creative and media - the manchester college · the diversity of the creative and media sector, and...

Creative and media

Sector Profiles Sector Profiles Sector Profiles Sector Profiles Sector Profiles Sector Profiles Sector Profiles Sector Profiles Sector

Creative and media

3

Introduction to the sector

The creative and media sector is one in which the UK has long been a major global player. This is especially true of audiovisual industries in general and broadcast radio and television in particular, for which Manchester is the most important centre outside of London and the metropolitan area. The sector is diverse, and its skills needs are covered by two Sector Skills Councils (SSCs): Skillset and Creative and Cultural Skills. There used to be a third, Skillfast‑UK, covering textiles, but this had its licence withdrawn in 2009 and, as of 1 April 2010, this part of the sector was incorporated into Skillset. Diverse as it is, it has a common core of individual creativity, skill and talent which has an enormous national and international potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property and the products of design. Each subsector comprises businesses and individuals active in creating, producing, exhibiting and disseminating creative goods and services, both directly to the public and to other businesses.

Advertising is a UK strength; the industry is considered to be a global centre of excellence and ranks second (after the USA) in the number of creative awards it wins. The craft subsector covers a huge range of businesses and skills, from cutting edge avant‑garde work to traditional and ancient crafts that aim to preserve cultural heritage. The UK design industry is considered to be one of the best in the world and covers a broad range of disciplines including industrial design, graphic design, interior design, product design, exhibitions and digital/multimedia. The UK is the third largest music market in the world and is dominated by a small number of large record companies and retail chains. The UK is also a world player in the performing, visual and literary arts.

The textile side of the sector is very diverse and changing in response to changes in the global marketplace. There are three broad areas

■ manufacturing

■ trading

■ services

4Creative and media


This subsector is characterised by the need to adapt to major changes in sector structure: away from high volume, low margin manufacturing to increased value, higher margin, specialist markets.

The diversity of the creative and media sector, and the prevalence of small and medium‑sized enterprises (SMEs) and self‑employed people within it, make it a relatively difficult one with which to engage in a co‑ordinated way, although the two Sector Skills Councils are making some valuable progress in that direction.

A note on dataThis, the fourth, edition of the profile was written in September 2011, with the recession officially long gone, but with the economy still in a very unsure state – one month’s slightly positive news being followed by another’s disappointingly negative. Bank rate was still pegged at a historic low of 0.5% after over two and a half years, and inflation was continuing slowly, but seemingly inexorably, to increase, despite the efforts of the government and the Bank of England. Meanwhile, some other European countries, notably Germany, were experiencing a mini economic boom led by exported manufactured goods. The effect on the UK economy and society of public service spending cuts was being felt in terms of service withdrawal, closures, pay freezes and redundancies.

These factors have a direct impact on the content of this profile. The most important sources of data informing the profile were the original Sector Skills Agreements (SSAs) of Skillset and Creative and Cultural Skills, both of which pre‑date the recession and have within them forecasts that now look extremely optimistic. There followed a lull in research activity, then more recently a resurgence in the shape of major pieces of research by the two SSCs that take into account the effect of the economic turmoil in 2008‑2010 and, to a lesser extent, the likely effects of public spending cuts in 2011. These publications take the form of sector skills assessments covering individual subsectors and covering all subsectors over a geographical area (UK, England, the North of England etc). These, together with the original SSAs, are the main sources of information for this profile. To ensure that you are aware of the provenance and reliability of any projections and predictions (for job growth, for example) the profile will flag up the approximate age of the relevant data.

Additionally, a caveat has to be entered when comparing data from various parts of the sector. The various research documents of the two SSCs often slice up the industry differently and it isn’t always possible to stick to standard sets of occupational groups or subsector, for example, when looking at different data sets.

5Creative and media


Wherever this problem occurs, the profile seeks to portray the key messages rather than try to resolve data into strictly comparable minutiae. Another obstacle is the recent tendency in Skillset’s research documents to switch from a regional division of England which treats the North West as a region in its own right, to one which looks at the North of England as a whole. Having mentioned all that, it is important to stress that this is a sector for which there is an abundance of well‑researched and well‑written information relating to skills and employment. A full list of the sources used for this profile is given at the end, and you are recommended to read the full documents if at all possible.

Finally, the profile takes into account the effects of the economic turmoil since 2008, but does not neglect the long‑term factors that shape the sector and the way in which it interacts with further education. It is important to keep a clear distinction between shorter and longer‑term forces at work in the sector.


Creative and media

6

Section 1 Composition, size and importance of the sector

1.1National level

Composition of the sector

The sector is represented by two SSCs, which often work together, particularly on major research projects

■ Skillset, representing audiovisual industries, publishing, textile design and manufacture, among other subsectors

■ Creative and Cultural Skills, representing advertising, crafts, cultural heritage, the arts and music

For the sake of clarity in presenting data, this profile will use these broad subheadings.

The audiovisual part of the sector comprises businesses involved in

■ broadcast television and radio, including commercials

■ film

■ video (including corporate production)

■ computer games

■ interactive media

■ photo imaging

■ animation

■ facilities (including equipment, studio hire, special effects services and post production)

7Creative and media


The publishing part of the sector comprises businesses involved in

■ book publishing

■ publishing of

– directories and mailing lists

– newspapers

– journals and periodicals

■ newsagency activities

■ other information services activities

The textile part of the sector comprises businesses involved in

■ fellmongery and fur production

■ manufacture of textiles and textile products

■ manufacture of wearing apparel

■ fur dressing and dyeing

■ manufacture of leather and leather products

■ manufacture of man-made fibres

■ orthopaedic and medical textile products

■ floor and wall coverings, including carpet fitting

■ wholesale of textiles, clothing and footwear

■ repair of personal and household goods

■ washing and dry‑cleaning of textile and fur products

■ management activities of holding companies

■ designers, as relevant to the sector

By supply chain, the subsector can be divided into the following

■ materials production and processing, including processing of raw fibres, spinning and weaving, tanning of leather, finishing of textiles, manufacture of knitted and crocheted fabrics, production/processing of man-made fibres, production of non‑wovens

■ product design (textiles, clothing, fashion design)

■ manufacture of made‑up articles, including household textiles, apparel, knitwear, luggage, footwear and leather goods

■ trading in apparel, footwear and textile items, including sourcing, logistics, distribution, branding and marketing

■ servicing of apparel, footwear and textile items, including fitting of carpets, laundries, dry cleaning,

textile rental and clothing and shoe repair

8Creative and media


The creative and cultural part of the sector comprises businesses involved in

■ advertising (including media and marketing communications, sales promotion, sponsorship and others)

■ crafts (including more than 50 specialist trades and occupations)

■ cultural heritage (including museums, archaeology, galleries, historic buildings, visitor centres, collections, gardens, scientific and natural sites and heritage organisations)

■ design (specialist consultancies covering graphic, spatial and domestic products)

■ the performing, visual and literary arts (theatre, musical theatre, dance, opera, puppetry, mime, carnival, street and circus arts and support functions for all of these, novelists, screenwriters, poets, playwrights, painters, sculptors, photographers and new media specialists)

■ music (including composition and music publishing, production, retail and distribution of instruments and equipment, promotional and management/agency activities, live performance, recording, retail and distribution of recordings, education and training)

Changes in the composition of the

sectorThere have been significant changes in audiovisual industries in the last few years. For several years, there was a flow of employment away from terrestrial broadcasting and towards cable and satellite. However, more recently there has been a reduction in both subsectors – between 2006 and 2009 terrestrial broadcasting saw a 24% decrease in employees and cable and satellite a 7% drop. At the same time, numbers in independent TV production increased by 3%. The changes have been greater still in radio – numbers in independent radio production increased by 150% in those three years, while there was a significant drop in broadcast radio. It is important to remember, however, that independent production in television is a much more significant part of the whole than it is in radio.

Every part of the facilities subsector (post production, special effects, studio and equipment hire, outside broadcast, etc) has reduced in size since 2006, and there has been a similar reduction in the total number of people employed in

■ animation

■ commercial and pop promos

■ corporate production


■ computer games

9Creative and media


Skillset urges caution with some of these statistics since, as is often the case, employment categories used by government agencies have changed from census point to census point. Nevertheless, the figures still show that recessionary forces have had a shake‑out effect across the audiovisual industries. Putting that aside, the longer term trend has been and remains one away from monolithic employers and traditional job roles and towards diversification, independent operation and collaborations across media platforms.

There are also important structural changes taking place in the creative and cultural industries. For example music, always a disparate subsector, is changing rapidly with digitisation, internet downloading and global convergence. There has been a very significant fall in the numbers employed in the publishing and reproduction of sound recordings in recent years, caused almost entirely by the availability of music from the internet and the consequent decline in other media.

The textile side of the sector is characterised by the need to adapt to major changes in sector structure: away from high volume, low margin manufacturing and towards increased value, higher margin, specialist markets, including branded and designer fashion, technical textiles and a variety of craft products. Globalisation is particularly relevant to this sector both in terms of production and markets. Consumer tastes change rapidly, and design has to keep up with these. These changes have resulted in an industry that has a higher level of productivity than the national average: GVA per employee is about twice the UK all‑sector average.

Taking the sector as a whole, economic events since 2008 have had an effect on its shape and structure in certain recurrent ways

■ there were significant cost savings and moves towards higher productivity

■ there were fewer commissions received, budget reductions, cancelled contracts, an increase in debt default and lower overall levels of production

■ pay tended to be frozen or decreased, while some companies implemented redundancies

■ the trend in audiovisual media to reduce the directly employed workforce and use freelance and subcontracted work instead had been a reality for over 25 years, but was given further impetus

■ in textiles, the drop in demand had as much, if not more, effect on the imported mass market, causing mass unemployment in places such as China. In the UK there were largely small‑scale closures, takeovers and further diversification into an ever‑expanding set of niche markets

10Creative and media


■ TV advertising revenue took a big hit due to a reduction in overall spending on advertising and an ever increasing number of media competing for that spend

We’ll look at the effect on skills and training later in this profile.

*GVA measures the contribution

to the economy of each

individual producer, industry or

sector in the UK

Creative and cultural industries

Nationally, audiovisual industries still employed almost 188,000 people in the UK in 2009 (the last year for which we have figures), but that total is significantly lower than the 202,000 employed three years earlier. The following table gives an indication of the way in which most subsectors contracted during those years. You will see that it is impossible to compare like with like, due to new classifications coming on stream, but the general trend is clear enough.

