Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC)
The Creative PEC supports growth in the UK’s creative industries through independent, authoritative research and policy advice.
Our involvement
We are a nationally and internationally-respected collaborative research centre. We are led by Newcastle University with the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), and funded by the UKRI via the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Our vision is that independent data, evidence and policy advice will enable the UK’s creative industries to thrive. It will fuel economic growth, international influence and innovative solutions to global challenges.
Creative PEC comprises the collective brainpower of our research and policy units, and our research consortium. This unique model ensures that our research strategically aligns with policy priorities. This makes our recommendations timely and relevant for the sector.
Working together
The Creative PEC is led by Newcastle University within the Business School.
Four organisations comprise the research consortium. Each organisation leads on a specific area:
- Internationalisation (Newcastle University)
- Research and Development, Innovation and Clusters (Sussex University)
- Creative Education, Skills and Talent (Work Advance)
- Arts, Cultural and Heritage sectors (University of Sheffield)
Supporting UK creative industries
The creative industries are a UK success story. They grew at double the rate of the overall UK economy between 2011 and 2019, and have been identified as a priority sector in the Government’s Industrial Strategy.
Our work supports the UK to remain a creative industries world leader. We provide the tools to make good, impactful policy decisions based on robust evidence and independent advice.
The Creative PEC supports growth in the UK’s creative industries by:
- producing State of the Nations regular thematic reporting
- commissioning and conducting research to address evidence gaps
- developing briefings and submissions to respond to priority policy issues
- embedding knowledge exchange via strategic policy engagement across government
- convening networks, including Research Fellows, Global Creative Economy Council and Industry Champions
Initiatives and activities
The Creative PEC's flagship "State of the Nations" reports cover our four priority thematic areas.
We also host a multi-disciplinary Research Fellows Network. Bringing together leading experts from around the globe, its members represent the full range of research specialisms. They facilitate knowledge exchange at Creative PEC through:
- seminars
- blogs
- discussion papers
- smaller thematic research networks
Our UK-wide ‘Industry Champions Network’ includes practitioners drawn from all parts of the sector. The champions provide on-the-ground insight to inform our research and policy work.
In addition, the Creative PEC leads the Global Creative Economy Council in partnership with the British Council. Our most recent initiative is the Creative Business Panel. It is led in partnership with CoSTAR (Convergent Screen Technologies and Performance in Realtime) Foresight Lab.
Leadership team
The Creative PEC is led by:
- Hasan Bakhshi MBE, Professor of Economics of Creative Industries (PEC Director)
- Giorgio Fazio, Professor of Macroeconomics at Newcastle University Business School (Research Director)
