Wired Sussex Helps Secure Funding for New Creative Industries Programme in our Region
Sussex is one of a small number of areas in England set to benefit from the Government’s Create Growth programme. Wired Sussex, bidding as a part of a South East consortium, has been successful in securing funding from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to deliver the Create Growth programme across the region.
The programme will provide support for businesses in the creative industries with high-growth potential to scale, including through developing the knowledge and skills they need to access private sector investment. Additional grant funding will be available nationally to creative businesses in the region.
Wired Sussex, and its innovation hub, The FuseBox, is part of the successful Create Growth South East consortium alongside other sector leads Screen South and Creative UK. The partnership also includes Brighton & Hove City Council, East Sussex County Council, Kent County Council, Essex County Council, Medway Council, Thurrock Council and West Sussex County Council.
The consortium has been awarded funding of £1.275m over three years to deliver business support as part of the programme. An additional £7m has been allocated by DCMS to Innovate UK, to deliver finance to small creative businesses as part of the same programme.
Businesses that will be eligible for support under the programme in the South East will come from one of the following sub-sectors:
- Film, TV, video, radio and photography
- Design and designer fashion
- Music, performing and visual arts
- IT, software and computer services
In addition to directly supporting creative industry businesses, the programme will work to develop the network of investors in the region and build their understanding of the benefits of investing in this sector. This will increase the ability of creative businesses in the South East to access private investment in the future.
Director of Wired Sussex and the FuseBox, Phil Jones said:
This is a great initiative from DCMS and UKRI. It has stimulated the formation of a South East-wide partnership that works together in a way I haven’t experienced before. Like the creative sector itself, it fizzes with ideas and energy.
Wired Sussex was particularly keen to support this programme because we see real value in enabling creative businesses to use emerging technologies to generate and distribute content in new ways.
We already know that our region is home to many world-class creative companies, and through this programme we will help more of them become world-beating too.
The programme will launch in January 2023 and run until March 2025.
If you would like to register your interest please contact: info@createsoutheast.org.uk and we will get back to you when the programme launches.