Subsector Total employed on census day % change 2009 2006 2009

Television

Terrestrial broadcast 20,800 15,750 ‑24

Cable and satellite 13,700 12,700 ‑7

Independent production 20,950 21,700 +3

Radio

Broadcast radio 22,400 19,900 ‑11

Independent production 400 1,000 +150

Facilities

Post production 7,800 7,450 ‑5

Studio and equipment hire 7,00 5,900 ‑16

Outside broadcast 600 300 ‑50

Size and importance of the sector

Latest figures (taken from the January 2011 Skills Assessment published jointly by Skillset and Creative and Cultural Skills) show that the sector as a whole, excluding crafts and literature, contributed 5.6% of GVA, and that crafts added a further £3.1 billion and literature £2 billion. 8.7% of all UK businesses can be found in this sector.



Subsector Total employed on census day % change 2009 2006 2009

VFX ‑ 6,900 ‑

Special physical effects 1,450 700 ‑52

Manufacture of AV 3,600 2,900 ‑19 equipment

Processing labs 300 300 0

Other services for film 22,500 18,600 -18 and TV

Film

Production (excl freelancers) ‑ 1,300 ‑

Distribution 1,200 1,200 0

Exhibition 16,600 17,650 +6

Animation 4,700 4,300 ‑9

Commercials and pop promos 3,500 4,100 +17

Corporate production 6,350 3,950 ‑38

Interactive media

Online content 29,000 27,550 ‑5

Mobile content 400 800 +100

Offline multimedia 9,700 2,750 -72

Other interactive media ‑ 3,100 ‑

Computer games

Development ‑ 5,500 ‑

Publishing 8,850 1,350 ‑85

Development support ‑ 5,500 ‑

Archives and libraries ‑ 350 ‑

Total 202,000 188,150 ‑

Table 2

Perhaps a more enlightening table is the one that follows, which shows the total number of employees in audiovisual employment (employees and freelancers) broken down into occupational role. The figures are for 2009.



Occupational group Employees Freelancers Total

Strategic management 10,350 1,650 12,000

Creative development 3,300 2,150 5,450

Production 16,050 8,350 24,400

Legal 1,450 250 1,700

Broadcast management 4,600 3,350 7,950

Engineering and transmission 5,400 450 5,850

Editorial, journalism and sport 9,750 1,550 11,300

Content development 1,550 700 2,250

Art and design 11,900 7,050 18,950

Animators 6,150 2,010 8,160

Costume/wardrobe 950 600 1,550

Make‑up and hairdressing 500 500 1,000

Camera/photography 1,150 2,900 4,050

Lighting 1,350 2,150 3,500

Audio/sound/music 3,150 2,650 5,800

Transport 350 150 500

Studio operations 850 200 1,050

Technical development 5,650 850 6,500

Editing 3,250 2,400 5,650

Labs/processing 550 50 600

Manufacture 1,200 150 1,350

Servicing 1,300 150 1,450

Libraries and archives 1,350 100 1,450

Distribution, sales and marketing 5,650 300 5,950

Business management 26,500 2,750 29,250

Retail and exhibition 17,700 0 17,700

Other 450 2,350 2,800

Total 142,350 45,760 188,110

Table 3



The December 2010 edition of the SSA for creative industries in England showed that

■ the UK has the largest cultural economy in the world, relative to GDP

■ in England alone almost 695,000 people work in the sector

■ the English sector contributed £24.2 billion GVA to the UK economy in 2009

■ the industry is populated by small businesses and a few very large organisations – there are 61,620 businesses in England, 93% of which employ fewer than 10 people

Broken down, the employment figures look like this

Subsector Description Number employed in UK

Advertising Creative advertising agencies 21,455

Craft Craft workers using wood or metal, graphic craft, some heritage craft, jewellery 88,250

Cultural heritage Museums, preservation of historical sites and buildings 57,353

Design Communications, graphic, product, interior, exhibition and digital design 193,969

Literature Creative writing, literary translation and editorial, literature development 74,395

Music Recording companies, music publishers, musical instrument and audio equipment production and retail, music education 102,212

Performing arts Theatre, dance, opera, circus and street arts 101,593

Visual arts Fine art, painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, galleries 37,479

Total 676,706

Table 4



We are fortunate enough to have 2010 figures for employment in the apparel, footwear and textiles subsector. This subsector, which is much wider than textile design (the main textile focus in this profile) employed just over 294,000 people in England in that year, comprising the following groupings (using SIC code definitions)

Subsector Number of employees in 2010

Fellmongery 780

Textile manufacturing 80,660

Clothes manufacturing 45,680

Leather manufacturing 13,940

Wallpaper manufacturing 10

Non‑medicaments manufacturing 220

Manmade fibre manufacturing 2,740

Medical equipment manufacturing 1,410

Floor/wall covering 6,560

Agents’ raw materials 3,640

Agents’ textiles/clothing/leather 14,190

Wholesale hides/leather 980

Wholesale textiles 14,430

Wholesale clothing/footwear 44,480

Wholesale other household goods 4,020

Wholesale intermediate products 400

Repair shoes/leather 3,540

Other repairs 8,740

Rent and personal/household goods 2,200

Speciality design 3,480

Wash/dry clean 41,560

Total 294,290

Table 5

In terms of occupations within the whole subsector, when compared with all industries, it employs

■ far more process operatives and people in elementary occupations than average

■ more managers than average

■ about the average for skilled trades and admin/clerical

■ fewer in sales roles than average

■ far fewer in professional and personal service roles than average



The textile design cohort is of particular interest to the college. In passing, one of those figures is of historical interest to us in Manchester: at the height of the Lancashire cotton industry (1912) there were more weavers in Chadderton than there are in the whole of the UK today. This illustrates how textiles has, in our part of the world more than anywhere else, been transformed, quite painfully in many ways, from a mass industry supporting huge numbers of families, into a highly specialised set of niche industries innovating and developing new skills.

Profile of the sector by size of company

The audiovisual part of the sector is characterised by a small number of very large organisations and a very large number of SMEs and individual freelancers.

Freelancers account for almost half the available workforce but the percentage varies greatly across subsectors. The figures are

■ 68% in production of commercials

■ 57% in independent production

■ under 20% in cable and satellite and interactive media

It must also be remembered that not all freelancers will be working at any time; the figure is probably about half of them on average.

In the last 25 years there has been a radical shift in broadcast media organisations towards commissioning and subcontracting

■ many job roles that were previously based on contracts of employment are now the subject of short‑term contracts for services

■ many functions that were previously in‑house are now purchased contractually as and when required



The creative and cultural part of the sector is also characterised by a high incidence of microbusinesses and freelancers. In 2009 the statistics were as follows

The performing, visual and literary arts subsector comprises a wide range of organisations, from large commercial companies to micro groups, which may be dependent on both public and private financial support.

The textile part of the sector (taken as a whole, including manufacturing) is dominated by small and medium‑sized employers. Latest available figures (for 2008) show that 97% of all fashion and textile workplaces employed fewer than 50 people at that time, and were responsible for 59% of employment within the sector.

This varies across the sub‑sector

■ in manufacturing, laundry and dry‑cleaning, employment tends to be concentrated larger firms

■ in the other parts of the sub‑sector – the ones in which the college is most active – the dominance of SMEs is more apparent

Part‑time employment is slightly below the national average, but there are pockets of high incidence (manufacturing, washing and dry‑cleaning). Flexible training options are important for these. There is a high incidence of self employment compared with the economy as a whole, particularly in washing, dry‑cleaning, shoe repair, soft furnishings, household textiles, knitted clothing and women’s outerwear. Flexible provision of multi‑skilling is important for these people.

% of UK creative and cultural businesses with % of workforce that is self fewer than 10 people turnover under £1m employed

Craft 89 91 33

Cultural heritage 67 88 4

Design 96 96 40

Literature 98 98 64

Music 92 90 39

Performing arts 95 94 57

Visual arts 92 93 88

Subsector as a whole 94 94 45

Table 6



The last major piece of research into the comparative employment of men and women in the media and audiovisual subsector was published in September 2010. It showed that

■ 42% of the workforce was female, which is 4% under the average for all employment

■ women are more likely to be employed full or part‑time than to be freelancers, and are more likely to be employed in large businesses in which more stable, permanent employment is the norm, such as terrestrial television, broadcast radio, cinema exhibition and book publishing

■ in the last four or five years women’s representation in some parts of the industry has dropped sharply, including independent production for television, animation and interactive content design

■ there is a discernible pattern of women joining the industry in their 20s and leaving before or during middle age, almost certainly explained by women starting a family

■ the nature of the industry – its working hours and patterns of work – make it more difficult than average for combining work and family needs, hence the lower than average incidence of women returners

■ the younger the age group, the higher the representation of women

■ women make up the large majority in roles relating to make‑up, hair, costume and wardrobe

■ women are very sparsely represented in processing laboratories, post production and computer games

At roughly the same time, the creative and cultural subsector’s workforce was 60% male, with variations across its divisions

Women as % of the workforce

Craft 35

Cultural heritage 42

Advertising 44

Design 32

Literature 45

Music 34

Performing arts 50

Visual arts 49

Subsector as a whole 60

Table 7

Male and female balance



In the textile subsector, the split was 50/50. Men dominated in shoe repair, while women were more prevalent in clothing manufacture. The female dominance has decreased in recent years due to job losses among female sewing machinists and administrative staff. In all parts of this subsector, as usual, the higher up the salary scale and job ranking, the lower the female contingent.

Ethnicity profileThe latest figures we have for BME representation in the audiovisual industries are for 2009, and show that 6.7% of the workforce was from an ethnic minority background. This was lower than in 2006 (7.4%), but the figure tends to fluctuate around the 7% mark and this reduction does not seem to point to a general decline in representation. Representation varies by sector

■ highest in processing labs, cable and satellite, film production and terrestrial broadcast

■ lowest in animation, computer games, studio equipment and hire, film distribution, offline multimedia, and other interactive media

The picture looks less encouraging when one takes into account that half of the entire subsector’s workforce works in London, where the BME figure is well over 20%, thus distorting the national picture.

