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The Creative Toolkit for 2014 – 23 Nottingham, UK
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The Creative Quarter Nottingham, UK
NOTTINGHAM CITY CENTRE
Our Vision The Place To Be For Creative Businesses And Great City Living
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Antenna
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Sneinton Market
13 Nottingham Contemporary
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Victoria Leisure Centre
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GameCity 1
14 Proposed Skills Hub
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The Factory
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Capital FM Arena
15 Proposed Biosciences Expansion
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Broadway
10 St. Mary’s Church
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Cobden Chambers
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Rough Trade
12 Galleries of Justice
16 BBC
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A place for...
A place with...
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BARS / SHOPS / CAFES
INCUBATORS ACCELERATORS EXCHANGE CLUSTERS CENTRES PLATFORMS
1GIG!
RESOURCES RESEARCH TALKS NETWORKS COMMUNITY HUBS EVENTS CO-WORKING
EASY-IN, EASY-OUT DROP-IN, DROP-OUT MESSY SPACE CINEMAS & VENUES & BARS & GALLERIES & HANGOUTS & GIGS
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Impact So Far
The Creative Quarter Initiative was launched by The Vice-President of The EU Antonio Tajani in December 2012. We have made a lot happen since then. Here is a summary of what has been achieved so far.
ÂŁ519k
of Creative Quarter loans awarded to businesses in The CQ supporting them to grow.
45 ESTABLISHED & EMERGING businesses took part in The CQ PopUp Centre.
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CQ-based businesses have been supported through the City Council’s vacant shop grant scheme.
businesses have been supported to install higher-speed broadband to their offices and have benefitted from The CQ Connect and Technology grants.
Establishing and growing The Creative Quarter Company staff and team to coordinate activity and to promote the area.
Construction work commenced on the refurbishment of the Sneinton Market units in October 2014, with construction work due to start on The Factory at Dakeyne Street before the end of 2014. Both will provide a variety of workspace for the digital and creative sectors.
Growth Deal Funding secured for the Skills Hub on Broadmarsh East site and the Bioscience expansion building alongside BioCity.
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CQ-based businesses have participated in the Growth 100 programme.
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The number of apprenticeships in The Creative Quarter. 1 in every 6 businesses in The CQ now has an apprentice.
Rough Trade and GameCity have now established themselves in The CQ with Rough Trade opening November 2014 and GameCity1 opening March 2015.
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businesses engaged with and took part in The Articulture project to ‘green The CQ’.
businesses in The CQ have been awarded Nottingham Technology grants, creating 269 jobs and safeguarding 61 jobs.
Cobden Chambers a new retail incubator for the city is already open, with phase two opening in November 2014.
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CQ-based businesses have benefitted from The Creative Quarter New Business Rates Relief Scheme.
PHASE ONE of public realm improvements has been completed in St. Mary’s Gate, Broad Street and Stoney Street.
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PHASE TWO commencing Autumn 2014.
A regular calendar of events has been established in The Creative Quarter, including LightNight, Indie City Fashion show, Creative Quarter Markets, Nottinghamshire Pride, Lace Squared, Hockley Hustle, Christmas in The Quarter, as well as a range of meet-ups, networking events and business support events.
The Creative Quarter Delivering Our Vision
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Over the past decade, both across the globe and locally, the economy and society has been changing. Technology is changing the way people live and work, as well as consume, and this poses numerous opportunities as well as inherent threats. While traditional industries are in decline, what is emerging in certain places, to replace traditional economic output, is the rise of creative, technology and innovation businesses. This is certainly true for Nottingham, and it heralds a marked change in, and rebalancing of, the city’s economy. The emergence of these industries as a leading economic driver also reveals a marked trend towards a different way of urban living and working. This is the knowledge economy writ large, and besides ideas and the flair to execute and monetise them, a laptop and a Wi-Fi connection are the entry requirements for business start-ups. As well as the more traditional office, work is done in cafés, trains, living rooms or parks. This move towards the city space as a living room and work space is another demonstration of the latent demand for more social outdoor space and opportunities to meet, and enjoy and relax in the city’s great ‘outdoors’. Successful creative places are living ecologies of great businesses, with the right conditions to attract and support them - from coffee shops to business space and attractive open spaces, and events. To attract businesses into The Creative Quarter and to help them flourish we need to set the conditions for success, and provide the best possible environment for them, at every stage of their growth. We want to ensure they have the best possible chance of succeeding. This is the challenge and the opportunity for The Creative Quarter, and Nottingham. It is the inspiration behind Nottingham’s visionary Growth Plan. The Creative Quarter’s vision is inspired by this new world and we already have the key ingredients for our success. This document is our framework to make those ingredients deliver for the future of the city and its people.
This framework is a response to this new way of living and working and this new kind of approach to urban development. We know that creative people are drawn to work in interesting places with like-minded people. To achieve this environment in Nottingham’s Creative Quarter is key to attracting visitors and businesses. This Plan aims to make the best of Nottingham’s ‘bone structure’ to provide the right, light touch to shaping place and space.
‘The success of The Creative Quarter is down to many people and organisations, not just The Creative Quarter Company. While they are the stewards of the vision and the Framework, everyone needs to do their bit to achieve the vision. The City Council will ensure The Creative Quarter company have the powers and freedoms they need to try new things, take risks and to innovate. The company has to be able to respond quickly to changes in the area, and be agile and flexible. The Creative Quarter is Nottingham’s test bed for new approaches and innovative ways of thinking about entrepreneurship, city design and urban space.’ Jon Collins, Leader, Nottingham City Council
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For business to invest The CQ needs to: •
Be a vibrant place that offers a range of places to eat, drink, shop and socialise.
