East Sussex joins bid for creative sector funding

On Tuesday (September 19), Cllr Rupert Simmons, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for economy, signed off on plans for the authority to join a consortium of councils bidding for funding from the government’s Creative Growth Programme.

If successful in their bid, the consortium would receive £1.27m to provide business support to help grow small businesses in the creative sector, as well as to develop a network of potential investors.

This support would be targeted to: film, TV, video, radio and photography businesses; design and designer fashion businesses; music, performing and visual arts businesses; and IT, software and computer services.

A successful bid would also mean local businesses within these sectors would be eligible to seek financial support from a £7m national fund.

As well as ESCC, the consortium is expected to include Kent County Council, Essex County Council, West Sussex County Council, Brighton and Hove City Council and Medway Council. Kent County Council would be the lead partner.

In approving the proposals, Cllr Simmons said: “It is very definitely in the interest of our objectives in the creative and digital sector in our county and therefore is thoroughly complementary to our primary objectives.”

According to officers: “The programme will support local pre-scale up creative businesses to grow, increase employment opportunities for residents, make available a proportion of the £7m additional funding to our creative businesses and start to build a South East investment community with an appetite to invest in creative businesses.”