In overall terms, the relatively high incidence of people from ethnic minorities in on‑screen roles in television of all kinds belies a less than proportional representation in all audio‑visual employment.

In the creative and cultural part of the sector there has been a recent increase in black and minority ethnic (BME) representation: from 5% in 2006 to 8% in 2009. Some parts of the sector, however, including advertising, are still lagging behind in this respect.

The textile subsector is a major source of employment for people from ethnic minorities. Taken as a whole, the industry in the UK has a workforce of which 16% are from ethnic minorities; in England the figure is even higher at 18%. Ownership of businesses within the sector also has a high BME representation: about 14% of all fashion and textile firms are owned by people of ethnic minorities.



The employment of people with disabilities is a bit of a quandary in the audiovisual sector. If one is to believe the figures published by Skillset from questions asked of employers about their workforce, then the fairly dismal picture appears of a cohort that accounted for 1.3% of the sector’s workforce in 2004, shrank to 1% in 2006 and has been there ever since. However, this does not tally with the returns that Skillset gains from employees themselves, in which 5.8% describe themselves as disabled. The latter figure seems likely to be the more accurate.

The creative and cultural part of the sector is a very progressive employer in this respect. Latest figures show that people who were categorised as ‘disabled’ or ‘having a work‑limiting disability’ under the Disability Discrimination Act accounted for around 12% of the total workforce – a very significant figure of almost 65,000 people.

Figures are not available for the textile subsector.

Disability profile

Age profileThe audiovisual media subsector has a comparatively young workforce. The following table illustrates how it compares with the national all-industry profile.

16-24 25-34 35-49 Over 50

Audiovisual media 9 29 41 21

All industry average 13 22 37 28

Table 8

The rest of the creative and cultural sector also has a younger than average profile. The textile subsector, by contrast, has a decidedly ageing workforce, with around three‑quarters of employees in the over 35 bracket.



1.2Regional and local level

Significance to the City Region and the

North WestThe North West has 11% of the national audiovisual workforce.

Over 5,000 people in the region work in photo imaging alone, plus

■ 4,200 people in the region work in TV in one way or another

■ 2,600 in radio

■ 1,800 in interactive media

■ 1,200 in computer games

■ 1,000 making commercials, music promos, corporate video productions, etc

■ 900 in audio‑visual facilities

In each case a large proportion of those people work in and around the city of Manchester. Thus, it is true to say that the Manchester City Region is the North of England’s centre for creative audiovisual activity and is home to many of the nation’s higher education, cultural and media production assets that will enable future development of the sector. The relocation of parts of the BBC to Salford Quays, once realised, will establish the largest BBC production centre outside London, thus establishing the City Region’s role as a national and international media centre. The move will ensure the creation of

■ a Media Enterprise Centre

■ a Northern Centre of Excellence in Media Enterprise and Skills

■ a Media Research Institute

The BBC move will bring to our area a further 2,300 people working directly for the corporation, and the development as a whole aims to attract an additional 15,500 employment opportunities

within the City Region, further developing the

independent sector locally and attracting major media companies to the area. The City Region is already starting to benefit from the virtuous cycle effects of clustering, as it does in Financial and Professional Services, ICT Digital and other sectors. There is, obviously, a large overlap and important synergy between ICT Digital and this sector.



Television and radio broadcasting are important components of the audiovisual industries in the City Region. Even before the BBC move, Manchester was a large and established broadcasting centre and home of the leading regional TV centre outside London. BBC North West is based in Manchester. Granada Television, also based in Manchester, produces a significant amount of network and regional programming. Independent production is strong in the region and, according to North West Vision, there are more than 70 production companies in the North West. In addition, there are also radio restricted service licences (RSL) operators and cable and satellite companies in the region.

Radio broadcasting is very important in the North West as a whole: there are four BBC local stations and approximately 30 commercial broadcast radio companies, a number of which are owned by the large radio groups. In addition to the public service and commercial radio stations, there are a number of short‑term RSLs and community radio stations around the region.

The film industry is highly concentrated in London and the South East but there is a strong core of talented local directors and writers in the region. North West Vision’s online database includes details of more than 500 local crew and 500 location or production facilities.

Again, much of the corporate communications industry is based in London and the South East, but there are significant workforces in corporate production and commercials in the North West.

The facilities and post‑production sector in the North West is seen as one of the strengths of the region. Based in Manchester, BBC Resources and Granada have joined together to establish 3sixtymedia, the largest facilities company outside of the BBC in London. Red Vision, based in Manchester, pioneered the use of computer generated imagery (CGI) in drama documentaries and event reconstruction.

Interactive media businesses make a significant and growing contribution to the North West economy.

Computer games are recognised as a strength in the North West, although more so in Liverpool than Manchester.

Skillset has described Manchester as an ‘animation centre of excellence’, with two of the four model studios in the UK based in the region

■ Cosgrove Hall, whose core work is in children’s animation

■ HOT Animation, part of HIT Entertainment, which is one of Europe’s leading model animation facilities



The City Region accounts for a large majority (over 60%) of the North West’s audiovisual output and accounts for over £3 billion GVA. In recent years, the sector’s growth in the City Region has outstripped national growth both in terms of GVA contribution and employment. Somewhat unexpectedly, however, the sector is still less important as a proportion of City Region GVA and employment than it is in the UK as a whole. This is because of the even greater significance of other growth sectors, such as financial and professional services in Manchester and the surrounding conurbations.

In the creative and cultural part of the sector, the North West makes up a significant portion of the national output and workforce (around 10% and 55,480 respectively, according to latest figures), with design being the most significant part of the whole. The North West’s ranking in terms of number of employees is as follows

Subsector National ranking

Advertising 2nd

Cultural heritage 5th

Design 3rd

Music 6th

The Arts 3rd

All 3rd

Table 9

34% of the workforce is self‑employed (slightly lower than the national figure), but the wide variations between the subsectors that are found nationally could also be found in the North West. 1,390 people in the North West have secondary jobs in the sector (ie not their principal source of income).


Creative and media

23

Section 2 Context, dependencies and relationships

2.1National level

Impact of the sector on the national economy

The sector is so diverse that it has an impact on virtually every other aspect of the national economy by virtue of its demand for a huge range of products and services that enable it to function. This is why, in the case of the audio‑visual subsector, Media City could be so important to our city; where media organisations cluster, other businesses spring up and thrive. There is more on that subject in section 2.2.

The sector is also a significant employer of people with a huge range of job roles and skills, working for remuneration which also ranges from the top to the bottom end of the scale. All types of employment feature in the sector: full‑time, part‑time, freelance, casual, seasonal. In an economy that is in general recession, or, as now, stagnation, this sector, though not without its own serious problems in parts, is seen as one that provides an opportunity to break the negative economic cycle, since its business units can be very flexible and responsive to changing economic circumstances and so more resilient than most.

Impact of the national economy on the sector

The sector’s relative size as a feature of the economy is typical of highly developed and prosperous nations. The great majority of the sector can be categorised well towards the non‑essential end of the spectrum of human need. For this reason its fortunes are always going to be tied to the general factors affecting national and regional prosperity and consumer spending power.



On the other hand, the sector is so diverse that the recession tended to have rather different effects on its various parts, for example

■ independent television and radio saw a significant drop in advertising revenue

■ many cultural businesses, competing for shrinking disposable income at the ‘non‑essential’ end of the economic spectrum, had to take drastic steps to stay afloat, including redundancies

■ niche textile companies had to look at their pricing structures, but have been flexible and innovative enough, for the most part, to survive

This last point deserves further investigation because it has impacted on our region more than any other, and shapes the way in which we as a college engage with the textile industry. The textile subsector is subject not so much to the national economy as the global economy, particularly the massive increase in the amount of clothing imports coming from countries such as China. Hence, in this subsector, there has been a radical change in recent years away from mass production and internal sourcing and towards niche markets and higher added value products. Prior to the economic downturn, the manufacture of niche‑market made‑up textiles was increasing its output, and design, sales and marketing roles were growing as a proportion of the workforce. We should not neglect this fact, nor that the industry was, and is again becoming, highly productive and a significant contributor to UK exports (50% of its output was exported prior to 2008). Worldwide demand has since slumped, but the inroads that UK businesses have made into important global markets provide a good foundation on which to build once demand picks up again. Providing the skills to exploit this market advantage will continue to be a college objective.




Impact on the City Region economy

Currently, by far the most significant development in the audiovisual media sector, not just in our region but nationally, is the development of MediaCity at Salford Quays. MediaCity is owned by the Peel Group, a leading infrastructure, real estate and investment enterprise. They have worked closely with organisations such as the NWDA, Salford City Council and the Salford Urban Regeneration Company. It arose out of the BBC’s stated intention, in 2004, to move much of its production out of London. By 2006, Salford Quays had become the chosen site, and further developments then naturally grew out of such a significant new media presence. Phase 1 commenced in 2006 and saw an investment of £650m in infrastructure and the employment of 2,000 construction workers. That first phase covers 36 acres, but eventually an area many times bigger will be covered. So far, there has been created a mini city comprising

■ media studio space

■ commercial office space

■ retail

■ hotel and apartment developments

■ event space

■ essential infrastructure, such as car parks

The BBC is moving 2,300 staff to MediaCity and establishing a new headquarters for BBC North. BBC Sport, Children’s Television, Radio 5 Live, Learning and parts of Future Media and Technology are relocating. ITV will also have a substantial presence. Granada, based on one side or other of Quay Street since it started in the 1960s, is moving to MediaCity in 2012. ITV Studios’ production and management teams will be there, as will ITV regional news and support staff. Around 40 smaller media enterprises will be moving in, and The University of Salford will also have a significant presence on site.

In itself, this development is enormously beneficial to the Greater Manchester and NW economies, with the increase in economic activity set to be measured in £billions. Nevertheless there is a job to be done to ensure that, with all the incoming commerce and human capital, the people of Manchester and the City Region are enabled to benefit. Estimates of new job opportunities, in addition to BBC staff moving north, are in the region of 15,000, and it is the responsibility of Manchester stakeholders, The Manchester College included, to enable as many of those as possible to be filled by people from our communities.


