The long-term survival of a representative body set up to promote Edinburgh’s creative industries rests on its ability to become self-funded, the organisation’s chair has told allmediascotland.
John Denholm, chair of Creative Edinburgh, reckons the organisation, which recently received new funding, has the potential to be even better than it was prior to being mothballed a few years ago.
However, Denholm – managing director of recruitment firm Denholm Associates – said the organisation would assess self-funding options within the next year or two in a bid to protect itself from public funding pressures.
Speaking after an event ran at the inaugural International Marketing Festival to obtain the views of Edinburgh’s ‘creative community’ on the future agenda of the body, Denholm said: “I think Creative Edinburgh can be even better, to be honest. The creative industries have changed and obviously everything these days is digital.
“It means the globe has become smaller and Edinburgh needn’t feel itself to be on the periphery of things so much as it was perhaps ten years ago.
“The opportunities for creative industry companies networking together and becoming part of a promotional body are much bigger than when Creative Edinburgh was born ten or so years ago.”
The return of Creative Edinburgh follows new funding from the City of Edinburgh Council. On the issue of the cash injection, Denholm – the former chair of Leith Agency advertising agency – added: “It’s a decent amount of money but it’s pump-priming for an organisation I’d be very, very keen to see become self-funded.
“Obviously, in this day and age with pressure on public finances, no-one wants a handout.”
Before being mothballed, Creative Edinburgh hosted a number of speaker events, plus a dedicated website comprising news and comment, which is set to return this autumn.
“The next few weeks we will be honing down exactly what the organisation is going to do and what its proposition is,” said Denholm.
“Certainly, by the end of the year, Creative Edinburgh will be running and providing services to the industry.”
