Nick Clegg creative pledge given cautious welcome from Bristol Media
Bristol Media chairman Paul Appleby admits he retains some reservations about the government's support for the creative industries despite Nick Clegg promising his backing yesterday.
At an event in Bristol yesterday the deputy prime minister pledged to make life easier for small creative companies and said the government would focus more on the creative industries outside London.
Appleby welcomed Clegg's comments but said he would wait to see how the government's creative support will manifest itself.
"I do think there are still some issues around how the government will be able to provide the concrete support that creative SMEs need in order to flourish, as bidding for funding from the likes of Regional Growth Fund, Technology Strategy Board etc is still a demanding exercise," Appleby said.
"The success of the microelectronics clusters provide a good model, though, and by brokering the dialogue with the Local Enterprise Partnership, and acting on the Enterprise Zone, Bristol Media can play a role in economic develop for it's membership.
"Like Ed Vaisey, Nick left Bristol with a good sense of it's collaborative potential, and I hope we'll continue the dialogue.