Global Trade Obstacles and the Efficiency of Aid Strategies for the British Creative Sectors
In the face of challenging times, the UK's creative industries are grappling with the impact of Covid-19 and the conclusion of the EU transition period. A series of discussions and analyses, including a groundbreaking study from 2014 to 2019, have shed light on the issues at hand and proposed solutions to support exports.
The findings highlight the need for comprehensive trade policies and measures to dismantle barriers for the UK's creative industries. Broadening the scope of trade support organizations and fostering collaboration with diverse entities will be crucial to aid firms facing multifaceted challenges.
One of the key areas of focus is improving access to finance for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which form a large part of creative exports. The UK government and agencies like UK Export Finance (UKEF) are working on export credit products tailored for SMEs to help them overcome financial barriers to exporting, a challenge heightened post-Brexit and during Covid-19 recovery.
Another crucial aspect is enhancing advocacy and support for freelancers in the creative industries. The creation of a government Freelance Champion role aims to investigate systemic barriers via structured inquiries, informed by new data models co-developed with the Office for National Statistics to better understand freelance work patterns. This role hopes to generate targeted policy recommendations to improve conditions for creative freelancers, many of whom are exporters or support export activities.
Leveraging intellectual property (IP) rights is another strategy to provide independent income streams and financial resilience for visual artists and creatives. Campaigns like the Smart Fund could generate substantial funds annually for the sector, helping secure livelihoods and incentivizing export-oriented creative production.
Encouraging global partnerships and tackling growth barriers post-Brexit is another essential aspect. Simplifying trade and export processes can help maintain and grow the UK's position as a major global art market and creative exporter.
Aligning industrial strategy efforts with evidence-based targeting, including creative and cultural industries as part of broader industrial policy aiming to increase productivity and export capacity for sectors with market failures and externalities, is also recommended.
The insights include prevalence of disruption, uncertainty, impact of Brexit, leading export challenges, sectoral disparities, firm resilience, and policy support. Collaborative efforts between the UK and the EU are essential, with the sharing of lessons and best practices.
The UK's creative industries have a global reach, with British arts, technology, and design being internationally recognized. The analysis offers seven insights into the turbulence faced by the UK's creative industries. The authors of the discussion papers include Prof Jun Du, Dr Oleksandr Shepotylo, and Dr Meng Song.
The UK's Fashion and Textiles industry contributed almost £20 billion to the UK economy in 2020. This report looks at the role the creative industries can play for the Levelling Up agenda, focusing on building sustainable regional music industry clusters. The authors explore the use of cooperatives as a creative industry business model.
Together, these recommendations emphasize financial support, data-informed policymaking, IP protection, freelancer advocacy, and international collaboration as pillars for boosting creative industry exports under Covid-19 and Brexit challenges. The use of ONS Business Insights and Conditions Surveys data underpins this approach by providing granular evidence on the barriers faced and areas of opportunity within the sector.
- The UK's creative industries, which include arts, technology, and design, are facing challenges due to Covid-19 and the conclusion of the EU transition period.
- A series of discussions and analyses, including a groundbreaking study from 2014 to 2019, have shed light on the issues and proposed solutions, focusing on comprehensive trade policies and measures.
- Broadening the scope of trade support organizations and fostering collaboration will be crucial to aid firms facing multifaceted challenges, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the creative industries.
- The UK government and agencies like UK Export Finance (UKEF) are working on export credit products tailored for SMEs to help them overcome financial barriers to exporting.
- Another crucial aspect is enhancing advocacy and support for freelancers in the creative industries, with the creation of a government Freelance Champion role to generate targeted policy recommendations.
- Leveraging intellectual property (IP) rights is another strategy to provide independent income streams and financial resilience for visual artists and creatives.
- Encouraging global partnerships and tackling growth barriers post-Brexit is essential, with the simplification of trade and export processes to maintain the UK's position as a major global art market and creative exporter.
- Aligning industrial strategy efforts with evidence-based targeting, including creative and cultural industries, is recommended to increase productivity and export capacity for sectors with market failures and externalities.