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To create an attractive environment, The CQ has to: •
Offer a range of ‘access-to-finance’ schemes (grants, loans, venture capital) and access to other potential investment to help entrepreneurs get ideas off the ground and businesses to start-up and develop.
Become more of a people-centred place, a managed ecology, responding to the diverse needs of Nottingham businesses and workforce, and offering both small and ambitious approaches to putting people at the heart of our streets.
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Give access to great people, good advice, mentoring and business support, ideally from other entrepreneurs who have been through the process of growing companies themselves.
Create the conditions for evolution, emergence and change - in buildings and spaces - with responsive, light touch and iterative planning frameworks and processes that allows for adaptation as situations change.
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Take risks and experiment, especially in public space, and create the conditions for temporary uses and imaginative use of vacant and redundant space.
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Use the area’s considerable resources, hidden assets and creativity to respond to change and design for growth.
Have a great talent pool with people who bring the precise skills a business, company or entrepreneur needs.
Who is creating The Creative Quarter? We all are! This ambition will only be achieved through Collaboration. To create this environment and fashion this vision is a multi-faceted task. It involves individuals, organisations and agencies all working in concert towards this shared vision and set of goals. The Creative Quarter Project is simply a largescale collaborative project to transform The Creative Quarter and, in the process, create economic growth and transformative change for the rest of the city and the wider region. This Framework lays down some key principles but it is open and iterative. It outlines some key objectives and a vision for change, inviting our partners to contribute to making it happen.
It is not prescriptive and allows scope for shifts of direction, adaptation and flexible responses to the wider environment in order to achieve the bigger vision for The CQ. It will be constantly refreshed to reflect the energy, imagination and creativity of all of the partners (organisations, businesses and individuals) who are creating The Creative Quarter. Creative Quarter Company Board
In A Nutshell
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Our Vision The place to be for creative business and great city living.
Our Priority Sectors Are Life Sciences.
Creative Industries.
New technology.
Independent Retail and Leisure.
Social Enterprise.
Our Strategic Aims Creative Enterprise Supporting Enterprise and Innovation.
Creative People Developing a highly skilled and diverse workforce.
Creative Place Shaping a dynamic place (with the best possible infrastructure and a wellconnected community).
A marketing plan that promotes the area for visitors, residents and business tourists.
A communications plan that positions the area locally, regionally, nationally, internationally.
Underpinned By An enabling light-touch regulatory framework which supports creativity, innovation and disruption.
Impact: By 2023, we will have
10k
40%
30%
75%
Created 10,000 additional jobs.
Increased the number of businesses in the area by 40%.
Increased footfall into the area by 30%.
Regenerated the area, so it is a thriving neighbourhood, with 75% occupancy of commercial space and 80% occupancy of residential accommodation.
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What you said...
Nottingham has had a creative quarter for a long time. The Lace Market was, during the British Empire, the centre of the world’s lace industry. Incredible inventions, designs, and innovations were created here, and these businesses provided thousands of jobs for local people. Famous industrialists like William Lee and Richard Arkwright made this area the commercial heart of the city. Hockley, Sneinton have similarly always been areas of intense cultural and community activity. If we’re honest though, Nottingham like many UK cities has lost some of that fire, that focus on designing and making things. The Creative Quarter project is an attempt to address that. It therefore builds on
the industrial history of the area, it sets out to address its decline, and it seeks to build on its modern strengths - the 21st-century design and manufacturing Sectors: creative industries, software design, filmmaking, music production, bio-science, medi-science and clean technologies. Very simply, Nottingham’s Creative Quarter will buzz with excitement and vibrancy, and it will be a place where entrepreneurism, innovation, art, culture, diversification of ideas, and the advancement of technology can come together in a way that is unique, not just in Nottingham, but the UK. That is our aim. Nick McDonald, Portfolio Holder for Growth and Jobs, Nottingham City Council
I really enjoyed being a part of The Creative Quarter PopUp Centre, I couldn’t have imagined how inspirational a project it would be. I’ve had the chance to showcase my products alongside local designers and makers. It’s been a 100% positive experience for me. I am now taking on my own unit and the CQ PopUp helped me to take that leap.
