Research by Dr Josh Siepel, Senior Lecturer at the Science Policy Research Unit and a researcher at the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC), has provided important insights into how the creative industries can bounce back from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Siepel recently spoke at a panel discussion organised by the Creative Industries Council (CIC) about the role of the creative industries in the UK’s economic recovery. Other speakers included Caroline Dinenage MP, the Minister of State for Digital and Culture; and Tim Davie CBE, the Director General of the BBC.

In his remarks, Dr Siepel explained how creative clusters and microclusters may hold the key to the UK’s post-Covid economic recovery.

Clustering refers to a phenomenon where groups of businesses in one industry benefit from being near to each other; for instance, the potteries of Stoke-on-Trent or the film production companies of Cardiff. Companies within creative clusters rely on their proximity to other creative firms for access to skills, knowledge and customers.

A report from PEC, and co-authored by Siepel and researchers from the Business School, has examined the phenomenon of clustering at the micro level, considering how businesses cluster together in certain streets or neighbourhoods. The report identifies 709 such creative microclusters in the UK, many of which are located outside the established large creative clusters. This is far more than was previously estimated.

“This level of creative activity is much larger and broader than we expected – we were expecting 37, mostly in large cities – but actually, there are hundreds all over the UK, from Wales, to Kent, to the Orkneys,” said Siepel at the CIC event.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted these networks, and creative businesses are having to adapt to a new emphasis on the digital rather than the local. Since proximity with other businesses is so beneficial to creative firms, policies which repair and support local clusters and micro-clusters will be vital in ensuring their survival and growth.

Speaking at a recent OECD event about support ecosystems for creative businesses post-pandemic, Dr Siepel argued that it was extremely important to ‘recreate those local ecosystems that have been damaged by Covid…and figure out what “the local” means in a world where everyone has gotten used to being in Zoom calls’.

Locality is key, but so too is ensuring policies benefit the whole of the UK, not just the big cities and high-profile creative clusters.

In this case, Dr Siepel stresses that it is important to ensure that history does not repeat itself. The impact of the financial crisis in the early 2010s meant that creative clusters became increasingly concentrated around London and the South East, and creative companies in other parts of the UK lost out.

‘There’s an opportunity we have as part of the UK’s levelling up agenda to support creative industries much more broadly across the whole of the UK’ said Siepel.

Dr Siepel continues to share his research insights to support different creative industries and clusters. For example, he recently spoke at the Association of Independent Music annual conference about how the government could better support growth and innovation in the independent music sector, and at the Westminster Media Forum policy conference about policy priorities for levelling up localities outside established clusters.

Prior to the COVID-19 lockdowns, the creative sector was growing at four times the rate of the UK economy as a whole and experienced strong growth across all parts of the UK. With sufficient support, the creative industries have the potential to quickly bounce back and be at the forefront of the UK’s economic recovery.