Government funding boosts Welsh media industry

A major government investment could create 2,000 new jobs in an effort to make Cardiff a global hub for media innovation and production.

£22.2m of funding has been secured through the Strength in Places Fund (SIPF), as part of the UK government’s Innovation Strategy, which sets out plans to make the UK a global hub for innovation by 2035.

This comes after a successful funding bid by media.cymru, an organisation led by Cardiff University, that brings together 24 media production, broadcast, technology, university and local leadership partners to develop media innovation.

The Cardiff region has one of the strongest media sector growth rates in the UK, attracting one in eight of all new UK jobs in film and TV, with this funding expected to add £236m to the local economy.

Secretary of state for Wales, Simon Hart, said: ‘The Cardiff area has long been established as a leading centre of media production, innovation and the creative industries.

‘This significant backing from the UK Government will help develop the region still further, driving job creation and growth in both English and Welsh-language media and creating a truly global creative hub for Wales.’

The project aims to create more innovative films in the region and nearly triple the productivity growth rate of the region, designing activities to respond to emerging technologies, increase small businesses’ capacity for innovation and address skills needs for the future.

Media.cymru will aim to deliver solutions to challenges and opportunities for the Welsh media sector in areas such as sustainability, bilingual production, diversity and inclusion, and tourism and technology.

It will also deliver new infrastructure including a virtual studio, and an R&D pipeline that enables the best ideas to become new products, services and experiences ready for market.

Cllr Russell Goodway, Cardiff Council cabinet member for investment and development, said: ‘Cardiff’s media production sector has played a pivotal role in the city’s recent growth, and will be critical in our future growth as one of our most competitive clusters. As a consortium partner of this UKRI Strength in Places bid, we welcome this investment in infrastructure, research and development in emerging technologies.

‘As this sector is growing at pace due to the global demand for content and media production, it’s timely that this consortium will focus on supporting skills needs and opportunities in the Cardiff City Region, to further establish inclusive growth in our World Class industry.’

In related news, people across Wales will have the chance to become owners of at-risk local assets with the launch of the UK government’s Community Ownership Fund.

Photo by Matt Chesin