Nottingham’s industrial heritage can be drawn upon and shouted about. Nottingham lace, the city’s underground caves, the textiles, the mining, the architecture. There is so much potential for Nottingham with its hidden gems, but it will take strong vision and good communication to promote this hidden heritage. Sarah Manton, Designer
Ele Corriette, Elifair
The Creative Quarter needs to take swift, smart and effective actions, unencumbered by protracted decision making mechanisms. Let’s not be fearful of change, innovate and take some risks to create an exciting future together. Steve Mapp, Broadway’s Chief Executive
Create spaces for collaboration collaborations of businesses - coming out of their little corners to help each other. Bring different sectors together for events and facilitated and informal meetings between the sectors with a shared purpose. Alun Edwards, Studio Output
The Creative Quarter needs to be a ‘green’ quarter. We want Nottingham to become a beacon for sustainable urban agriculture that provides for everything from at-scale community growing using climate friendly techniques contiguous to cutting edge, high intensity vertical farming within a dense urban landscape. It is our vision to immerse the built environment of The Creative Quarter in an edible urban landscape. Penney Poyzer and Shona Munro, Nourish Associates
The Creative Quarter Initiative embraces any activity that contributes to the overall noise in the area - design, art, software, retail, craft, manufacturing, etc - be it business or charity, not-forprofit or hard-nosed venture capital. Ultimately, The Creative Quarter is all about focus, the concentration of activity that allows new ideas to spark because like-minded people are rubbing shoulders everyday and generating those new ideas. I believe companies will be more successful in the future in The Creative Quarter environment. Glenn Crocker, Managing Director, BioCity
We have to set the conditions, an environment that people and businesses want to be in, a place with wi-fi, enjoyment, arts and cafés, a place people want to be. It will need nurturing, and tweaking here and there, but we should have the confidence that others will do the rest. Patricia Brown, Central (Facilitator of The Big Think on The CQ, February 2014)
We need to develop a stronger sense of place. The Lace Market and Hockley is too neglected, lighting and signage is poor, it just doesn’t feel safe. Small projects can set the standard rooftop landscaping and pop-up window displays in empty shops can transform once dreary places. Nottingham lends itself to street life by being pedestrianised, let’s take advantage of this. We want vibrancy, European style restaurants, good transport links and The CQ to be a hive of cultural activity within Nottingham. Debbie Bryan, Designer-Maker, Debbie Bryan Studio and Shop
Youngsters can be developed early on to become innovators. Talking to school leavers about their options is crucial, but the support for school leavers in careers advice is lacking. There is a gap in the “inspiration agenda”. We have to tap into inspiration younger. There needs to be more space and activity in The CQ for young people. Nigel Cooke, One Nottingham
GameCity has grown from an idea upstairs in an indian restaurant, into an international festival and is about to make the next leap in its evolution. The ‘City’ part as always been just as important to us as the ‘Game’ in our title - so it’s vital that we’re embedded into the heart of the real Nottingham. Being based in the CQ for us does that, placing the new GameCity in the centre of the most vibrant, emergent cultural scene in the UK. Iain Simons, Director, Game City Festival
Find out more about Our Vision:
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Aims
Creative Enterprise
To foster enterprise to create employment and prosperity.
Creative People
To develop a workforce with the talent and skills to power the businesses in The CQ.
Creative Place
To make The Creative Quarter an attractive place with the right infrastructure and atmosphere for business location and visitors.
These aims are all inter-connected and symbiotic. A creative place is about its people, those who develop businesses and social activity that makes visible a creative pulse, drawing in like-minded folk through a lively artistic, social, business, retail and leisure scene. The Creative Quarter has the right combination of people, place and economic activity to sustain a living, creative ecosystem: a unique economic cluster with its own atmosphere and character. The Creative Quarter Company’s role is to gently manage this creative ecology in The CQ, while still allowing it to retain an edge and disruptive energy.
CREATIVE CLUSTERS
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Creative Enterprise
We are working to create a great business environment in The Creative Quarter where enterprise can flourish.
To achieve this we will:
Support existing CQ businesses to grow and become sustainable through high-quality business support programmes.
Attract new businesses into the area through a pro-active inward investment approach.
Develop a diverse suite of ‘access to finance’ schemes appropriate to the priority sectors needs.
Nurture a pipeline of new businesses who are likely to locate in The CQ through our partner organisations.
‘The Creative Quarter gives us this environment where people who are doing various things businesswise, or not even businesswise, come together and share ideas and do things together. We occasionally have our socials after business sessions. And it really helps - this exchanging of ideas. It takes things forward somehow much quicker.’ Natalia Dovlatova, Platelet Solutions, Participant on NBG programme
Find out more about Creative Enterprise in The CQ:
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‘App Institute was intentionally founded in The Creative Quarter. One of my first jobs was on Stoney Street and my own first home was in the Lace Market so I have fond memories of both working and living in the area. I am passionate about this area.’ Ian Naylor, Founding Director, App Institute and Creative Quarter Company Board member
CQ Case Study
Sygnature Discovery helps BioTech and pharmaceutical companies to be more efficient and flexible in carrying out drug discovery research.
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Situated in Nottingham’s Creative Quarter Sygnature Discovery is the UK’s largest independent provider of integrated drug discovery. The company provides the highest quality scientific expertise to pharmaceutical, biotech companies and academic departments worldwide and accelerates the development of new medicines to combat debilitating conditions such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, respiratory failure and heart disease.
Sygnature has built a reputation for scientific excellence which attracts highly experienced medicinal chemists, bioscientists and computational chemists to live and work in Nottingham. By providing access to novel technologies and innovative ways of working they deliver on complex medical research projects in collaboration with academics and top scientists based in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies around the world.
Founded in BioCity ten years ago by CEO Dr Simon Hirst, Sygnature has experienced rapid growth and now employs nearly 100 talented scientists plus additional support staff. As part of the growth plan the company re-invested £2.5 million to create four spacious and superbly equipped modern laboratories, built to the company’s unique and precise specifications.
Simon Hirst talks here about the decision to be based at BioCity, ‘It was a carefully considered business decision to locate Sygnature Discovery in the East Midlands over other UK cities with medical research hubs, and specifically in BioCity, which is now part of Nottingham’s Creative Quarter. The infrastructure at BioCity meant that the laboratory set-up was very efficient and most
importantly there was space for the company to expand. Nottingham’s Creative Quarter has proved a popular choice with excellent communication links and plenty of attractions in the city’. Significantly Sygnature celebrated ten years in business in October 2014 with a symposium to celebrate worldclass science. Distinguished guest speakers were invited from around the country to discuss the achievements, developments and challenges in the modern drug discovery industry. The successful all-day event was held in Nottingham and attended by over 200 delegates. Commenting Dr Simon Hirst said, ‘The company has experienced significant growth over the past ten years and we have plans to continue to expand in size and capability range and enter new global markets’.
