Today, 1 February 2022, the Government has announced £50 million of funding for creative businesses across the UK.
The funding includes £8 million for start-up gaming businesses to grow their operations, through the UK Games Fund. The UK Games Fund is based in Dundee and aims to ensure video games firms’ workforces have the skills they need to thrive in the sector. This includes increased support for early-stage businesses and entrepreneurial young developers.
The investment also includes £21 million for the UK film industry through a three-year UK Global Screen Fund. The Creative Scale-Up Programme, which provides finance and business support to firms in the creative industries, will also be expanded with more than £18 million of new funding. This investment will support innovative creative businesses outside of London as part of the Government’s levelling up plans.
The Government also acknowledged the substantial and sustained contribution the creative industries continue to make to economic growth and job creation across the UK growing, on average, nearly twice the rate of the wider economy. The Government says today’s announcement is a recognition of the creative sector’s great work.
Today’s announcement will form part of the Government’s Creative Industries Sector Vision, which will be published in the summer and will set out the approach for supporting the sector in the future.