Creative and media

26

Section 3 Characteristics

3.1National level

GeneralThe audiovisual part of the sector as an employer has the following characteristics

■ it is predominantly a London and South East sector, though with some significant regional clusters, a very important one of which is Manchester

■ it is characterised by a small number of large employers and a very large number of SMEs, many of which have been created by the downsizing of, and sub‑contracting by, major broadcasters, growth in the number of channels and wider application of audiovisual techniques in a variety of environments

■ its employees on the whole work longer than average hours and earn higher than average pay, although the spread of pay rates is very wide

In very general terms, the mega‑micro split in the audiovisual industries is one in which

■ the very large companies are involved in publishing, marketing, distribution and financing of content

■ the very small companies create and develop the content

SMEs make up a very high proportion of the creative and cultural part of the sector and, more than in most sectors, these industries are reliant on a substantial part‑time and secondary workforce. It is a hugely diverse sector, with little commonality at any level, except for the core of creativity. Only very recently have industries within the creative and cultural ambit started to find a common voice. For example, until a few years ago the music industry had long been represented by a myriad of trade associations and the Musicians’ Union, but had no single



representative body bringing all of these together. Today the National Music Council (www.musiced.org.uk) provides a forum for issues of common interest to be debated and communicated more coherently. Nevertheless, the general rule is that the creative and cultural subsector speaks with many voices.

It is a sector that is

■ heavily populated with SMEs and freelancers

■ dependent on ‘talent’, which is not incompatible with skills and education, but nor is it synonymous

■ considered by many of its employers and employees to be a ‘vocation’ which, again, is not incompatible with commercial hard‑headedness, but nor is it synonymous

■ dependent on audience, participant and customer experience, and so reliant on quick responses to changing tastes, trends, disposable income and government policy and subsidy

■ deeply involved in the rapid developments in digital communication technologies

■ considerably more dominated by ‘middle class’ entrants than most sectors, but this is changing

■ dependent in many respects on volunteers

■ heavily populated by graduates, a large number of whom are not in any sense ‘job‑ready’ when they are recruited

■ increasingly operating in a global environment

■ increasingly involved in large scale, live, one‑off events

The textile subsector is comparatively heavily populated by lower‑skilled occupations (operatives and elementary), together with skilled manual trades. Professionals, associate professionals and administrative occupations account for a small proportion of the total workforce. The subsector struggles against negative public perceptions about the type of work on offer and the future of the industries making up the sector. Radical changes have taken place in recent years, including globalisation and increased competition, resulting from improved logistics and the removal of trade tariffs. As the recession began, the subsector was well into a process of transition from one based on mass markets to one based on new and developing niche markets in which goods are more concentrated at the high value end of the scale, and skills need to be of a higher order and more varied.

http://www.musiced.org.uk



The recent history of the UK audiovisual industries has been one of growth, multiplication of business units and ever increasing productivity. Factors included

■ growth in commercial radio

■ digitisation of TV

■ further expansion of interactive media

■ a revival in film production

When the recession began in 2008, the industry was in good shape to survive it and prosper once again once the economy picked up. Its potential to offer employment to people with the right skills and attitudes was great, and there is no reason to believe that this inherent quality will not prevail in the long term. Short‑term prospects in the industries in Manchester are curtailed by economic circumstances, but long‑term prospects remain very positive.

The creative and cultural part of the sector was in generally good shape as it entered the recession, but was always going to be particularly susceptible to reductions in disposable income. At the same time, there were already major structural changes happening in the music industry that were not always positive as far as jobs were concerned. In fact, even prior to the recession there had been a recent net decrease in employment due to

■ the digitisation of music

■ the availability of music from the internet

■ the consequent drop in demand for music recorded on CD and other media

This phenomenon is unlikely to be restricted to music in the future.

Latest figures show that productivity (GVA per capita) was relatively good overall at around £35,300, but it varied considerably between subsectors: advertising is by far the most productive, and cultural heritage is almost 50% below the sector average in terms of productivity.

In the early years of the decade just passed employment grew steadily, particularly in the operation of arts facilities. At the other end of the scale, employment in music was falling: there was a 36% fall in the number of people employed in publishing sound recordings between 2000 and 2004, and 50% in the reproduction of sound recordings during the same period. That reduction has now slowed down.

Economic performance, ability to recruit and the

business cycle



The textile subsector had, for some time, been shifting radically from a mass market to a niche market subsector. One specific problem that the subsector was experiencing was great difficulty in recruiting at operator level, with a detrimental effect on business performance. However, this was mitigated by the fact that, in the longer term, fewer general operatives would be needed. That trend was accelerated by the recession. The key factors influencing the subsector’s ability to provide jobs in the future will be

■ intense competition on a global basis

■ strong buyer power (the power of retail giants to use imports to drive aggregate prices down)

■ a weak position relative to suppliers of inputs in some industries

■ the risk of product/service substitution in industries such as dry cleaning

■ low barriers to entry and exit in most of the sector’s constituent industries

Job opportunitiesPrior to the recession, most industries in this sector were in a buyers’ market in employment terms. Some subsectors (for example television, radio, the arts and others) are still among the most popular subsectors of all in employment terms, and many vacancies are massively over‑subscribed. Often, however, the expectations of aspirants are unrealistic and their skills inappropriate.

Taking the sector as a whole, by far the greatest number of job opportunities are traditionally in London and the South East, though the North West is one of the most productive and expanding regions, and Manchester is home to an increasingly important regional cluster.

In 2011 Skillset found that, even though the most common route into a first job in the media was via an advertisement (31%), less formal modes such as through a friend or relative played a role much larger than in most sectors: 22% of newcomers gain a job that way. Once in the industry, people tend to find out about and gain new posts directly from employers. A picture emerges in which less formal recruitment methods become more prevalent once individuals are moving around within the industry than when they first entered it. This is particularly true of Outside Broadcast (49%); Animation (41%); Terrestrial TV (41%) and Post Production (40%).

It is likely that this factor plays somewhat less of a role in the creative and cultural part of the sector.



In the textile subsector, the key recruitment needs tend to be, in descending order

■ operator level: sewing machinists, garment assemblers, launderers, dry‑cleaners, cutters and textile process operatives

■ skilled trades level: machine technicians, weavers, knitters, tailors and skilled leather workers

■ associate professional and technical level: designers and sales and marketing professionals

■ scientists and technologists

However, the industry continues to downsize, and the need for operators will decrease. The growth area will be in design, sales and marketing roles. The need for scientists, etc will be crucial in some areas, including technical textiles.


The metropolitan nature of the city of Manchester means that there tends to be a relatively high number of professional jobs in the sector. These include advertising executives, architects, artists, sculptors, writers, press officers, editors, actors, designers, journalists, photographers, filmmakers, theatre and radio producers and film directors.

There are also many technical jobs, especially in areas such as architecture, computer software and the broadcast media. They include architectural technicians, camera operators and games developers.

The other key areas of employment are management and administration. This includes theatre and gallery managers, and staff in support services such as arts boards. Support services are also important, with opportunities to work as front‑of‑house staff in theatres, or within sales and marketing, accountancy, finance and legal support.

In all parts of the sector, the North West is a very important region: for example

■ in audiovisual media it has a workforce of almost 60,000 (only London has more)

■ in textiles it has over 55,000 and is the most important region of all



Other key statistics include

■ about 5% of the regional workforce is employed in creative industries

■ somewhere between 9% and 10% of all creative jobs are in our region

■ a higher proportion of the workforce is female than in the UK sector as a whole, but this is almost entirely accounted for by the importance of textiles, a subsector where there are more women than men

■ about three‑quarters of the workforce is full‑time

There was a high level of voluntary employment with an estimated 6,000 people working on this basis.

Job opportunities in the sector

From 1995‑2002, employment in the sector increased by 29%, or nearly 34,000 jobs.

In 2006 the sector’s North West workforce was predicted to grow by 18% in the following 10 years – an increase of 27,000 jobs. That prediction would now be difficult to sustain. However, it remains a regional sector that is well placed to recuperate as the economy in general picks up, and it is traditionally a sector with high labour turnover, by no means all of it negative: people move freely between employers, and progression, though sometimes uncoordinated, can be rapid. Even in today’s circumstances where people are very keen to keep hold of the job they have, vacancies arise more regularly than in most sectors. Prior to the recession a replacement demand of 6,100 per year was predicted.

Businesses in the sectorThere are almost 20,000 creative industry business units in the North West.

A relatively low proportion of employment is in larger institutions: 37% of people work in fewer than 300 business units, each employing more than 50 people. This compared with 55% of the workforce in the economy as a whole who work in large businesses.

There were around 17,000 businesses employing ten people or fewer. They accounted for 92% of business units, but just 37% of the workforce.


Creative and media

32

Section 4 Relationship with training and development

4.1National level

OverviewAs so much of the UK skills landscape (needs, gaps, shortages) is largely the same regardless of sector, it is both interesting and important to note how different this sector is from the norm. For one thing it is one of a very small number of sectors that does not have a ‘Cinderella’ self‑image. Quite the opposite is the case – the sector, particularly creative media and arts, is so attractive as a source of employment it spends a lot of time wading through huge numbers of applications that have no chance of success, due to inappropriate skills and experience. The exception in this sector is textiles which, sadly, still labours against a poor image among young people, an image for which it can be blamed only in part.

The sector also differs from the norm in that it has far more graduates in its workforce than the average sector, though the number is much smaller in textiles than in the sector as a whole. This means that, textiles apart, it is not a sector that is, like so many, constantly trying to raise the mean level of skill and qualification among its workforce in order to keep up with international competition. The recurring theme in the sector, minus textiles, is one of employability, flexibility and turning creativity into profit. The industry needs people who not only have the right qualifications and experience but the right level of flexibility, ability to add value and work as part of an effective team. Whether it is with new recruits or established employees and freelancers, the industry also needs constantly to address the issue of rapidly changing digital technology and the skills needs that this creates.



This quote comes from Skillset’s SSA for Creative Media, published in 2011

New entrants from education need to be prepared for being

in inter-disciplinary teams with a new emphasis on the fusion

of skills required in each new entrant in order for them to be

able to create content across multiple platforms whether an

Advertising creative or print journalist. ‘Diagonal thinking’ [is]

the skills requirements of the day. Individuals need to be more

entrepreneurial, understand how to monetise IP from digital

and other content and show forward thinking leadership and

management skills.