CQ Case Study
Antenna-based Legendary Games is one of the firms that has already benefited from £43,000 from N’Tech and are one of the few companies in the world that is building multiplayer, multiplatform games (games that can be played at any time, from any device with a web browser).
Legendary Games was founded in 2010 by Ewan Lamont and Dr Gavin Rummery; both with a background in the PC and console video game industry. Their vision was to build a company that carves a niche in the growing online games market by making applications that work not just on PCs but on any device with a browser, including games consoles, mobile phones and tablets even e-readers. Legendary has also been able to offer their unique technology and skills to a plethora of business clients offering gamification and web enhancements to its customers. The business currently employs six people and is set to expand in the next year. The N’Tech grant will help strengthen the team and tackle specific challenges - to improve the visuals and performance
of the underlying technology and making web applications available via app stores. Speaking about the N’Tech grant, Ewan said, ‘The grant has meant we have been able to take on an extra ten people, from software engineers to administrators. This expanded team will allow us to develop more games and get to market much more quickly. In such a fast-moving industry, we have to maximise our chances of being competitive and this grant helps us to do this. We are also hoping to nurture young local talent by taking on a number of apprentices.’ Nottingham has an excellent gaming pedigree. It is the home of table top strategy games, top ranking game artists, some big name studios
and this makes it a very creative environment. It is an attractive place to grow a digital business, rents are very affordable and support for enterprise is very visible and easily accessible. The City is also a draw for potential employees, with the mix of culture, leisure and retail on offer.
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Feature: Creative Quarter Sector Hubs
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A key element of The CQ Initiative is the creation of a number of sector-specific hubs which support businesses in the priority sectors and emerging knowledge sectors over the next ten years.
Welcome to the Creative Quarter:
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These Hubs will offer lively exciting iconic spaces with a varied mix of facilities and creative activity for enterprise learning, development and growth. Many of them will be located in heritage buildings giving the building a new lease of life and bringing them back into public use, restoring commerce, manufacturing and design to the Lace Market and the wider CQ area. •
GameCity 1 - a visitor destination for gaming, and development space for games sector.
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BioScience Expansion - extending the incubation facilities at BioCity.
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Sneinton Market - a creative village for designer-makers and artisans.
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The Factory, Dakeyne Street - a hub for broadcasting and cultural production.
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FE Hub - a college for the 21st century with teaching and learning of the highest quality.
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The Waste, Water and Energy Centre supporting cleantech businesses as well as a daily fresh fruit, veg and food market, a social eating restaurant and urban agriculture movement (25,000 square feet).
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The CQ Hub - a venue for small conferences, seminars, events, workshops and business support for CQ-based businesses (10,000 sq feet).
‘We should create and fund physical spaces where new and existing businesses of the same industry could take flexible space, be mentored in everything from accounts through to marketing, and then be guided towards both funding and export markets. Each hub should have an industry experienced director who champions the businesses within them, and directs their flight. The benefits of having like-minded businesses under one roof, all with resources they could not afford alone, is huge. The importance of creating spaces where rents remain affordable cannot be underestimated. This can only be done in spaces where rents
Some of these Hubs already exist and, with the right support they can become thriving centres and focal points for the visitor economy, economic growth and cultural activity. Some may be housed within existing buildings and may co-exist alongside other activity.
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A Design Centre - offering support and incubation for all forms of design, including product and craft. This would also offer an ongoing workshop programme, as well as a public-facing retail outlet and open studios.
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The Innovation Space - a cross-sectoral innovation centre with some public-facing areas.
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A mid-scale conference centre in The CQ.
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Fashion, Textiles and Technology Centre a hub for Nottingham’s innovative fashion industry and the emerging wearable tech industries.
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Cobden Chambers - a retail incubator and TechHub / co-working space.
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E-Topia - a hub for learning, art and technology for people of all ages.
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Data Institute of Nottingham (DIN) - a hub for software development, code clubs and the data analytics sector.
are protected from the marketplace. We should do the same; a fashion hub, a film hub, an audio hub, a graphics hub - the list continues. With this focus, young talent will not simply disappear into London, or worse, the ether. This is about creating lean and aggressive creative businesses which can employ, expand and export. Joined-up thinking is essential to fully exploit the potential of Nottingham’s creative industries. We are in extraordinary times which call for equally extraordinary ideas. Leadership is key.’ Harjeet Johal, Entrepreneur
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Creative People
A great place is created by great people. A great place attracts great people. We already have many great people in The CQ. The success of The Creative Quarter depends more than anything on people wanting to be there and to shape its future. Our successful creative ecology comprises of entrepreneurs, sole traders and business owners; students and graduates; employees, apprentices and interns; as well as the investors, owners and agents who lease buildings, and the retailers and restaurateur is also about the wider visitor and our residents, those who breathe life into spaces and use the services on offer, who tell our story and help us attract more people.
