Creative Industries Roundtable: Post-event write-up

Rosario Neyra, PhD student in the Department of Language and Linguistic science at the University of York writes about a creative industries roundtable event held in York on 17 June 2025. 

The event took place as part of the TYPE Creative Industries Policy Research Group in collaboration with the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and brought together key figures from across the UK to discuss how the creative industries can thrive, particularly in devolved areas

Set in The Milner in York, with the York Minster in the background, the event provided a forum for speakers to share examples of success, ongoing challenges and opportunities to build stronger networks. The day concluded with a roundtable discussion, where everyone shared best practices and ideas for the future.

Damian Murphy, Professor of Sound and Music Computing at the University of York and Director of XR Stories, opened the day by highlighting York’s creative achievements. He spoke about the stained glass of St Cuthbert at the Minster and more recent successes such as the filming of House of the Dragon. 

Damian described York as having developed an important role in the creative industries, especially notable given its omission as a recognised cluster in Nesta’s 2016 The Geography of Creativity in the UK report. XR Stories has played a major part in changing perceptions by distributing £3.5 million of investment, creating £27 million in economic value and supporting thousands through training. Damian’s introduction set the tone for a day focused on York and North Yorkshire’s role as a region driving creative growth.

Andy Kerr, Director of Economy for the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, began by highlighting that York is the UK’s first and only UNESCO City of Media Arts. He spoke about the area’s diverse mix of coastal, rural and urban communities. While challenges remain around geography, dispersed populations and transport, Andy emphasised the region’s strengths in museums, performing arts, architecture and screen industries. He also shared details of the Mayoral Investment Fund which will support cluster development, aiming to strengthen existing creative clusters, encourage new ones and bring more projects to an investment-ready stage. This investment shows a clear commitment to supporting the creative industries across the region.

Iqra Choudhry, Policy Engagement Manager at the Creative PEC, outlined how the Centre can support the sector by sharing evidence and insights. She highlighted six priority areas. Skills and talent remain a pressing issue, with low awareness of creative careers, declining creative education provision, hard-to-fill vacancies and challenges freelancers face in upskilling. Iqra noted that the UK has 509 creative microclusters, which have often proved more resilient through and beyond the pandemic compared to larger clusters. However, investment remains concentrated in the South East, leaving other areas at a disadvantage. Infrastructure and hubs play a crucial role, particularly where creative businesses are co-located with cultural institutions or benefit from incubators and accelerators. Research and development also came up repeatedly during the day. Most creative sector R&D is not recognised under the UK definition used for tax relief and funding, despite clear innovation across the sector. Finally, Iqra stressed the importance of trade and partnerships to strengthen international connections.

Graham Hitchen, Co-director of the CoStar Network Foresight Lab, spoke about the Network’s different Labs, including the National Lab, Live Lab, Screen Lab, Realtime Lab and the Insight and Foresight Lab. The Foresight Lab focuses on research into new technologies and their impact and application in film, live performance, and digital entertainment. Graham also discussed the value of identifying policy signals, whether confirmed, strong or weak, and thinking strategically about where to focus advocacy efforts to have the greatest impact.

Rebecca Swarray from Greater Manchester Combined Authority shared insights into developing the sector locally. She emphasised the importance of consulting with stakeholders, including creative businesses, freelancers and universities, and recognising that the sector is highly diverse. While some needs are shared, others are specific to individual sub-sectors. She outlined opportunities for Greater Manchester, such as making better use of creative spaces and engaging with emerging technologies like AI. Rebecca also noted the challenges around skills, funding and access to spaces.

Max May, Director of HEY Creative in Hull and East Yorkshire, closed the presentations by describing the Hull and East Yorkshire Creative Charter. The charter aims to support economic growth through a programme of engaging local businesses to advocate for and support culture and creativity across four key work areas; unite, advocate, grow and include. Max also highlighted the community and health benefits of creative activity and underlined the importance of understanding devolution and the possibilities it can unlock.

The day concluded with roundtable discussions. Participants were encouraged to explore opportunities for devolved authorities, share ideas for addressing persistent challenges and consider potential quick wins. Conversations centred on building skills pipelines and encouraging young people to pursue creative careers, improving access to long-term funding and investment, strengthening infrastructure and hubs, supporting innovation and research, and improving understanding of the scale and nature of the creative economy in the region.

It was a productive and hopeful day: the sense of shared purpose was clear. It was also encouraging to see so many people travel from across the country to show their commitment to strengthening the creative industries in the regions. 

There is much that local authorities, higher education and businesses can achieve together, and this event made a strong case for working in partnership. Initiatives like One Creative North are already showing what this collaborative approach can lead to, setting out an ambitious vision to strengthen the creative industries across the North.

XR Stories’ ongoing activities supporting the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority with the development of a creative sector strategy is another example of the vital role of universities in accelerating innovation and growth.