Skillset Expands Creative Industries Footprint

The industry body which supports skills and training for people and businesses in the UK creative media industries has now expanded its footprint to include representation of the advertising industry.
The inclusion of advertising, with immediate effect, sees Skillset take responsibility for 60 per cent of the creative industries. Its sectoral coverage now has a combined portfolio that contributes more than £21.5 billion to the economy each year, and the move is expected to give employers a stronger lobbying voice on skills issues for the future.
The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), the trade association and professional institute for UK agencies will be spearheading the initiative with Skillset, and providing advisory board support on industry statistics, training gaps, and links to HE.
Skillset assumes responsibility for representing the advertising industry from creative and cultural skills, by mutual agreement.
Skillset will now work together with the advertising industry to create a strategy for how it can best serve the 13,000 companies and almost 250,000 individuals working in the UK’s world-beating advertising industry which generates £6.2 billion annually for the UK economy. Skillset also represents TV, film, radio, interactive media, animation, computer games, facilities, photo imaging, publishing and fashion and textiles.
Skillset’s Chair, Clive Jones, said: "This is a win-win for advertising and the sectors already in Skillset’s footprint that have close supply chain associations and cross-over with advertising. It has, at times, felt as if we had an empty chair at our table and we are now very excited to welcome advertising into our footprint. We look forward to working closely with the industry to determine how we can use our synergies to get the best outcome for advertising and wider UK creative media sector.
"This will include working closely with the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and pursuing further engagement with higher education on projects such as the accreditation of high performing advertising courses."
IPA's Director General, Hamish Pringle commented: "We're delighted to be sitting at the Skillset table with the other leading sectors of the creative industries which are central to the future of the UK economy, whatever the complexion of the new Government. We look forward to playing our part in helping identify and nurture the very best talent for us all through our 'Diagonal Thinking' project, online learning qualifications and other professional development tools."
(BMcN/GK)