‘We need to retain our students and use our alumni networks to bring people back to Nottingham. The structure of colleges and universities needs to be continually updated to accommodate employment needs. Apprenticeship schemes currently in place have helped people from deprived areas reach places they would not have otherwise known of. We need to create pathways for our young people into these employment opportunities.’ Mich Stevenson, Chair, Creative Quarter Company Board
We will work to attract and retain talented creative people into The Creative Quarter. Meet some of the people in Nottingham’s Creative Quarter:
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‘Students represent an enormous resource and pool of talent for The Creative Quarter and the city of Nottingham. They bring new perspective, fresh ideas, energy and an appetite for learning. It is vital that The CQ and its businesses taps into this extraordinary resource in all kinds of ways to help businesses to grow and to anchor students in the creative life of the city. This will encourage them to stay, find fulfilled employment here and in turn contribute to the life of the city.’ Edward Peck, Vice-Chancellor, Nottingham Trent University
To achieve this we will:
Provide access to employment for 16-24 year olds in CQ businesses via apprenticeships and work experience.
Ensure CQ businesses take advantage of graduate placement schemes and internships to help grow their business.
Support property owners, agents and developers with vision who want to develop capital projects that will deliver real benefit for the area and fit with its character.
Offer opportunities for people in The CQ to share ideas, collaborate, network and exchange knowledge.
CQ Case Study
From Gadget Geek to High-flyer James Markwick is a 19 year old Technical Apprentice with Confetti Media Group.
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When I was growing up, I was obsessed with anything technical and was a total gadget fiend. I was terrible for hoarding junk in my bedroom drawers, things I’d taken apart but never thrown away as I would hope to build something amazing with it one day. I always had visions I’d invent something life-changing and would have a career as a mad scientist. Looking back, I’ve definitely made the right choice by applying to be a creative and digital media apprentice at Confetti. I didn’t think it was possible to find such a job that would suit me down to the ground like this one does.
My advice to young people out there that are looking to start their career would be to think very carefully about what it is they enjoy and want to do when they’re older. Complete as much work experience as you can in as many different areas as possible. This will give you the best possible chance to figure out what it is you truly enjoy. Once you’ve concluded this, you need to figure out how you’re going to get there and what is needed to get you there. Depending on what it is you want to do, some employers look for practical experience rather than a piece
of paper saying you’ve been to uni. Apprenticeships are slowly on the rise and should be seriously considered when leaving school / college. My first day as a Confetti Media Group apprentice went so well. I loved my first day and felt so welcome. I felt like I fitted in with the technical team really well as we all share similar interests. There are honestly not enough hours in the day when you’re a Confetti apprentice.
Feature: Attracting And Developing People
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It’s all about the people… Throughout our consultation for this Framework the one consistent message was that if you attract, retain and develop the skills and talent of great people the area will flourish. Here we outline some key schemes which we think will help us do that. •
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A CQ Mentoring Programme - specific to CQ-based businesses. This will be a flexible, informal mentoring programme coordinated and brokered by The CQ. The Company will act as the matchmaker for the entrepreneurs based on their needs and learning interests. The mentoring will be flexible to mentee’s timetables and demands as well as those of the mentor, while retaining a basic flexible structure. The programme will be facilitated by the CQ Business Engagement Manager. A CQ Outreach Programme - which offers engagement with The Creative Quarter and its SMEs with the wider city region and disadvantaged wards in the North of the city as well as in St. Ann’s and Sneinton. This Outreach programme would work with community organisations to develop pathways for young Nottingham people into apprenticeships and traineeships.
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CQ Knowledge Net - an online open-source set of resources for business growth open to CQ-based businesses.
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Ongoing talks, workshops, hackathons, weekenders, business breakfasts and inspirational events, including Ted Talks, Creative Conversations, and Ideas Fest events which support ongoing professional development for businesses.
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Live-work space for creative entrepreneurs, emerging civic leaders and cultural practitioners resident or visiting the city who bring new value to the city and support graduate retention.
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The CQ goes to South by South West in the USA to promote Nottingham!
A CQ Student Engagement Programme – supporting SMEs, sole traders and microbusinesses to offer internships, placements, live briefs, research and student projects for students of the city’s and regional Universities.
Follow a day in the life of an apprentice in Nottingham’s Creative Quarter
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‘You can’t create a great place without great people. It is all about the people. You need people with ideas, imagination, drive, humour, and energy. Risktakers. Entrepreneurs. Retailers. Street-cleaners. Project Managers. Accountants. Mentors. Investors. Artists. Geeks. Innovators. Designers. Makers. Technologists. Horticulturalists Futurists. Property owners with vision. You need them all. And we have them in abundance here in The CQ.’ Kathy McArdle, CEO, Creative Quarter Company
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Creative Place
We all know great places when we are in them. They are open to all ages, are places where people belong, and have a genuine pulse and heartbeat. They can brim with energy and vitality, or provide spaces for contemplation. We want The Creative Quarter to encompass places for all, and be a fantastic place to live, work and play. Businesses and employees in the 21st century are attracted to the right business space, which reflects their needs and values, their flexible working and desire to be with the right mix of supporting companies. They enjoy heritage building re-purposed for the 21st Century, and care about environmental impact. They are drawn to, and create, dynamic public spaces, walking and cycling routes and public travel options, as well as a range of vibrant places to eat and drink. The CQ’s industrial heritage has a lot to offer and build on. We will tap into and mine this authenticity, character and diversity of the CQ area and its heritage buildings to create a distinctive, yet local, place that is attractive and enjoyable to spend time in. The down side of this industrial architecture is its ‘hard edge’, so we will work to soften its edges, by greening small pockets of space and rethinking public realm and frontages. We will work with partners to design unique streetscapes and vistas, creating a distinctive character that is ours alone, respecting our wonderful existing built form and heritage buildings and street pattern.
