Government backs creative and finance conference

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said today that the inaugural Creativity & Business International Network (c&binet) will take place in Hertfordshire between 26 and 28 October 2009. It will give people from different creative fields, and from commercial and business communities, the opportunity to share ideas and discuss new initiatives.

C&binet has been developed as part of the Government's "Creative Britain: New Talents for the New Economy" policy push, which is aimed growing the UK's creative industries.

The Government said that an influential international panel will act as ambassadors to ensure c&binet addresses the issues that face creative businesses. A group of these ambassadors will meet in Liverpool next month to set the agenda for the first forum next year.

Confirmed ambassadors currently include; Peter Molyneux OBE, managing director of Lionhead Studios, Lucian Grainge, chairman of Universal Music, Tony Orsten, chief executive at twofour54, and Charles Chao, president of Sina.com.

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said: "Britain has always been the natural home of the creative industries and we aim to cement that by establishing this prestigious international conference, which in time we hope will be the Davos for creative businesses.

"In the UK, creative industries make a major contribution to the economy, employing more than two million people and contributing £60bn a year. And while the last decade has seen the UK's creative industries grow at twice the rate of the wider economy, there are real pressures both from international competitors and wider economic conditions."

This article was first published on Media Week