growth in the creative industries.
To find out more about NESTA visit our website:
http://www.nesta.org.uk/
28 February 2006
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