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Posters highlighting the contribution made to the UK economy by the publishing industry are going up in central London sites, marking the launch of the Creative Industries Council's new strategy for growth across the creative sector.
The CIC's report, Create UK, launched this week, has made a series of recommendations to aid such growth. These include introducing new fiscal incentives for investment in the creation of Intellectual Property in the UK; introducing education on IP within the national curriculum; and supporting the interests of the UK's creative industries with relevant international bodies.
Business secretary Vince Cable and culture secretary Sajid Javid launched the report on Wednesday, announcing £16m in funding for boosting skills in the sector. Among projects included is a £150,000 grant over two years for a project led by Oxford Brookes' Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies, running bespoke training programmes for a local publishing cluster including major houses such as Wiley, Taylor & Francis and Elsevier, but also SME publishers such as Barefoot Books, Richmond ELT and the African Books Collective.
The poster campaign will see 100 large-scale posters, divided between seven creative industries, going up in central London, as well as running in London's Metro newspaper throughout July. The poster devoted to the publishing industry carries an image of J K Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Bloomsbury), proclaims: "The publishing industry contributes £4.7bn to the UK economy", and directs readers to website thecreativeindustries.co.uk for more information.
Commenting on the Create UK strategy, Publishers Association chief executive Richard Mollet said: “The creative industries are a true British success story, with a value that goes beyond just our considerable economic punch. The publishing industry is proud to support efforts by the Government to promote the success of the UK’s creative sector both at home and abroad.”
Dominic Knight, chairman of Palgrave Macmillan and PA president, commented: “British publishing is a global leader in inspiring readers, driving innovation, and underpinning education and research. It makes a solid contribution to the United Kingdom’s domestic and export performance. The Creative Industries Council strategy will allow publishing, together with all of the creative sectors, to maintain its success in the twenty-first century and to continue inspiring the world.”
Sue Miller of the Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies, speaking about the skills training grant awarded for publishing, said: “We are really delighted to have been awarded this funding. The publishing industry is in the midst of enormous changes; the move from print to digital has opened up a wealth of exciting opportunities and new links are being forged with a range of other media companies, such as in app development, gaming and TV and film.
“This will enable publishers to upskill their staff in new technologies, workflow practices and publishers’ creative, digital and entrepreneurial skills. This will, in turn, ensure that Oxfordshire stays at the cutting edge of the publishing industry and will help expand the sector in our region. It’s a great example of how, by competitive businesses working together, we have been able to achieve something that none of us alone would have done."