Creative industries need right 'skills, knowledge and attitude'

says Arts Skills Director.

The future success of the UK's creative and cultural industries depends on supplying the right blend of skills, says Liz O'Sullivan, Industry Skills Director for the Literary, Visual and Performing Arts.
 
Addressing the Creative Education and Education for Creativity seminar in Manchester this week, she said that good business, information technology and communication skills were vital to a successful and productive creative economy.  
 
'Perhaps the most awesome task we have before us is to find people with the right mix of skills, knowledge and attitude to make our industries thrive, not just now, but for decades to come. 
 
Does education and training provide knowledge and understanding of business, intellectual property, finance, marketing – those generic and industry-wide skills that are needed throughout the creative sector? 
 
In many cases, the answer is no.  While we have a world-class creative community and a world class conservatoire tradition, we have not replicated that expertise into other parts of the commercial or subsidised sectors through our education offer.

Creative & Cultural Skill's role is to act as broker between the sector and education and training providers to ensure that the training offer is properly fit for purpose as the business of our sector continues to grow and develop.'
 
She told delegates that Creative & Cultural Skills was responding to an employer-led agenda for better skills with a wide range of programmes and initiatives. These included Creative Apprenticeships, which will provide a work-based learning pathway in areas such as technical theatre, cultural venue administration and creative IT. 
 
Specialist career advice and guidance was also in pipeline, along with an overhaul of qualifications and standards for the sector and action to diversify the creative and cultural workforce.