Dundee hit by talent drain of city’s creative graduates

● Call for help to breath life into ‘redundant’ spaces

Dundee’s ambitions of becoming a leading hub for culture and the creative industries are being held back by a talent drain, a lack of major employers and a shortage of space for artists and start-up companies to work from.

A new report published ahead of Dundee bidding to become a European Capital of Culture has found that the city’s creative economy is in a “fragile” state.

It warns of the need to address a shortage of suitable space for individuals and companies to make, perform, show and sell work and the lack of job opportunities “of meaningful scale if it is to thrive in future.

Significant numbers of students who want to stay in the city after graduating are said to “feel forced into leaving to find opportunities elsewhere and are reluctant leavers.”

The city’s new creative industries strategy, led by the Creative Dundee network, calls for efforts to be stepped up to breathe new life into “redundant spaces” and under-used properties across the city.

It states: “With a large creative student population in the city, a significant challenge is encouraging its students from the local schools, universities and college to have the confidence to base their professional practice in Dundee upon completing their studies. Institutions and students are often disconnected from the local creative sector.

“The research and consultation found that students themselves felt the city lacked sustainable local opportunities of meaningful scale which were attractive enough to encourage them to stay and be rooted in Dundee.”

Other recommendations aimed at making Dundee a more attractive city for creative workers include the creation of new world-class “cultural tourism” attractions to follow the opening of the longawaited V&A design museum on the city’s waterfront.

The strategy recommends cultural and creative organisations sign up to become “Living Wage” employers in order to make Dundee and calls for “a city-wide rethink of the infrastructure, support and progression routes from education, through to gaining employment, or starting and growing a creative business.”

Gillian Easson, director of Creative Dundee, said: “This strategyisimportanttoensuring we all work together to ensure our sector underpins our vibrant city and ultimately contributes to creating a healthy and positive place for everyone.”