Big Creative UK Summit: Investment in the West Midlands
30 January 2025
Celebration of West Midlands Create Growth Programme
Big Creative UK Summit: Investment in the West Midlands was hosted by Create Central Champion & Good Morning Britain newsreader Marverine Cole
We celebrated creative businesses who have completed Create Growth Programme delivered by Creative UK, linking them up with investors
Delegates enjoyed a fireside chat between Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands and Creative UK CEO, Caroline Norbury OBE
More than 150 people from across the West Midlands’ thriving creative industries attended The Big Creative UK Summit: Investment in the West Midlands to celebrate the businesses that have completed the DCMS Create Growth Programme delivered by Creative UK in partnership with West Midlands Combined Authority and Create Central.
The Create Growth Programme, which supports creative businesses to become investment ready, has recently had its funding for 2025 confirmed by Lisa Nandy as part of a £60 million boost for creative industries.
The event included an expo of businesses and a packed agenda featuring a fireside chat between Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands and Creative UK CEO, Caroline Norbury OBE. The West Midlands summit is one of a series of regional summits being delivered by Creative UK across the country which will culminate in a national summit in London on 4 March at which Robert Peston is the keynote speaker.
Speaking about the West Midlands summit, Caroline Norbury OBE, Creative UK CEO said, “I’m thrilled Creative UK will be showcasing some of the most exciting cultural and creative companies to have come out of the West Midlands at our upcoming investment summit. The region is thriving, and it has been a pleasure to witness the ingenuity and innovation of the 50 cultural and creative companies that have been part of the West Midlands Create Growth Programme. Our WM Regional Summit, in partnership with Create Central and the West Midlands Combined Authority celebrates these companies and the dynamic individuals behind them, supporting them to take the next step, and showcasing them to investors and decision makers from across the region. I’m excited to see how much more they will flourish once investors see what they have to offer.”
Ed Shedd, Chair of Create Central, said “It is fantastic to see the creative businesses that have benefitted from the West Midlands Create Growth Programme on their journey toward investment-readiness. One of Create Central's key missions is to increase opportunities to monetise content, charting pathways to markets that not only foster a business pipeline for scalability but also ensure sustained growth. As a future-facing cluster, and with Creative UK as our delivery partner, we are developing the right market conditions to allow businesses to scale and grow, supported with specialised expertise and financial backing.”