‘We want to see street parties, markets, pop up piazzas and more arts and culture events in the area. It needs greenery and comfortable spaces. We need shops and spaces where you can see craftspeople making things. Activate the area and its creative people - let them make it buzz, give it a vibe.’ Aamir Butt, Director, Next Business Generation
Our vision is to make the area easy to be in and work in - to find and to navigate and to be highly accessible, safe, walkable, enjoyable and - frankly - irresistible. We will also work to ensure that businesses have the optimal infrastructure they need for their employees. We will examine active management and planning and property regulations to avoid the trap of being too successful; with the area losing its character and squeezing out the very creative people who gave it its uniqueness in the beginning. So we will strive to retain diversity and mix, even as property values increase - recognising that short-term financial gains can kill the special character of neighbourhoods. This Framework stresses our ambition to build on and maintain a strong sense of place and local identity in the area, which needs long-term stewardship and vision. This needs a shift in thinking about how we plan our spaces, and needs an iterative approach to create places that can respond to an evolving district over time.
‘Clean up old buildings, dress empty shop windows, make sure empty sites have things happening in them that people want. Create space for artists and creative teccies to put on events and talks that have real intellectual credibility. It doesn’t have to be perfect and corporate - sometimes rough and ready and ‘meanwhile’ is much better. The most enlightened property owners and agents in the city realise this and are responding in very imaginative ways to the need and demand from creative entrepreneurs.’ Toby Reid, Managing Director, BioCity
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We want to encourage and work with developers and owners with a different approach and long-term thinking; those who can respond and develop with the sense of place and quality of life as a goal. We will seek partners to join us in improving the space between buildings as much as buildings themselves, to create the public life that will underpin our success.
To achieve this we will:
Create a dynamic, well-designed accessible public realm in The CQ which makes the area attractive and appealing to visitors and businesses.
Establish fit-for-purpose transport, green and digital infrastructure.
Develop a variety of creative workspace within The CQ area which has the right ‘look and feel’ for its workforce and enterprises.
Support The CQ to become the city’s primary independent retail and leisure centre with a vibrant daytime and night-time economy.
Ensure the Lace Market and the wider CQ area develops as a heritage attraction for visitors.
Support and develop the area’s rich arts and cultural scene, with digital activity exploited to its best.
Coordinate a regular programme of business, innovation, creative and cultural events, markets, street animation and festivals.
Ensure the CQ is attractive for inner city living by a diverse range of people including young professionals and their families.
Free Public Wi-Fi in The CQ Mobile technology now plays an important role in shopping and leisure activity. Digital public space is as important to this generation as the physical public realm. Nottingham City Council will be delivering a free public wi-fi service across the city centre, including The Creative Quarter. Free public wi-fi has been transformative in places like Bryant Park in New York and we want to use it to encourage mobile and outdoor working (when it’s not raining!) as well as enabling people to engage in ongoing social communication with each other.
‘Nottingham won’t necessarily be the first to do it, but I think that this is a big thing. The vision is that people will be able to sit in Lace Market Square or Sneinton Market with their iPads and iPhones and sign in to a free wi-fi service. Mobile (and, indeed, wearable tech) is a central part of the way people live their lives these days and it can make a real difference to the city centre economy. What is also important is that creative people use this technology and its free access to create fun and interesting interactions between people and their place. This isn’t just about accessing free internet, it’s about creating a digital high street, digital trails, and playful ways for people to discover and enjoy their environment. Imagine a digital heritage walk through the Lace Market or a series of sensors in shops in Hockley that talk to you when you arrive in The CQ. This is gamechanging for the CQ.’ Sue Jones, Horizon Digital Economy Programme, University of Nottingham
Feature: The Spaces Inbetween
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The CQ Initiative is working to create a more welcoming, legible, inviting and attractive public realm in the streets and urban spaces of the area. This will result in a transformation of the industrial streetscapes of The CQ, and bring a new colour palette into the architecture. This will be achieved through a combination of infrastructural improvements and more temporary interventions into the urban fabric. Infrastructure
•
•
•
Digital
Projects
Legibility and Identity
WATCH ME
•
Pedestrianise key CQ streets including Broad Street, part of Carlton Street, Heathcoat Street and Goosegate to create a walkable ‘high street’ for The CQ, taking into account ambulance and emergency routes. Explore pedestrianising High Pavement and St. Mary’s Gate to create walking routes and trails around the Lace Market. Widen pedestrian crossings at the junction of Goosegate and Lower Parliament Street as well as the pedestrian crossings at Carlton Road junction.
A CQ augmented reality app (or a Googleglass experience) which enables visitors to explore the area and to access evocative historical information and imagery about the area.
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Hockley - a digital high street where the shops talk to you.
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‘Articulture’ - a project combining art and horticulture to provide spaces.
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Urban agriculture - creating spaces for growing food across the various unused patches of meanwhile space in The CQ.
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A regular projected sound and vision experience which tells the story of the area.
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A regular programme of public art and creative meanwhile use of unused vacant properties and spaces.
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Develop ‘creative’ and playful signage to help people navigate their way around The CQ - make this gamelike, interactive, DIY, inexpensive, unique and fun.
Find out more about greening the CQ:
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Carry out traffic calming at the junction of Middle Hill and Warser Gate.
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Develop a comprehensive carparking offer for the Arena, and a new conference centre to support people visiting and doing business in the area.