Where the college and FE in general can score highly is in turning out young people into the creative and cultural labour market who are both qualified and employable, knowledgeable and flexible,

creative and entrepreneurial.

Training, qualifications and skills gaps

Audiovisual

73% of media professionals are graduates (compared with less than 20% of the UK workforce as a whole).

The main skill gap identified have been created by rapid technological change. A significant majority of audiovisual organisations believe they have a training need to keep up to date with current work and develop existing technical skills to meet emerging needs. Additionally there is the need to replace people who retire or leave the sector, and a substantial increase in feature film production which has increased demand for skills in that subsector.

It is also important to stress that, although new technology and techniques are an important cause of skill gaps, there is no sign of a decline in demand for the more traditional skills associated with the sector. Unlike in the 1990s when the video games and interactive media industries arose, there is no sign of entirely new occupations being created or entirely new skills required in the immediate future. Rather, there will be changes of emphasis in the sets of skills required for key occupations.

The least change in skill needs will be in craft‑based and technical occupations such as

■ camera operation

■ sound

■ lighting

■ editing



This is because the major changes (for the foreseeable future) have already occurred (eg the change to digital shooting and the establishment of online and mobile platforms).

The major change will be in the higher level occupations associated with business and creative strategy, such as

■ planning

■ funding

■ co‑ordinating

■ versioning

■ aggregating

■ packaging and selling audiovisual products and services

These include the roles of the

■ producer

■ business development manager

■ managing director

■ market and audience analyst

■ scheduler

■ commissioning editor

Currently skills shortages are present in general terms in

■ producer skills

■ script editing

■ camera operation

Creative and cultural

In the music subsector, current and future skill gaps are in

■ IT and digital management

■ finance and business skills for freelancers, sole traders and SMEs

■ commercial exploitation of intellectual property

■ the usual soft skills of communication, teamwork and leadership

Textiles

This is a subsector with a generally low level of skills and qualifications, taken as a whole. Gaps exist in technical (operator, skilled trades and associate professional/technical occupations), IT and management areas. However, it must be remembered that the subsector is still down‑sizing and will need fewer operatives and more designers in future. Employers tend not to specify formal entry requirements for operator roles, in terms of industry-specific qualifications.



Prior to 2008, the identified needs were for

■ better qualified managers (both internal upskilling and recruitment from outside)

■ more technologists and scientists

■ more designers and garment technologists

■ better commercial and sales skills

■ keeping technicians up to date

■ skilled leather trades and hand craft tailors

■ textile process operatives, sewing machinists, garment cutters (though not the mass demand there was in the past)

■ people with the right skills for dry‑cleaning, laundering and pressing

There is a comprehensive range of VRQs and NVQs available, but there are gaps, and there are some cases of NVQs in need of revision and updating.

The sector’s performance record

in providing training and development for its

workforceThis is very mixed. Large organisations, especially the BBC, have long provided structured career and training programmes, which the independent producers and broadcasters have been able to take advantage of. This rather parasitic relationship of the broadcast media with the BBC is now largely a thing of the past. However, it was compounded until recently by a very self‑taught and cavalier attitude towards management training of any kind within independent broadcasting. Time, and the retirement of the originators of independent television and radio, have brought about a different attitude.

In general terms it is important to stress that the sector as a whole is not one that has a dismissive attitude towards training and development, nor is it one so driven by short‑term goals and the need to squeeze profit out of every working hour that training and development never reaches the top of the priority list. The issues that the sector faces are different, including

■ its extremely disparate nature and inability (until the advent of the Sector Skills Councils (SSCs)) to form anything like a co‑ordinated response to skills shortages and gaps

■ the high proportion of SMEs and self‑employed in the sector

■ the highly specialised nature of a lot of the sector’s business



The sector, therefore, poses many challenges for FE and other providers, but it is not one where there is an institutionalised antipathy to training and development.

The textile subsector as a whole (ie not just the design part) has the highest proportion of unqualified workers of any in the UK. However, this has to be understood in a particular context: much of the workforce is highly skilled in technical areas, but much of this is unaccredited. Learning linked to non-NQF qualifications accounts for a significant proportion of total activity in this subsector. The subsector is more likely to train its existing workforce to higher skill roles than to take people on from scratch for those roles. For higher level occupations, employers tend to recruit people with a firm foundation of knowledge and skills, usually developed through a course of study undertaken within HE. Older workers, and those in lower level occupations, are least likely to benefit from work-related learning opportunities. In recent times there has been a decline in the number of work‑based learning enrolments for those individuals working towards a sector‑relevant vocational qualification. Take-up of sector-specific apprenticeship opportunities is low. Take up of IiP is ‘respectable’.

The training that has taken place has tended to be in the larger companies, with the small ones benefiting from the ‘trickle-down’ effect. That benefit can no longer be relied on as competition becomes fiercer and large companies have less in their training budgets.

Developments in the skills profile of the

industryWithin audiovisual industries, changes in the skills profile are driven by rapid changes in technology, and to a lesser extent by the gradual decrease of terrestrial broadcast jobs as a proportion of the whole, and the corresponding increase in the number of satellite broadcast jobs.

As indicated earlier, the industry is now one where creativity and the ability to turn content into profit are seen as inseparable, and this marriage of creativity and entrepreneurial ‘nous’ is very much in demand and seems set to be so indefinitely. It is the internet and digitisation of media that has almost completely removed the distinction between the content/creative side of the industry from the business development side.

In creative and cultural industries, the skills profile is unlikely to change much in the foreseeable future, though one that is changing structurally is the music business (as documented



elsewhere in this profile). As a whole, the industries in the sector have a clear view of the skills that are needed now and for the next ten years.

In the textile subsector, the need for operatives is going to decrease, while the need for design, sales, marketing and, to a lesser extent, scientific roles, will increase. More multi-skilling is needed. This is a challenge because, historically, the subsector has had a workforce in lower‑skilled occupations, rather than in professional and administrative roles. As manufacturing moves overseas, and management, technical, marketing and other roles become a higher proportion of the total workforce, there is a growing need to recruit and train people in higher level posts.

The sector’s record in sharing skills problems

and solutionsMention has already been made of the way in which the BBC for a long time provided a one‑way supply of trained people to the rest of the industry. That situation is much diminished today. In general terms the sector’s failure to share problems and solutions is not one of commercial rivalry nor distrust but a consequence of the nature of the businesses in the sector, their size, their disparate nature and their (understandable) focus on creative issues rather than the structural and organisational ones that are the consequence of a co‑ordinated approach to skills and qualifications. There is no institutionalised barrier to co‑ordinated responses, but there are difficult challenges in bringing these about.

Factors militating against accessing

training programmesThe sector as a whole is so disparate that it is impossible to make any sector‑wide judgement on this issue, except to stress that the high proportion of SMEs and self‑employed is always going to be a barrier to access. Culturally, there is little hostility to, or lack of confidence in, either FE or private providers, except in the textile subsector. However, there are justifiable complaints that there has been too little engagement between industries and providers in the past (with fault on both sides) and thus too little customisation and tailoring of programmes to the needs of the subsectors and job roles. Skillset states (Skills Assessment 2011) that there are ‘too many reported barriers to learning and development from employers and employees and freelancers alike’. Those employers that complain of barriers are most likely to cite cost (54%). Among



other barriers, the main ones cited were

■ lack of time – 41%

■ no need, all employees fully proficient – 38%

■ courses not suitable 28%

■ can’t access public funds – 24%

■ learning and development not a priority at this time (which was 2010)

It is important to take a close look at that figure of 28%. While we should never be complacent in our aim to provide the training and development that employers need, we should at the same time not fall into the guilt trap when over a quarter of people who don’t access training from us cite unsuitability as a contributory cause. Often the needs of employers are so specific to their own business and creative needs that no provider, in the public or private sector, is ever going to have such provision readily available off the shelf. That level of customisation requires action and willingness on both sides – employer and provider – and certainly in recent times it has not been providers who have dragged their heels in forming such relationships. It also needs to be noted that there is always going to be some element of training and development for which in‑house training is going to be the only solution.

In textiles, employers express reservations about the skills held by many design graduates (of which there is an over‑supply), and question the industry relevance of some courses. Only 20% of graduates enter the job roles for which they were educated soon after graduating; many enter retail instead. Employers believe that young people often lack an understanding of the sector and the career opportunities it offers. Employers question the relevance of courses offered by colleges and other providers.

When last surveyed, there were 328 textile subsector‑relevant courses available across the UK at degree and postgraduate level, offered by 76 English institutions. There was also widespread availability of Foundation Degree programmes, with 53 subsector‑relevant programmes offered by 34 institutions in England. Availability tends to be bunched in certain regions. Employers believe that FE provision has declined because contraction of the subsector has led to economic disincentives to run programmes. FE is not widely used by the subsector.

Skillfast UK stated, in 2008

The level of public investment in FE courses that nominally relate

to the sector skills, such as textile design, dressmaking and soft

furnishings, is substantial. However, only a small proportion of

this investment directly benefits sector businesses



These factors represent a shortfall that The Manchester College is already filling, and the college is a notable, and recognised, exception to the rule in this respect.

In 2011 Skillset summarised the situation in its SSA for Fashion and Textiles when it wrote

Research into education in the fashion and textiles industry …

noted that there is still a demand for well-qualified employees in

the industry but there is a mismatch between the needs of the

sector and the skills of some of the graduates. It recognised that

design is a valuable element of the fashion and textiles industry

but that not every graduate is going to be the next Galliano and

therefore education and training providers should ensure that

students have the appropriate portfolio of skills including a sound

understanding of information technology, textile technology

and technical processes. However, design graduates often do

not possess the skills or the industry-specific vocabulary to be

able to engage in this important aspect of activity. In response

to this issue, Skillset and many trade representative bodies are

working with industry and training providers to develop courses

to address this shortage in business and technical skills.

Skills shortages and gaps, industry by

industryWe’ll now look at each of the main industrial groupings and identify the skills shortages (skills lacking in potential recruits) and skills gaps (those that current employees lack).

