West Yorkshire receives £25 million to bolster its world-class creative industries

Creative businesses and freelancers in West Yorkshire are in line for major government support to help them innovate, up-skill and attract private investment.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority is one of six UK regions with strengths in creative industries to have been awarded £25 million as part of the Government’s Creative Places Growth Fund.

This funding will grow the already booming creative industries of West Yorkshire - including film and TV, music, video games, fashion, textiles and createch. It is home to Wakefield’s Production Park, a technologically pioneering studio, and Game Republic Ltd, who operate two leading games networks across the North of England.

The fund was announced in the Creative Industries Sector Plan in June, as part of the Industrial Strategy, where the Government shared their intention to invest £150 million in the creative industries of six regions outside of London - Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, North East, West of England, West Midlands and West Yorkshire.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has today revealed that the fund will be split equally across these regions to drive growth, innovation and investment. The fund will empower local mayors to support creative professionals, businesses and young people in their communities with access to finance, mentoring and networking opportunities to help them connect with investors and skills programmes.

Lisa Nandy, Culture Secretary, said:

“Creativity has no postcode - whether it’s a musician in Leeds, a filmmaker in Bradford, or a video games developer in Huddersfield.

“We know that it is not one size fits all. That’s why we are committed to growing our creative industries in every corner of the nation as part of our Creative Industries Sector Plan, and hope that this devolved funding will be just what these regions need to make their creative industries the best that they can be.”

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said:

“For too long, our creative industries have been disproportionately concentrated in London and the South East, fuelled by talent from the rest of the country.

“Now, this government is working with mayors to reset the dial, giving creatives across the country a fair chance to flourish, without them needing to leave to achieve. 

“I’m proud of West Yorkshire for leading the way to this landmark investment, from our multimillion-pound You Can Make It Here programme offering a vital leg-up to freelancers, to our screen and script diversity programme bringing fresh and underrepresented talent into the sector.

“By harnessing this new funding collectively as One Creative North, we will continue to retain, grow and champion the talent that is all around us, building a brighter Britain that works for all.”

This is a new approach to supporting creative industries by devolving funding to high-growth potential Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs). The £25 million allocations will be awarded to the six MSAs over three years, starting in the 2026 financial year, for them to distribute according to local barriers and opportunities.

This is part of a whole range of support announced in the Creative Industries Sector Plan supporting creative growth across the whole of the UK, including providing business support for local creative businesses, regional skills initiatives, innovation capacity building programmes, or by providing sector specific support such as TV and film production funds.

Separately, today the Government is announcing that more than 100 micro, small, and medium-sized creative enterprises across twelve regions, including in West Yorkshire, are receiving a share of £8 million in grants through the Create Growth Programme.

The grants, ranging from £20,000 to £140,000, are aimed at helping these high-growth businesses commercialise their ideas and access resources, knowledge and private investment to scale up - turning today’s growing businesses into tomorrow’s success stories.

Grants will help firms like Translating Nature, an art and design studio in Margate, and King Bee, a creative animation studio in Hertfordshire, to develop innovative new products, attract private investment and access one-to-one mentoring with industry experts.

The businesses in sectors such as gaming, music and marketing are based in Greater Manchester; Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire; North East of England; West of England; Devon and Cornwall; South East; Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Greater Lincolnshire; Nottingham and Nottinghamshire; Hull and East Yorkshire; West Midlands; West Yorkshire; and Hertfordshire.