Creative businesses in the South East are receiving support to grow their businesses

Ambitious creative business owners in Essex, Kent and Sussex can now benefit from a special programme of support designed to help them prepare for future financial investment and help them to scale and grow their businesses.

Following funding from the UK Government last year, the Create South East Investment Readiness Programme is being launched to provide support for high-growth potential businesses in the creative industries through the development of the knowledge and skills needed to access investment.

The programme starts this Spring and runs to 2025.

“Our region is full of incredible creative talent. Create South East is here to bring our collective expertise and experience, so whether you work in architecture, design, fashion, films, games, performance or tv, let’s take your ambitions a step closer to being a business reality.” – Angels@Essex, Creative UK, Screen South, Wired Sussex – proud delivery partners of Create South East

Formed through a coalition of partners including: Kent County Council, Angels@Essex / University of Essex Innovation Centre Knowledge Gateway, Basildon Council, Brighton and Hove City Council, Creative Estuary / University of Kent Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries (ICCI), Creative UK, East Sussex County Council, Essex County Council, Medway Council, Screen South, South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP), Wired Sussex and West Sussex County Council. The programme will be delivered by: Angels@Essex, Creative UK, Screen South and Wired Sussex.

Business owners can benefit from 1-2-1 expert mentoring to help address challenges, explore opportunities and develop new networks. There will also be tailored workshops covering business foundations and discipline or sub sector- specific challenges, along with the opportunity to meet and pitch for investment as part of the national Create Growth Programme.

Successful applicants have the chance to join a curated cohort of their peers over a 9 month programme, giving them the opportunity to champion and learn from each other. The programme is free to the businesses that take part, with an estimated value of £10,000.

There will be a webinar to introduce the programme Friday 24^th Feb at 11am-12pm, please head to the event section of the website for more info.

For anyone with an ambition to successfully grow their creative business, now is the time to apply for this free government-backed programme of support. Businesses can do this by submitting an expression of interest form on the website and keep up to date with the programme by signing up to the Create South East newsletter.