The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
UK creative czar calls for millions for Games Fund
Bazalgette review recognises gaming cluster and calls for more cash to be released to city-based digital fund
A major review of Britain’s creative industries has called for £23.7 million of new funding to be made available to extend the work of the Dundee-based UK Games Fund.
Sir Peter Bazalgette – whose day job is as chairman of ITV – was tasked by the UK Government to make recommendations on how best to underpin future economic growth within the creative sector.
The review found the creative industries had generated 300,000 new jobs between 2011 and 2015 and Sir Peter suggested there was the potential for another one million by 2030 if the correct growth environment is put in place.
He also suggested the creative industries could collectively be worth £128.4 billion to the UK economy by 2025, up from a current value of around £90bn.
The review looked at all aspects of the creative industries from television and music production to the video games sector.
The Dundee/Abertay gaming hub is the only Scottish cluster specifically mentioned within the report’s creative case studies.
It states there were two main drivers of Dundee’s development as a games industry hub.
They were the emergence in the 1990s of video games pioneers such as Dave Jones and Chris van der Kuyl, who were creating new video games IP (intellectual property) in Dundee, and the fact the fledgling sector was supported by targeted public funding and “highly responsive” higher education institutions.
The review notes Abertay University as the world’s first university to offer a games design degree course and found Dundee has the highest concentration of games activity of any city in the UK.
It estimates that within two square miles of the city centre there are around 40 games companies operating, with between 350 and 400 staff directly employed.
That core is bolstered by around 2,000 games students who are at various stages of their learning journey within the city.
In his report, Sir Peter’s key recommendation is that ongoing support for the creative industries should be based on the City Deal model, supported by a £500m Creative Clusters Fund.
He is also calling for greater investment in innovation, improvements in the frameworks surrounding IP, a new strategy to attract young people into the sector and the establishment of a new International Trade Board specifically designed to promote the industry.
Further, Sir Peter said he wanted to see the Government work to ensure the UK was the most highly skilled nation globally for the production of new content in the fields of virtual, augmented and mixed reality.
“In every scenario the creative industries are set to be of central importance to the UK’s future success,” Sir Peter said.
“We have two great assets: the English language and our creativity, but the skills and business models of this sector are of increasing importance.
“My report recommends simple ways of maximising the potential of this crucial sector which I’d like to see become part of the Government’s developing industrial strategy.
“I urge government to ensure the final strategy is based on a fundamental understanding of what these industries need to thrive.”
The City Quay-based UK Games Fund said if Sir Peter’s recommendation was carried through by government, the cash would support its operations for five years.
It may also allow for the progression of some games with a purely cultural purpose and help to establish a co-investment fund that will help games companies build to scale.
“We’re delighted to be recognised in this independent report and hope that government will act on the recommendations,” UK Games Fund chief executive Paul Durrant said.
“If supported it will help us to keep Dundee at the centre of the UK’s games funding ecosystem.
“There are also significant opportunities for Dundee to lever the creative industries part of the Tay Cities Deal bid through the proposals for a Creative Cluster Fund.
“All of the key stakeholders in Dundee will need to mobilise behind this opportunity if it happens.”