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ACRE Project – Video
Caroline Chapain, Researcher, University of Birmingham: The project is really about trying
to understand why people who work in cultural and creative industries such as music, theatre,
drama, advertising or knowledge industries like higher education, finances and professional
services – why do these people come to Birmingham, what are the factors that attract them to
the city?
Lara Ratnajara, West Midlands Business Link: Birmingham is a very creative city. Over the
last couple of years we’ve seen lots of creative industries emerge throughout the
city across the kind of spectrum of visual art, film, TV, design, digital and social
media, games, broadcasting.
Caroline Chapain, Researcher, University of Birmingham: This research was very important
because actually there is more and more competition across cities around the world to attract
people who work in cultural, creative and knowledge industries and so we need to understand
what makes Birmingham stand out and why people want to come here and why now.
Caroline Chapain, Researcher, University of Birmingham: We undertook a major survey of
200 creative knowledge workers, interviewed 50 entrepreneurs and also 50 trans-national
migrants, that is people coming from Europe or other parts of the world.
Karl Binder, Adhere: When I was first introduced to the research I was the founding director
of Creative Republic and at the time we were putting together an economic case and a business
case for why Birmingham should support a creative sector as opposed to just tourism and professional
services.
Lara Ratnajara, West Midlands Business Link: The creative industries in Birmingham over
the last couple of years have really significantly grown and I think research such as this project
is really important to put that in context. We’ve seen a cycle of industry and we probably
need to reflect on what’s happened. What it also then does is put all that into context
and look at what we need to do to plan for the next 5 years because business growth obviously
is about long term propositions not just short term solutions.
Caroline Chapain, Researcher, University of Birmingham: What we’ve found out was that
cultural, creative and knowledge workers come to Birmingham for 3 main reasons. First because
some of them actually are from the city, second because they have family and friends here,
and third because they study here.
Karl Binder, Adhere: I was living in Birmingham when I started my first business and we had
clients in the public sector, particularly the education sector spread from London all
the way up to Durham so geographically Birmingham was a sensible place to be. I think Birmingham
has an edge over a lot of other cities. There’s the kind of ethos of working together and
collaborating with both social media projects and business projects. The city centre is
nice and compact with its various business regions such as professional services, creative
sector, the jewellery quarter which makes it a very easy place to get around.
Stacy Pethia, Ph.D. student, University of Birmingham: There is a lot to do – pubs,
restaurants, clubs, and for the more cultured people we have museums.
Sanjaya Grero, Ph.D. student, University of Birmingham: The local environment is exceptional
in terms of its diversity. You can go out and sample various types of cuisine.
Stacy Pethia, Ph.D. student, University of Birmingham: And there’s a big emerging market
in internet based media, on-line radio stations, different creative industries are coming on-line
and so I think it’s an exciting city.
Caroline Chapain, Researcher, University of Birmingham: These findings are very important
because what is striking in the research is that actually many of the people who work
in cultural, creative and knowledge industries have actually personal links with the city
and so it’s good to attract people to the city but also to make sure that people who
are already there stay in the city.
Karl Binder, Adhere: I am hoping that at the end of the research process we’ll be able
to come out with some strong policy arguments that will develop Birmingham as a city compared
to other European cities and learn from their experiences to support the creative sector
in Birmingham and the region.
Caroline Chapain, Researcher, University of Birmingham: Birmingham has always been known
as the heart of British manufacturing and engineering since the industrial revolution
but those activities have been in decline over the last 40 years. So the challenge for
the city today is: can it become a creative knowledge city of the future?