Television

Almost a third of TV employers had vacancies when surveyed in 2010, and almost a third of these regarded some of those vacancies as ‘hard to fill’, the main skill shortages being in TV production. The skills that were most often lacking among applicants were

■ leadership and management

■ higher management skills (eg those associated with securing multi‑strand funding packages and brand sponsorship for commercial TV projects)

■ creative talent

■ sales and marketing

■ multi‑skills

■ specific software skills

■ creative skills associated with drama (factual/news‑based creative skills are in good supply, on the other hand)



Among existing employees, the main skills gaps are, in descending order



■ creative talent


■ technical skills (editing, production, camera and sound)

Turning to the action that employers are taking to deal with these gaps, around 55% of the TV workforce has received some kind of training or development (more prevalent in the big broadcast companies than in the small production companies, as one would expect). That training, however, is seems to be addressing the skills gaps only in part. It tends to be on subjects such as

■ health and safety

■ specific software applications

■ editing

■ camera

■ production

■ ethics and safeguarding

Looking to the future, the skills that the TV industry predicts that it will need in the years to come are

■ programme innovation

■ deal structuring

■ cross media ownership

■ IP issues

■ extended scheduling skills

■ diagonal thinking across creativity and entrepreneurialism

■ multi‑platform awareness

■ asset exploitation and management

■ risk management

■ project management

■ partnership and investor relation management

■ marketing and promotional management

Film

By comparison with TV, the film industry is experiencing less of a skill shortage and indeed fewer vacancies all told. Only 15% of employers in the UK reported having vacancies in 2010 and very few of those described any of them as hard to fill. Where they did exist, they tended to be in creative development roles.



Among generic skills lacking in applicants who came directly from education, they noted



The few vacancies that exist for anything other than a very short time before being filled tend to be in the following roles

■ production accountants (probably due to low pay relative to other sectors)

■ development executives with insight and commercial acumen

■ location managers with up‑to‑date knowledge of legal developments

■ producers with commercial acumen

■ experienced crew

■ information management (including market analysis) using ICT

■ business modelling for small businesses

■ film buyers with commercial insight from marketing or audience perspective

■ fundraising for small businesses

■ exploiting new business opportunities (corporate events and lets)

Turning to skills among the existing workforce, the situation isn’t quite as positive – over a third of employers report skills gaps, the most common being



■ business planning and strategy

■ finance skills

■ multi‑skills

■ negotiation and diplomacy

■ management and leadership

■ commercial skills (commercial acumen, knowledge of the firm’s value chain, finance for non-finance managers)

■ high‑end production skills, particularly in areas outside London

■ story or narrative skills

58% of film employers fund or arrange learning or development for staff, and 46% of those who use freelancers also extend learning and development opportunities to them. Only 19% have a learning and development plan.



Turning to the future, the skills that the TV industry predicts that it will need in the years to come are the usual ones of leadership and management, finance, sales and marketing, but also

■ skills for developing content for multiple platforms

■ new digital technology

■ data management (particularly in relation to the logistics of tracking master materials in digital format)

■ health and safety (especially risk assessment by HoDs and producers)

■ availability of construction and lighting crew (since the Olympic Games are likely to take up much of existing capacity)

Radio

A third of radio employers had current vacancies when interviewed in 2010, and of these employers just over a third reported having hard to fill vacancies, particularly in

■ distribution


■ editorial

■ journalism

■ sport

■ performers

The usual catalogue of missing generic skills is evident – leadership and management, finance, sales and marketing, multi-skills.

Craft skills are a high priority for the sector, especially in the field of digital content. There is a shortage of people with technical skills who can also employ strong creative and communication skills, as jobs roles increasingly demand all of these.

Just under a third of employers report skills gaps in their current workforce, including

■ distribution sales and marketing


■ finance skills

■ business skills

■ multi‑skills

■ production and technical skills

■ journalism and presenting

■ use of interactive media

■ editing




Two‑thirds of radio employers fund or arrange learning or development for staff, and 83% of radio employers who use freelancers also extend learning and development opportunities to them. 39% of radio employers have a learning and development plan for the year ahead.

Looking to the future, the same skills will be needed, and increasingly there will be a need for skills relating to

■ development of content for multiple platforms

■ online/social media publishing or content distribution

■ design and development of websites or web applications

Animation

A fifth of animation employers reported having vacancies at the time of Skillset’s 2010 Creative Media Employer Survey, and approximately half of these employers had hard to fill vacancies and hence skills shortages, mainly in animation, art and design, creative development and business management roles.

The generic skills lacking among applicants who came directly from education were in

■ use of sector specific software packages

■ multi‑skills

■ finance



Suitable candidates for producer and assistant producer were hard to find.

Almost a third of employers reported skills gaps among their existing workforce, including

■ technical skills (mainly CGI:3D/animation/VFX/graphic design and computer usage)

■ skills in using sector specific software packages

■ multi‑skills


■ skills to develop content for multiple platforms (particularly the design and creation of digital content and websites or web applications)

■ production skills (particularly production management)

■ business skills (particularly commercial awareness and pitching, presentation and proposal writing)



44% of animation employers fund or arrange learning or development for staff, and three‑quarters of employers who use freelancers extend those opportunities to them. Only 14% of employers have a learning and development plan, while almost three‑quarters of employees interviewed believed that they were in need of training.

For the future, the skills that are going to be in most demand are likely to be

■ technical skills including CGI: 3D/animation/VFX/graphic design


■ business skills (particularly entrepreneurial skills)


■ skills to develop content for multiple platforms

■ creative talent

■ stereo 3D skills

■ skills in Nuke software

Computer games

Almost a third of employers in the content for computer games subsector reported having vacancies in 2010, and over half of these employers had hard to fill vacancies, principally in technical development roles. The generic skills which were far and away the most lacking in applicants straight from education were leadership and management.

Interestingly, this subsector has a particular problem with graduates: only 18% of games specific graduates in 2007 succeeded in gaining jobs in the industry. They point to the quality of degree programmes supposedly designed specifically for the sector: graduates from courses accredited by Skillset were nearly three times more likely to get a job in the sector than those from a non‑accredited course. The sector also employs recruits from more generic degrees in subjects such as computer science, maths, visual arts and general science. However, all of this has to be set in a context in which there is likely to be a gradual decline in staff number between now and 2016, and a predicted move to the need for cross‑platform skills, self‑publishing with online microtransaction capability and, somewhat scarily, ‘android development’. Another underlying trend is a ‘brain drain’ to the USA as a result of the attraction of high wages and more stable/better financed companies there. This is particularly true of senior developers and managers. However, the UK has also benefited from skilled immigration, particularly from eastern Europe.



Almost a third of employers reported skills gaps in their current workforce, particularly in



■ finance and business skills

■ multi‑skills

55% of employers fund or arrange learning or development for staff, and 64% of those who use freelancers also extend those opportunities to them. Less than a fifth of Games employers have a learning and development plan.

59% of the subsector’s workforce had received some learning and development, in the last 12 months, most often in

■ business skills management/leadership

■ IT

■ online/web design/interactive media/electronic games


For the future, the skills in most demand will be the current ones and specifically


■ skills relating to the design and development of games and mobile applications

Facilities

Only 15% of facilities employers had current vacancies when surveyed in 2010, and of these 46% reported having hard to fill vacancies, mainly in

■ distribution, sales and marketing

■ art and design

■ business management

Among applicants who came directly from education, the main deficiencies were in


■ multi‑skills


■ skills in using software packages such as Photoshop, Avid and Final Cut Pro



There was also an identified lack, particularly in post-production businesses, of applicants with a ‘can‑do’ attitude, customer skills and awareness of team responsibilities. The industry believes that FE and HE do not give students the hard truths about the importance of progressing from being a runner or an assistant, and instead are allowing or encouraging students to think that they will go straight into more ‘creative’ roles, such as editing or camera.

Graduate new entrants in the VFX subsector lack computer operating system, visual effects and specific software skills, and exhibit a lack of basic understanding of techniques, work pipelines and the industry as a whole. There are also severe difficulties in recruiting for engineering roles within post production, since technology has changed the job radically, leading to a need to combine the old engineering skills with IT skills – ‘a difficult mix’, according to Skillset.

Just under a third of employers report skills gaps within their current workforce, including


■ multi‑skills

■ business skills (particularly business planning/strategy)

■ technical skills


■ engineering and transmission

■ art and design


Over half of employers fund or arrange learning or development for staff, and 72% of those who use freelancers also extend learning and development opportunities to them.

Over a fifth of employers have a learning and development plan for the year ahead.

In the future, the same skill profile will be required, but with a particular emphasis on




■ multi‑skills


■ business skills



Interactive media

A fifth of interactive media employers have current vacancies, and of these employers 56% report having hard to fill vacancies, mainly in

■ technical development


Among applicants coming straight from education, the main deficiencies tend to be in




■ multi‑skills – a mix of specialist skills (eg graphic design) and core generic skills (eg business/commercial acumen) with cross‑sector awareness

28% of employers believe that there are skills gaps in the existing workforce, mainly in




■ business skills


■ computer programming

■ skills to develop content for multiple platforms (mainly the design and development of mobile applications and websites and web applications)

Almost half of employers fund or arrange learning or development for staff, and almost half of those who also use freelancers extend learning and development opportunities to them. 23% of employers have a learning and development plan for the year ahead. Around two‑thirds of the workforce had received some learning or development over a 12‑month period. Among the web and internet subsector, the most common areas of learning and development received are

■ online/web design/interactive media/electronic games


■ legal topics

■ regulatory compliance

■ ethics and safeguarding

■ health and safety



Looking to the future, the main demand for skills is going to be in




■ multi‑skilling



■ computer programming

■ skills to develop content for multiple platforms and for the design and development of mobile applications

Photo imaging

Only 6% of photo imaging employers have current vacancies, and of these 56% report having hard to fill vacancies and hence skills shortages, mainly in distribution, sales and marketing. The skills lacking in applicants directly from education tend to be




■ multi‑skills

■ use of digital technology and knowledge of digital workflow

■ management of digital assets

A fifth of employers reported a skills gap within their current workforce in 2010, principally in


■ using software packages such as Photoshop, Avid and Final Cut Pro

■ technical skills – including computer programming and usage

■ skills relating to camera/photography, distribution, library/archives

Three in ten employers fund or arrange learning or development for staff, and 62% of those employers who also use freelancers extend learning and development opportunities to them. Only 12% of employers have a learning and development plan for the year ahead.