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Improve lighting schemes across The CQ, in particular at Sneinton Market, St. Mary’s Gate and High Pavement.
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Light the Cliff face - one of Nottingham’s great heritage assets.
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An E-Book Guide to The CQ which encourages people to explore the area and increases dwell time.
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CQNet - a ubiquitous wireless high-speed broadband network unique to the area.
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Regular animation of the key public spaces in The CQ - Lace Market Square, Hockley Square, Sneinton Square, St. Mary’s Church Grounds and the area’s pocket parks through popups, events, installations, sound art, performance, music, markets, social events and surprise ‘happenings’.
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Have a ‘Love Your Building’ campaign inviting buildings and offices in The CQ to make their own building colourful, warm, welcoming and attractive on the façade. As part of this, encourage businesses to create signage on the exteriors.
Actions: Creative Enterprise
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What We Will Do
Here are a sample of the things we will do over the first five years of this plan to achieve our Creative Enterprise aim. The table also indicates the timescale for achieving this and the lead organisations and partners.
Creative Enterprise - Some Key Actions
Who Delivers
2014 - 15
Reinvigorate The CQ business support package to provide targeted relevant support for CQ-based businesses.
The Creative Quarter Company, Invest in Nottingham Team.
Campaign to attract new businesses to The CQ, following review of successes to date.
Invest in Nottingham team, The Creative Quarter Company.
Support the emergence of new highgrowth companies across the city and work with them to locate in The CQ.
Next Business Generation, The Creative Quarter Company, Growth Accelerator.
Revitalise independent CQ-based retail and leisure businesses through providing enhanced business support, an events programme, street dressing, new branding and better marketing and promotion.
The Creative Quarter Company with Nottingham City Council city centre team.
Develop sub-sector hubs in The Creative Quarter to provide effective business support for companies working in key priority sectors.
The Creative Quarter, Nottingham City Council, and a range of sub-sector partners.
Targets
10%
50%
250
5
Increase the number of businesses in The CQ by 10% over the next three years.
Increase the occupancy of commercial space in The CQ by 50% over the next five years.
Create 250 new businesses through CQbased and sector-focussed business support programmes over the next three years.
Attract 5 significant ‘brands’ to the area over the next five years.
2015 - 17
2017 - 19
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Actions: Creative People What We Will Do
Here are a sample of the things we will do over the first five years of this plan to achieve our Creative People aim. The table also indicates the timescale for achieving this and the lead organisations and partners.
Creative People - Some Key Actions
Who Delivers
2014 - 15
Create employer-led work experience, placement and apprenticeship opportunities for FE and HE students with CQ-based businesses.
The Creative Quarter Company, working with HE and FE partners and Broadway’s Know How programme.
Attract and retain talent by working with CQ-based businesses on their employment strategies, offering live-work space for entrepreneurs and regularly engaging creative people with the opportunities offered by The CQ.
Nottingham City Council with The Creative Quarter, working with University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University Careers and Employability Service.
Deliver and promote an ongoing programme of innovation-focussed and knowledge sharing events for and with businesses in The CQ.
The Creative Quarter Company, Next Business Generation, Second Wednesday, GameCity Nights, First Tuesday, etc.
Establish a flexible mentoring programme for CQ-based businesses, coordinated by a dedicated Business Engagement Manager.
The Creative Quarter Company with Nottingham City Council City Centre team.
Deliver a wide range of projects and programmes that develop entrepreneurial behaviour and skills in young people in the city, involving CQbased businesses wherever possible.
Young Enterprise programme, Enterprise teams in HE settings, One Nottingham, New College Nottingham, Greenshoots, Nottingham Contemporary, and many others.
2015 - 17
2017 - 19
Targets
98%
25%
50
100
50
98% of CQ-based businesses survive beyond the first year.
Number of apprenticeships within Creative Quarter-based companies is increased by 25% over a five-year period starting from 2012 baseline.
50 graduates employed in The CQ or setting up a business in the area in the next three years.
100 work experience / placement opportunities offered in the CQ over the next three years.
50 companies benefiting from mentoring programmes in the CQ over the next three years.
Actions: Creative Place
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What We Will Do
Place-shaping is delivered through a combination of ‘hard’ infrastructure and ‘soft’ elements, so this set of actions reflects this dynamic combination of delivery at work.
Creative Place - Some Key Actions
Who Delivers
2014 - 15
Improve the access to The Creative Quarter.
Nottingham City Council.
Free public wi-fi across The CQ and high-speed broadband for all CQ businesses.
Nottingham City Council, Creative Quarter Company, techbased SMEs in the area.
Complete refurbishment of Avenues A to C buildings at Sneinton Market and the refurbishment of Dakeyne Street buildings to provide affordable workspace for creative businesses.
Nottingham City Council with Creative Quarter Company, CleanTech Centre.
Work to become a ‘green’ Quarter - a low-carbon, energy producing area of the city with hubs for growing, food production and biodiversity.
Creative Quarter Company, Nottingham City Council, SMEs and Creative Quarter businesses.
Deliver a dynamic cultural, business and innovation events programme.
Creative Quarter Company, Next Business Generation, Broadway Projector and many more.
2015 - 17
2017 - 19
Targets
2015 2016 2017 Free public wi-fi and Sneinton Market open.
An annual sustainable events programme is in place across The CQ in venues and public spaces.
All businesses in The CQ have access to 1Gigabit high-speed connectivity.
2019
20%
CQ Capital Programme delivered creating a cluster of sectoral hubs in the area to support business growth.
