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Nice idea, or nice little earner? 26 May 2011

Nice idea, or nice little earner? How to invest intelligently in the creative industries
26-27 May 2011
Badminton House, Gloucestershire

Nice idea, or nice little earner? speakers
Back from left: Stephen Rockman (Merism Capital), Andrew Mullinger (Funding Circle), Will Hutton (The Work Foundation), Neil Hewitt (Triodos), David Scholtz (Ariadne Capital)
Front from left: Ellen O’Hara (Cockpit Arts), Caroline Norbury (South West Screen), John Newbigin (Creative England), David Prais (Pembridge Partners)

Leading figures from the finance and investment world met with digital media entrepreneurs and public policy planners at Badminton House in Gloucestershire on 26-27 May, to discuss new ways of boosting growth and generating jobs in the creative industries.  Designed to contribute to the government’s widely promoted ‘growth agenda’, the invitation-only event highlighted pioneering investment models in the South West while drawing on the experience of investors and creative entrepreneurs from across Britain. 

‘Nice idea, or nice little earner? How to invest intelligently in the creative industries’ was hosted by South West Screen, and saw 80 business angels, investors, entrepreneurs and public officials met to identify obstacles to growth in the creative industries, and to establish working groups tasked with driving forward practical solutions that can assist government, public support agencies and private investors in re-energising the UK economy.

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The consensus of the day was that genuinely creative businesses often need other forms of support in addition to financial investment.  While access to finance is crucial, “more” is needed, including bridges that link the stages in a company’s growth from start-up to mature business, the cultivation of key mentoring relationships and access to a range of different investment models.   More importance needs to be given to finding a “common language” for creative entrepreneurs and investors. While creative businesses often complain that investors’ fail to “understand” their business models, many financiers feel that creatives are equally culpable and need a more sophisticated understanding of the perspectives and concerns  of the lender/investor. 

Lively discussion threw up a number of observations throughout the day, including the following: 

  • CI’s are thriving and entrepreneurial talent is abundant. There is a real opportunity to improve connectivity between businesses and investors;
  • Difficulty in obtaining early stage investment is a widespread problem, yet the problem is rarely due to lack of access to finance alone. Often, relationship building is just as important, if not more so;
  • A good network of private sector mentors is needed to guide companies when they receive public sector investment;
  • Better connectivity of public and private expertise need to be developed outside of London;
  • There is an inaccurate perception that the CI’s are less focused than other sectors and less serious about commercialism;
  • Creative companies must move away from a dependency culture of reliance on grants, and move towards making better use of limited funds available;
  • The UK has a cultural problem of not thinking ‘big’ enough compared to US counterparts;
  • It is difficult to define ‘creative industries’, and it’s clear that one size cannot fit all;
  • The challenge is to find a way of ‘pump-priming’ the CI ecosystem whilst ensuring businesses  remain independent and forward thinking in a time when public funds are scarce; 
  • The sector would benefit from a comprehensive creative industries directory, to signpost new businesses to a full range of private and public investment opportunities;
  • Investors should signpost unsuccessful companies towards ‘investment ready’ advice;
  • Education improved from an earlier stage, in school and University curriculums. Entrepreneurship needs to go hand in hand with practical skills development.

The conference was followed by a half day discussion on 27 May with 25 key representatives from companies including Ariadne Capital, Pembridge Partners, Catalyst Venture Partners, Crowd Cube, Department for Business Innovation and Skills, NESTA, Creative England, RSA’s South West Screen, EM Media, Northern Film and Media and Screen WM, SWAIN, Arts Council England and the Creative Industries iNet.

Working groups were established to develop solutions that could be taken forward by public and private sector and government, in three key areas:

  1. Putting in place a system of structured and expert pre-investment guidance to help businesses become ‘investment ready’ and understand where to seek finance.
  2. Building strong bridges between businesses and investors, matchmaking proposals to suitable sources of finance.
  3. Developing an infrastructure of post-investment mentoring and guidance to ensure sustainability, legacy and growth.

Nice idea, or nice little earner? was presented by South West Screen and supported by the Creative Industries iNet, the South West Regional Development Agency and Arts Council England.

 

Nice idea, or nice little earner?