Looking to the future, there are likely to be gaps in a wide variety of broad skills areas, such as



■ multi‑skills


Publishing

Only 13% of publishing employers have current vacancies and, of these employers, 36% report having hard to fill vacancies. These are mainly in


■ art and design

■ technical development

Applicants coming directly from education most frequently were deficient in


■ creative talent


■ multi‑skills

■ technical skills – in particular the ability to meet industry standards requirements

■ strategic skills linked to maximising opportunities from the e‑publishing business

■ developing and implementing innovative, creative marketing using new technology

■ multimedia journalism skills


■ intellectual property

Over a quarter of publishing employers report a skills gap within their current workforce, and these are principally in




■ business skills


■ computer programming and usage

■ web/internet design/development

■ art and design



45% of employers fund or arrange learning or development for staff, and 52% of those employers who also use freelancers extend learning and development opportunities to them.

Only 13% of employers have a learning and development plan for the year ahead.

The skills that are going to be in most demand in the future are




■ multi‑skills

■ business skills


Advertising

Graphic design occupations tend to be the most common area in which recruitment difficulties are reported by employers, followed by retail/sales and ICT. Other job roles that are not easy to fill are

■ digital creatives

■ upstream creatives – ‘big ideas’ people, not just execution experts

■ business analysts

■ behavioural scientists

■ diagonal thinkers – ie those people who can shift seamlessly between commercial and creative thinking

■ illustrators

■ multi‑skilled creatives

■ social media specialists

■ digital strategists and planners

■ information architects

■ digital producers that have real knowledge of production, rather than just making sure deadlines are met

■ capable creative technologists – people with technical knowledge, but who can apply that to ideas and work in a creative function

Among those coming straight from education, the most common deficiencies tend to be in

■ design

■ ICT skills



Almost half of advertising companies report skills gaps among their current workforce, mainly

■ ICT

■ business development

■ digital

■ finance/accounting

■ multi‑platform all‑rounders (including IT support staff working between platforms)


■ commercial/business skills

■ sales skills

■ digital strategy/planning

■ creative technology

In the next few years the following factors are going to influence the skill needs of the advertising subsector

■ ever‑increasing bandwidth and developments in mobile/wireless telephony, eg the launch of mobile 4G planned for 2012

■ increasing navigation choice and complexity for consumers

■ new media and channels

■ an increasingly networked society

■ consumer demand for novelty in products and experiences

■ the success of the UK economy in reviving itself

■ an ageing population

■ increasing regulation and restriction on advertising

■ global mobility

■ the economic growth of the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China)

Textiles

In this subsector, the main skills needs for the future are going to be in

■ numeracy and literacy

■ oral and written communication

■ supervisory management

■ customer handling

■ innovation

■ technical skills, alongside good leadership skills

■ fabric technology

■ pattern cutting, grading, knitwear linkers and weavers

■ the skills needed by dyers and screen printers



■ the skills that link design with production

■ engineers for machine maintenance and operation

■ supply chain management

■ skills for dealing with a multitude of fabrics

Creative and cultural

Across the huge spectrum of industries that make up the creative and cultural subsector, the principal needs for the future are going to be in

■ ICT

■ marketing and advertising

■ business development

■ sales

■ finance

■ use of digital media to diversify and expand businesses

Taking key industries from within the sector demands are going to be in

■ cultural heritage – event management, supervision, information analysis, use of social research tools, facilities management and HR management

■ design – project management, financial management, supplies management, specialist equipment use, research, customer service

■ music – writing music, performance, project management, facilities management, HR management

■ visual arts – specialist equipment use, stock management, marking management

■ performing arts – systems management, research, project management, HR management, facilities management

■ literary arts – research, transcription

■ craft – research, intellectual property and patents, client relationships, construction, assembly, machinery operation, financial record keeping


Creative and media

53

Section 5 Sector Skills Councils and other relevant organisations

5.1National level

Sector Skills Councils (SSCs)

Skillset Focus Point 21 Caledonian Road London N1 9GB

Tel: 020 7713 9800 Email: [email protected] Website: www.skillset.org

Skillset is the SSC for audio‑visual industries. In 2008, it took on the publishing sector. As of 1 April 2010, it took over the entire textiles sector, previously represented by Skillfast‑UK.

Creative and Cultural Skills 4th Floor Lafone House The Leathermarket Weston Street London SE1 3HN

Tel: 020 7015 1800 Email: [email protected] Website: www.ccskills.org.uk

Creative and Cultural Skills is the SSC for creative and cultural industries. Increasingly, the two SSCs work on collaborative research and other intiatives.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.skillset.org

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ccskills.org.uk



Current status and length of time established

Skillset was one of the earliest ‘pathfinder’ SSCs. It is very well supported by large companies who recognise and accept their reliance on the skills for their supply chain.

Skillset covers

■ broadcast television and radio, including commercials

■ film

■ video (including corporate production)


■ photo imaging

■ animation

■ facilities

■ publishing

Skillset was in the first tranche of SSCs to have its licence renewed in 2009 and, having taken on board publishing (not covered in this profile) in 2008 and Skillfast-UK’s responsibilities in April 2010, clearly enjoys the confidence of the UK Commission for Education and Skills (UKCES).

Creative and Cultural Skills has been fully established and licensed since June 2005. It was relicensed in 2009, with a ‘satisfactory’ tag.

Creative and Cultural Skills covers

■ advertising (for which it works with the industry via the Advertising Skills Advisory Panel)

■ crafts, including more than 50 specialist trades and occupations (a Craft Skills Advisory Council is being formed)

■ cultural heritage, including museums, galleries and heritage organisations (a Cultural Heritage Skills Advisory Panel has been formed)

■ design (specialist consultancies covering graphic, spatial and domestic products)

■ the performing, visual and literary arts

■ music, including composition and music publishing, production, retail and distribution of instruments and equipment, promotional and management/agency activities, live performance, recording, retail and distribution of recordings, education and training (a Music Skills Advisory Panel has been formed and works closely with the Music Business Forum and Creative and Cultural Skills)



Skillfast‑UK failed to have its licence renewed in 2009 and had its responsibilities transferred to Skillset on 1 April 2010. The report on Skillfast‑UK stated that UKCES had a number of areas of concern, namely

■ insufficient evidence that governance arrangements enable employers and the Skillfast Board to drive the development and delivery of the SSC’s strategy

■ did not clearly articulate an effective approach to employer engagement … particularly concerned with the SSC’s approach to engaging SMEs, which constitute the vast majority of employers in the sector

■ lack of evidence to support any significant strategic impact. The SSC itself acknowledged that it had made limited progress in this area and there was little evidence to support its assertion that this would be delivered in the foreseeable future

■ its approach to its operational and financial management

Mission and strategic objectives

Skillset’s strategic objectives are to

■ produce informed research and gather intelligence to underpin planning

■ develop effective partnerships and communications with all stakeholders to stimulate innovation, champion diversity and promote advocacy for skills

■ build strategies with the industry and public agencies which provide action plans to support productivity gain

■ develop and implement innovative and effective models of good practice in the delivery of skills solutions and careers information advice and guidance to improve the competitiveness of the sector and increase diversity

■ inform, develop and promote quality education, training and qualification frameworks

Creative & Cultural Skills’ aim is to have real influence over the supply of education and training, from the school curriculum, work‑based training and apprenticeships, through to higher education, the nurturing of talent and continuing professional development (CPD).



Its strategic objectives are to

■ widen the choices people make on career pathways and jobs and by providing better information and advice

■ identify and tackle the barriers that lead to people’s choices being narrow or denied

■ ensure that the education and training offered to people joining or working in their industries are relevant to the needs of individuals as well as the current and future requirements of employers large and small

■ secure a responsive education and training system by awarding public recognition and approval to those institutions, qualifications or providers that meet the needs of their industries

■ put workforce diversity and equality of opportunity at the centre of what they do to help build a more prosperous sector, widen the pool of available talent, challenge complacency, and help sustain inclusive, creative and culturally inspired communities

As is implied in the UKCES report referred to earlier, there was no concern about Skillfast‑UK’s mission and strategic objectives, as distinct from its ability to deliver them. Its strategic objectives will now be subsumed in Skillset’s. For the record, they originally were to

■ improve the learning supply to ensure the workforce has the skills required by the sector through programme and course design and the use of smart technologies and materials

■ improve productivity and sustainability through competence in the areas of leadership, technology, craft and business, all of which are required to meet the business needs of the sector

■ recognise the workforce characteristics and skill development differential between the Skillfast‑UK sectors

■ influence the learning supply network to ensure it is responsive to the needs of its employers and is flexible in its delivery

■ support the employability of potential employees by ensuring qualification structures and routes meet the requirements of the sector employers

■ ensure that qualifications are available to address skill gaps and shortages

■ ensure that pre-16 and 16-19 qualifications are available, enabling progression to both vocational and academic learning opportunities

■ ensure vocational and academic qualifications provided by FE and HE better reflect industry needs

■ ensure that foundation degrees meet the requirements laid out in the Skillfast‑UK sectoral frameworks



■ ensure the availability of flexible apprenticeship schemes and frameworks that meet the needs of the sectors

■ ensure a coherent and rationalised framework of sector qualifications exists to prepare learners for work and provide pathways through national unit and credit frameworks

■ encourage strong links between employers and training/education providers

■ ensure that NOS contain workplace and employability skills

■ help develop a 14‑19 Diploma

Key research documentsThere is no shortage whatsoever of up‑to‑date research from the two SSCs – their original SSAs and Sector Qualifications Strategies have been followed more recently (2010 and 2011) with further substantial documents covering both ‘footprint’ and skills issues. The only slight complicating factor is that the sector delineations used for research purposes often move (eg the category into which audiovisual industries fall is sometimes larger, including all kinds of creative media, sometimes smaller and principally focused on the main audiovisual business sectors). This can make comparisons difficult. However, the main messages are clear enough, and the often stark contrasts between new media on the one hand and traditional textile design and manufacture on the other are plain to see.

Those research documents formed the basis of the data contained in this profile, and you are recommended to access those original documents as you require them. The main ones informing this profile are listed at the end of this profile.

