Digital and Creative

The digital and creative sector is a driver of innovation and growth in the city region.

Fast-growing and extremely desirable amongst graduate choices, it is exciting and innovative, with a number of outstanding clusters across the region.

The region’s digital and creative sector is characterised by a collaborative approach, and particular specialism in sub-sectors including software development across health, education, games and tech for good, in addition to film and TV, music and design.

Businesses growing here have access to industrial-scale high performance computing facilities at nearby Daresbury, home to the STFC Hartree Centre. We also have some of the densest clusters of manufacturing and life science businesses in the UK on our doorstep.

Creative and digital activity is widespread across the region, but companies cluster around identifiable hubs including Baltic Triangle, the Knowledge Quarter and Sci-Tech Daresbury. Emerging creative and cultural activity focuses on Ten Streets and the Fabric District.

As with all of our work, our support for the creative and digital sector is informed by a number of priorities, including:

• We develop programmes to support businesses – especially scale-ups – through specialist initiatives like LCR Activate
• We inform skills provision through our work with the Combined Authority and educators in the region on the skills and talent needed by businesses
• We facilitate access to international markets by organising and sharing private sector-led international trade missions
• We support place marketing and inward investment with specialist sector knowledge, making the most of the City Region’s unique creative and cultural landscape
• We create initiatives like Tech Climbers and events such as the annual Digital Summit to create new opportunities for businesses