The UK's Creative Future

Across time our creative output has given the UK weight globally with our constant appearance in films, cutting edge design, architecture, and music that continually push the boundaries. The UK is the 3^rd largest exporter of creative goods amongst developed economies. With its creative footprint the UK has consistently been in the global public’s consciousness, spreading our brand and way of life across the world; and back home that translates into tangible economic benefits (~£90 billion a year).

But how long can that last? Emerging economies are home to 6 billion people, and have accounted for 80% of global growth since 2008. China has lifted 600 million people out of poverty in the last 30 years and now has a bustling middle class the entire size of the US population. With emerging markets becoming increasingly competitive, is our golden creative age coming to an end?

With China looking up to 30 years ahead, we can’t afford to be short-sighted; allowing our industries to flourish in this environment demands a re-evaluation of how we support our economy in the longer term.

Hunger for our creative content is increasing across the world. We need to ensure we grab the opportunity of collaborating with these new growth markets, and carefully carve trade partnerships that ensure our continued economic growth. This is of vital more importance for the UK now that our relationship with Europe is being fundamentally challenged.

Our success is driven by the diversity and talents of our population – the UK has attracted some incredible talent from across the globe. It will be important to continue valuing their input to our industry.

As well as this, being able to secure IP is the cornerstone of protecting our talent’s income; but we should proceed with caution since it can just as well restrict our creative output. Copyright was created to protect the creator and has slipped over time to protect the institutions that own their content. A careful re-balancing of intellectual property could boost our ability to create and put the income back into the creator’s hands.