Platform recently worked with BOP Consulting to evaluate the impact that Stoke and Staffordshire’s moving image cluster has had over the first two years of its life and its great to now publish that final report here.

It’s been an invaluable exercise and having that impartial, external view of Platform has provided some important points for discussion as we look to take the cluster forward.

The cluster.

We’ve seen some notable successes, with our companies being recognised on a national and international level for their work, the screen sector and creative industries as a whole growing rapidly and some exciting new projects being developed.

We face some real challenges however, and it’s interesting to see this report alongside the recent Creative Industries Council visit to the city and the outcomes of that.

Strategy is key.

The potential of the city and our digital-creative sector is huge but unless we work in a more strategic, connected way with our partners in the city region, that potential will go unfulfilled. Growth strategies have to incorporate the digital-creative sector fully if they are going to be relevant to the economic realities of the next five years. As a city region we have to learn from and be proud of our past, but we can’t live in it.

The digital-creative industries have become the new powerhouse of the global economy and that works at a macro, as well as a micro level. The World Economic Forum report on the future of jobs highlights how local, regional and national economies will be impacted by the Fourth industrial Revolution (4IR). And its not just about robots and AI – 4IR is far more than that. It is reconfiguring global trade, skills needs and how we think about economic growth.

Stoke-on-Trent’s future.

That might seem like a long way from Stoke but it’s not. Supporting our digital-creative industries and the skills needed to see our ambitions through must be at the forefront of all our thinking. If we want to see a vibrant, creative and entrepreneurial city then clusters like Platform are vital.

See the report below:

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