Partnerships to turbo-charge the West Midlands creative content sector
19 January 2024
Create Central is pleased to announce two new partnerships to start the year that will drive forward our missions around future media and sustainability
Ed Shedd, Chair of Create Central said, "I’m delighted to be able to announce these two new partnerships to drive our missions forward. Embracing the power of partnership and collaboration is not just a strategic choice; it's the catalyst for innovation and the cornerstone of sustainable business growth. Together, we amplify our strengths, navigate challenges and forge new pathways towards a future defined by success for the West Midlands creative content sector."
In Spring 2023, Create Central launched its Shape the Future roadmap, which set out the region’s missions to turbo-charge the West Midlands creative content and gaming sector, with a focus on business growth, diversity across the workforce and promoting the West Midlands as a global creative hub.
Create Central has delivered major wins since its launch in 2019 to support and build the production ecosystem in the region through landmark partnerships with the BBC, new commissions from Channel 4, Steven Knight’s Digbeth Loc. Studios, The Bond and many more. Our next phase sees a renewed focus on developing the creative business ecosystem that will ensure West Midlands companies and talent have opportunities to build a career and business here in the West Midlands.
Create Central is partnering with TechWM, a not-for-profit community initiative (CIC) representing the fastest-growing tech cluster in the UK, working with over 50 national and regional partners across the ecosystem, including the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), techUK and the UK Tech Cluster Group (UKTCG).
The West Midlands Combined Authority has commissioned both TechWM and Create Central, along with six other high-growth industries, to deliver the ambitious West Midlands Plan for Growth, which will see the West Midlands becoming the fastest-growing economy outside of London by 2030.
With a shared vision, Create Central and TechWM will work together to support the region to become the UK’s leading future-facing cluster, driven by the convergence of technology and creativity.
Martin Ward, Technology Partner at global growth and M&A advisory firm, Waypoint Partners – and recently appointed Tech Commissioner for the West Midlands, said, “Digital technology is now pervasive in almost every industry sector, driving up productivity, competitiveness and customer value. Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence are also set to fundamentally transform some sectors and this is certainly true for the creative industry. We have a fantastic opportunity in the West Midlands to capitalise on this shift to position ourselves at the leading edge of technology-enabled creative services. This alliance between Create Central and TechWM is a milestone step on this journey and I’m personally really looking forward to working with Create Central to build the region’s creative economy.”
Create Central is on a quest to make the West Midlands the UK’s heart of sustainable content creation. Teaming up with Sustainability West Midlands (SWM), we aim to embed the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals into our missions and business plan and tap into regional expertise from sustainability-focused technology, product and service companies as well as universities to revolutionise the way media production and gaming companies, as well as freelancers, produce content.
We will look at challenging the status quo when it comes to production processes and techniques as well as infrastructure to ensure that the region’s creative businesses are both developing and implementing best practice with the focus on breaking down silos and adopting a regenerative, circular economy perspective. Working with the sector’s supply chain as well as producers, Create Central will deliver a compelling proposition that extends to embracing climate storytelling across formats, channels, platforms and emerging future media.
Anna Bright, SWM CEO, said “We want to emphasise the importance of technology and communication infrastructure in steering the creative sector towards sustainability. Together with Create Central, we have an ambition to transform the West Midlands into the go-to destination for crafting content with a conscience.”