Taskforce begins work on creative industries growth plan in 2025

A taskforce, led by Baroness Shriti Vadera and Sir Peter Bazalgette, to help deliver a plan to grow the creative industries has begun working towards publication of a new strategy in 2025.

The group includes representatives from industry organisations, investors, academics, local government and other bodies. It aims to deliver an ambitious and targeted Creative Industries Sector Plan, which will be published later this year alongside the Government's Industrial Strategy.

The creative industries have been identified as a key growth-driving sector in the Government’s Industrial Strategy, and will form a central part of the government’s mission to grow the economy.

The taskforce will help to ensure that the Creative Industries Sector Plan is designed in partnership with business, devolved governments, regions, experts and other stakeholders. It is jointly led by Sir Peter Bazalgette, the incumbent CIC industry co-chair who will serve in this role until the summer of 2025, and his successor, Baroness Vadera. The group will work closely with the wider Creative Industries Council (CIC), from which several of its members are drawn.

The group held its first meeting on December 18th when it discussed how to work with the Government to inform the development of the Sector Plan, with a focus on policy issues identified in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper, including crowding in investment, access to opportunity, people and skills, and supporting innovation.

The members of the Creative Industries Taskforce are:

Baroness Shriti Vadera (co-chair), chair, Royal Shakespeare Company, and future CIC co-chair
Sir Peter Bazalgette (co-chair), current CIC co-chair
Francesca Hegyi OBE, CEO, Edinburgh International Festival
Prof Hasan Bakhshi MBE, director, Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre
Caroline Norbury OBE, CEO, Creative UK
Stephen Page, executive chair, Faber
Caroline Rush CBE, CEO, British Fashion Council
Prof Christopher Smith, CEO, AHRC
Tom Adeyoola, co-founder, Extend Ventures, and non-executive board member, Channel 4
Lynn Barlow, academic and TV producer
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire
Philippa Childs, deputy general secretary, Bectu Sector of Prospect
Saul Klein OBE, investor and member of the Council of Science and Tech
Sir William Sargent, chair and co-founder, Framestore
Prof Jonathan Haskel CBE, professor of economics, Imperial Business School
Syima Aslam MBE, founder and CEO, Bradford Literature Festival

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