Creative Conversations
At Fortus we’re fortunate to work with some truly exciting, innovative and, of course, creative business owners and entrepreneurs. ...
12 October 2020
The Creative Industries has been one of the most understated stars of the UK economy over recent years, outperforming a whole host of other sectors year-on-year. The impact of COVID-19 however has been seismic. Recent calls from the Government are now seemingly questioning the validity of companies and roles, despite many of these having been so successful and contributed strongly before the onset of the pandemic.
The Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre (PEC), led by innovation foundation Nesta, provides independent research and authoritative recommendations across the sector. The most recent study by PEC explored business model disruption and innovation during COVID-19 in the creative content industries.
Most evidently, the inability to attract footfall or audience, something which is generally considered an essential part of the business model, was highlighted as one of the single-biggest issues identified in the industry. It’s a little-known fact that many venues only break even when audiences reach in excess of 60% of capacity. With an ageing population in the UK, many of whom enjoy the arts, there’s credible concern that 1,000 odd people aged 60+ being gathered in one room at the same time won’t be possible for a while. Taking this one step further, would this same audience be retained even if digital channels became available?
Consulting with industry champions drawn from across the UK working in the Creative Industries, the desire’s to inform academic research leading to better policies for the sector.
Primarily three questions were posed to the virtual industry panel;
Working closely with clients across the creative industries, we’ve heard about the trials and also the successes, which we naturally celebrate. The Fortus Creative Industries advisory team recently produced the Beyond Covid planning tool for business owners operating in the sector which has been well received and acts as a strong pointer for how we can support those businesses seeking to understand how best to manage their people or property, along with a whole host of other aspects.
The Innovation Tax Relief team at Fortus can also support in driving education and understanding of R&D tax credits or Creative Tax Reliefs available (of which there are 8 schemes within the sector to take advantage of).
We’re here, alongside creative businesses to help them through this most challenging of times to make the best of the situation allowing them to flourish once more in the not too distant future and more importantly, allowing us to enjoy the creative content we rely on them to produce.
To read the full PEC report, please click here.
At Fortus we’re fortunate to work with some truly exciting, innovative and, of course, creative business owners and entrepreneurs. ...
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