The British Business Bank announces the accreditation of Creative Growth Finance as a delivery partner under the Growth Guarantee Scheme.
Creative Growth Finance (CGF) is Creative UK’s specialist £35m debt fund, which provides growth capital “to high-potential smaller businesses in the UK’s creative sector.”
The Growth Guarantee Scheme will enhance CGF’s ability to “support creative businesses, allowing them to offer more flexible financing solutions, and provide more smaller businesses in the creative industries with access to the funding they need to scale and succeed.”
CGF supports smaller businesses across “different creative sectors, including gaming, film and television, marketing, design and more, with loans ranging from £100k up to £1m.”
The CGF fund was created in 2019 to “address the unique funding challenges faced by creative businesses.”
As confirmed by a recent report from Creative UK and the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, “benchmarked against the SME Finance Monitor survey, creative organizations are on average four times more likely to face obstacles in accessing the finance needed to grow.”
This is partly because traditional funding routes can sometimes overlook creative businesses, which are “driven by Intellectual Property rather than tangible assets.”
Creative Growth Finance bridges this gap, “offering investment and strategic support to help creative smaller businesses scale, build resilience, and achieve long-term success.”
The UK’s creative industries are described as an economic powerhouse, growing “1.5 times faster than the economy as a whole, and have been identified by the Government as a priority sector for its forthcoming Industrial Strategy.”
Creative UK was established in 2021 by “bringing Creative England and the Creative Industries Federation together and aims to use creativity to shape the UK’s social, cultural, and economic future.”
Creative UK is the national membership body “for the cultural and creative industries.”
The team is based across the UK, and “works closely with Local and Combined Authorities to support creative talent, whilst delivering hands-on support and investment, including the Creative Growth Finance investment fund, run in partnership with Triodos Bank.”
The British Business Bank’s support to UK creative businesses “was worth around £850m in the calendar year 2023.”
This represents around 11% of the total UK flow across the Bank’s core programs, “more than the share of the wider creative and cultural sector in both the UK business population (10%) and in terms of GVA (6-7%).”
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said:
“At home and abroad, our world-class creative industries are growing economically as much as they are in popularity. I want to see even more growth, putting more money in people’s pockets.”
They further noted:
“This accreditation from the British Business Bank will unlock millions of pounds in financing for the sector – a sector we have prioritised as a key growth driver in our industrial strategy as part of our Plan for Change – helping it continue to go from strength to strength, breaking down the barriers to expansion some creative industries face, and supporting them to find the funding they need to scale and grow.”
Reinald de Monchy, Co-Chief Banking Officer, British Business Bank, said:
“Creative industries is one of the Industrial Strategy growth-driving sectors, and as the UK’s economic development bank, we are central to the government’s growth mission and are already part of the engine room of the modern industrial strategy.”
They also mentioned:
“The accreditation of Creative Growth Finance under the Growth Guarantee Scheme demonstrates our further commitment to the UK’s creative sector. The creative industries are not only a major contributor to the UK economy but also provide tremendous cultural value at home and abroad.”
Caroline Norbury OBE, Chief Executive of Creative UK, said:
“We are delighted to be working with the British Business Bank in support of our landmark fund, Creative Growth Finance, delivered in partnership with Triodos Bank. The Creative Industries are bursting with potential – already growing at 1.5 times the rate of the wider economy, despite known challenges in accessing finance.”
They added:
“For too long, many creative SMEs have been held back by a disproportionate – and often over-inflated – risk profile associated with funding IP, which is the bread and butter of the sector. We know firsthand the value of investing in ideas: our portfolio companies are exceeding benchmarks, with productivity at twice the national average, and revenues increasing by an average of 75% per year. In backing our fund, the British Business Bank are supporting the sector to keep growing, and providing a huge boost to the creative economy.”