The Manchester College’s involvement in

the SSCsThe college has developed productive links with the SSCs representing this sector as well as several other professional and trade bodies. Activity has included

■ use of SSCs as a source of information and contacts providing work experience for students

■ participation in Skillfast‑UK’s ‘Common Threads’* initiative

■ contribution to developments in 14‑19 Diplomas, apprenticeships and FDs

■ staff fellowship and membership, and student membership, of the Federation of Clothing Designers and Executives (FCDE)

■ links with the Department of Media, Culture and Sport

*Common Threads was Skillfast‑

UK’s membership network for FE,

HE and private sector learning

providers running course in

clothing, footwear and textiles

subjects



The current training and development initiatives and issues identified as

priorities by the three SSCs

In its SQS, Skillset begins by focusing on the overarching needs of the audio‑visual sector, which result from the sector’s characteristics as an employer. Across the whole job and skill spectrum it identifies as being paramount, the availability of

■ unitised and credit‑based programmes

■ flexible delivery models

■ robust advice and guidance

■ access and clear progression routes for people of all backgrounds

■ sustainable partnerships with providers

■ funding that encourages job‑related provision

■ provision that caters for constant technological development and sector/platform convergence

■ management and leadership skills development

■ skills development that will maximise the economic potential of the sector and its competitiveness in the global marketplace

More specifically, they are looking towards providers for developments in

■ pre-entry qualifications and multi-skilling

■ unitised CPD, particularly in leadership and management

■ a Level 3 preparatory qualification that includes an induction into the creative media industries (intellectual property, health and safety, working practices, etc)

■ apprenticeships and a wider variety of access routes to employment

More specifically still, they are looking for action in the following priority areas

■ facilities

– technical competence with equipment and processes and regulatory compliance

– generic management and business skills


– project management and production

– IT

– sales and marketing

– leadership

– finance



– meeting skills

– quality assurance (QA)

– people skills

– coaching skills

– web-based database programming skills

■ radio

– voice and presentation techniques

– digital editing

– research skills

– communication and teamworking skills

– project management

– commercial awareness

– legal knowledge

– knowledge of IT networking systems among engineers

– financial skills

■ television

– studio crew technical skills

– management of performance

– commercial awareness and business skills

– sales and marketing

– strategic business planning

– project management

– electrical engineering

– voice recognition (subtitling)

– gallery production assistants

Creative and Cultural Skills is focusing on six priority areas

■ 14‑19 provision

■ Creative Apprenticeships

■ reforming vocational qualifications

■ accreditation of informal and bespoke provision

■ collaboration with policy makers and industry partners

■ Sector Information, Advice and Guidance

Crucially, for us, it is determined to reduce the sector’s dependence on graduate entry and to diversify entry routes into employment. Robust career advice is seen as one way of supporting this change in approach. Creative Apprenticeships are also a key plank in their platform for the future. Reform of vocational qualifications is high on its agenda, particularly to make them capable of continual adaptation to new needs and to enable existing bespoke solutions to gain appropriate accreditation.



In textiles, Skillfast‑UK had set itself the following priorities before it was disbanded

■ an operative recruitment programme (in partnership with LSC, Jobcentre Plus, etc) providing tailored screening and referral of job candidates for companies, plus wage subsidy for recruits taken directly from the claimant register

■ a fast‑track apprenticeship programme to convert science graduates into technologists with industry‑specific skills and knowledge

■ kite marketing of FE and HE courses

■ development to upgrade technical, production and commercial skills of existing design teams and self‑employed designers, based on existing best practice courses

■ enhanced networking of support for young and self‑employed designers plus mentoring around business skills for fast‑growth design businesses

■ an accredited sector-specific programme on overseas sourcing and international trading

■ a UK‑wide network of specialist centres offering blended learning (a combination of formal and workplace‑based learning)

■ a programme to help textile technicians build a more flexible range of skills, building on training provided by machine manufacturers

■ a foundation degree combining contextual knowledge with technical skills

■ a programme to build training infrastructure for the apparel and knitwear industries

■ customised NVQs

■ a new NVQ for dry‑cleaning

■ better information and guidance for schools, colleges and careers advisors

■ more employer involvement in design and delivery of subsector‑relevant programmes

Other key organisations representing the sector

Advertising and print media

■ The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising

■ The British Direct Marketing Association

■ The Newspaper Publishers Association

■ The Newspaper Society

■ The Periodical Publishers Association

■ The Publishers Association



Cultural heritage

■ Museums Association

■ Museums, Libraries and Archives Council

■ Institute of Conservation

■ Institute of Field Archaeologists

■ Collections Link

Crafts

■ Crafts Council

Design

■ Design Council

■ Design Business Association

■ Design and Art Direction (D and AD)

■ Royal Society of Arts

■ Chartered Society of Designers

■ British Design Innovation

■ Anti Copying in Design

Music

■ Association of Professional Recording Services

■ Association of British Orchestras

■ Association of Independent Music

■ British Music Rights

■ Music Managers Forum

■ Musicians’ Union

■ Music Industries Association

■ National Foundation of Youth Music

■ Performing Rights Society‑Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (PRS‑MCPS) Alliance

■ Sound Sense

■ Sound Connections

■ British Phonographic Industry (BPI)

■ Music Producers Guild

■ Grass Root Music Network

Arts

■ Arts Council England

■ Creative People

■ Equity

■ Independent Theatre Council

■ National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts

■ Theatrical Management Association



■ Society of London Theatres

■ National Council for Drama Training

■ Council for Dance Education and Training

■ Professional Lighting and Sound Association

Textiles, fashion, footwear and related industries

■ ABC Awards

■ Association of Suppliers to the Clothing Industry

■ British Fashion Council

■ British Footwear Association

■ Confederation of British Wool Textiles

■ Drapers’ Company (City of London Livery Company)

■ E‑Telestia

■ Fashion Capital

■ Glove Association

■ Knowledge for Innovation Partnership

■ Merchant Taylors (City of London Livery Company)

■ North West Textile Network

■ PAA\VQ‑SET

■ SATRA

■ Society of Dyers and Colourists

■ Society of Master Shoe Repairers

■ National Childrenswear Association

■ Textile Institute

■ Worshipful Company of Saddlers (City of London Livery Company)


The college had developed productive local and regional links with all three SSCs representing this sector, as well as several other professional/trade bodies and key employers. The college still has good and close relations with the remaining two SSCs. Activity has included

■ close contact with Skillset’s approved training provider in the North West, Media Training NorthWest, including their inclusion on the Media CoVE advisory panel and collaboration on development of FDs, the ‘First Post’* curriculum and other programmes

*First Post is an on‑the‑job

training scheme for young

professionals in their first job in

the post‑production industry



■ collaborative work with Radio Regen, XFM, the BBC, Granada Media, 360 Media and a range of production and post‑production companies

■ participation in the Common Threads initiative, originally established by Skillfast‑UK


Creative and media

64

Section 6 Key targets

Significant regional and local employers

In the broadcast and media sector, Granada and the BBC are the significant employers. Independent television production companies include Mersey TV and Red Productions. In radio, Century FM and Galaxy 102 are major companies based in the region. The Guardian Media group is a major force in the print media subsector. There are many well‑known arts facilities in the region which provide employment for full‑time staff, performers and artists, including The Lowry, the new Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) centre in Liverpool, the Bridgewater Hall, and theatres and venues such as the Royal Exchange, the Royal Court and the Gateway in Chester. McCann Erickson, TWBA and JWT are key advertising companies. Successful games companies based in the region include Electronic Art, Bizarre Creations and Sony.

Major developments in the sector

The BBC has confirmed it will be moving significant production and commissioning out of London and into regions, making Manchester the largest broadcasting centre outside the capital.

The NWDA has announced the Regional Attraction Fund for high growth TV companies based in the North West and independent TV companies seeking to move production to the region.

The following major developments and potential employment growth hotspots will impact on employment in the sector

■ The Digital Technology Campus at Wavertree Technology Park

■ Omega Development in Warrington, whose target sectors include games design and development

■ Ancoats Urban Village, whose target sectors include creative and new media

There are Creative Industry Partnerships in Manchester, Liverpool, Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria.



Skills and recruitment issues in the sector

■ 15% of businesses in the sector have skill gaps compared to 13% in the region

■ The occupations most affected by skill gaps are managerial and professional

■ Loss of business to competitors and loss of quality of service are the main impact of skill gaps

■ Providing full training is by far the most common response to skill gaps

■ 13% of businesses have hard-to-fill vacancies compared to 9% of all businesses in the region

■ 8% of businesses have vacancies caused by skill shortages compared to 4% of businesses in the region

■ 63% of organisations have provided training in the last 12 months, compared with 58% of all businesses in the region

The priority gaps in the sector’s training

provision that we can fillThe main weaknesses within the sector skills shortages are the soft skills (eg teamworking and communication), basic skills, customer relations, job specific skills, management and entrepreneurial skills and lack of CPD. As a result, loss of business to competitors and loss of quality of service and difficulties in meeting customer service objectives affect the business concerned.

Providing further training is and expanding recruitment channels are, by far, the most common response to skill gaps – 63% of organisations have provided training in the last 12 months.

The workforce in the creative industries tends to be highly qualified, with high numbers of graduates estimated to be around 85%.

Action to be taken

■ Provide more relevant and flexible learning for employers

■ Provide singular modular qualifications, from one day intensive training to MA within specific fields

■ Widen provision in Foundation Degrees (FDs) and create a larger community of businesses to liaise with


Creative and media

66

Section 7 Sources of further information

The main sources of information for this profile were the websites of Skillset, Creative and Cultural Skills, and Skillfast‑UK. Further detail on all subjects covered can be accessed from those websites, often in the form of downloadable pdfs.

The key documents informing this profile, and which are recommended reading, are

Creative and Cultural Skills

■ Creative Choices: England impact and footprint

■ Creative Choices: North West impact and footprint

■ Creative and Cultural Skills: Sector Skills Agreement for the creative and cultural industries

Skillset

■ Sector Skills Assessment for the Fashion and Textiles Sector in England

■ Skillset Northern Strategic Skills Assessment

■ 2009 Employment Census

■ Strategic Skills Assessment for the Creative Media Industries (UK)

■ Strategic Skills Assessment for the Creative Media Industries in England

■ Strategic Skills Assessment for the Creative Media Industries (North of England)

■ From Recession to Recovery

■ Women in the Creative Media Industries

Skillset, Creative and Cultural Skills and e‑skills UK (jointly)

■ Strategic Skills Assessment for the Digital Economy

creative and media - the manchester college · the diversity of the creative and media sector, and...

Documents