Increase in levels of satisfaction among businesses in the area around the quality of the environment.
Impact
36
Here are the impacts we will work to achieve over the ten-year period of this plan (from the 2012 baseline): Creative Enterprise
•
30% more businesses based in The Creative Quarter area.
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The area attracts a minimum of ten new businesses per year into the area, with businesses of major national and international reputation making The CQ their location of choice.
Creative People
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20% growth in employees based in The CQ.
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The CQ area contributes to increased graduate retention in the city through an innovative programme of internships, graduate work placements and start-up business programmes for graduates.
Creative Place
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An attractive welcoming public realm, which is regularly animated through a programme of creative and cultural events.
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The heritage buildings in the area are now transformed into sector hubs, innovation centres, new visitor attractions and flagship buildings supporting continued economic growth.
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The residential offer in the area is diverse and attractive, with a healthy mix of students, young professionals and families living in the area.
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A successful independent retail and leisure sector in the area, supporting a thriving day-time and night-time visitor economy. The retail offer is digitally sophisticated and uses the digital connectivity of the area to engage shoppers through interactivity, information services, and mobile applications.
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The area and its businesses are constantly improving the skills of local people through education and training which prepares people for employment in the city’s new knowledge and creative economy.
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The area is legible and easy to access. Wayfinding is easy. The area invites visitors to explore and move around its attractive environment.
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The area is known as a ‘green’ quarter, and a hub for urban agriculture. The area will also become a demonstrator for sustainability, with buildings in the area highly energy-efficient.
Measuring Impact Baseline Study
Annual Business Survey
•
•
We will commission a Baseline Report and Analysis that draws together data from a number of different identified sources to give us a clear baseline for The Creative Quarter as an area in 2012.
We will also carry out an Annual Business Survey in 2015, working with Experian, to capture key data against our performance indicators at the commencement of the period of this plan.
We will baseline and track: •
Number of businesses with registered offices based in The CQ.
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Number of businesses in The CQ within Growth Plan Priority Sectors.
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Total business rate income received from properties in CQ.
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Number of vacant retail units in The CQ core retail area.
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Percentage increase of businesses in the area.
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Number of visitors to the area and the percentage increase in visitors to the area (whichever is most feasible).
Telling Our Story
38
To attract businesses and people, we need to tell them a great compelling story about The CQ area, the city of Nottingham and the future of The Creative Quarter. We will work with our communications partners to strengthen our messages, tell our story with conviction and identify key champions for The CQ who communicate the benefits of locating here effectively to our audiences.
We will tell three interconnected stories:
The Vision for The Creative Quarter: Why people and their business would want to be part of The CQ.
The Story of Nottingham: Design meets innovation meets business.
Our Key Messages:
Our Audiences:
We Will Talk to People Through:
We Will Position The Creative Quarter by:
Powerful Leadership: The people, ideas and talent which the city offers.
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Here we offer you a buzzing social scene, a supportive business environment, fantastic (and affordable) creative workspace, access to the best talent, a great quality of life, easy-to-access networks and the company of like-minded people.
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Sector-specific audiences.
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Urbanists, futurists, new economists, etc.
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Academic researchers / Universities.
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City residents.
Our website.
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Social media across multiple platforms.
Partner websites.
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Sector-specific and sub-sector publications.
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Print media distributed locally and regionally.
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Targeted national business press and media.
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Regional and national television channels.
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Promoting The CQ in local, regional, national and international media, forums, and conferences.
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Developing and collating an ongoing body of research into The CQ as a ‘demonstrator’ for cross-sectoral clusters globally.
Developing a group of ‘advocates’ who are equipped to tell our story at conferences, events and expos - people who carry our story and tell it wherever they go.
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The Creative Quarter is a compelling place to be.
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It’s a great place to start, grow and sustain an innovative business.
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Business community in Nottingham and the East Midlands.
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UK entrepreneurial community.
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UK Core cities and other global cities.
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Local authorities.
• •
Our Approach
40
A Creative Quarter needs to go about its business in a host of ways that are genuinely creative. Real creativity is disruptive and often challenges the status quo. We thus have to adopt a different approach, mind-set and way of thinking about the whole project.
Thanks to MIT for allowing us to be inspired by their principles. If you are going to ‘flatter by imitation’, it’s a good idea to copy the best University and innovation hotbed in the world!
Here we set down some key principles that are at the core of The CQ Initiative and how we will operate. These reflect our priorities and our methodology.
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And Finally...
Our Commitments
The Creative Quarter Company will‌ Identify and shape sector-specific hubs in the area to support sector development. Deliver a capital programme to regenerate the area and use its heritage assets to its best advantage. Support all businesses, large and small, in all sectors, that are part of The CQ ecosystem. Engage with the neighbourhoods, communities and citizens of the city, of all ages, in a positive way to support them feeling connected to The CQ. Make a contribution as a company itself and through its SMEs to the civic life of the city.
Our Pledge
The Creative Quarter Company will‌ Be inclusive to all. Work with all partners, organisations, institutions and individuals who are working towards our strategic aims. Have a global perspective while being rooted in local distinctiveness. Listen to businesses, residents and visitors to the area and respond to their suggestions for improvement as best we can. Be open to ideas and possibilities for positive change in the area and the business environment it offers.
Follow Us
...and find out more! https://www.facebook.com/CreativeQuarter https://twitter.com/CQNottm http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Creative-QuarterNottingham-4626307 http://www.pinterest.com/CQNottm/creative-quarter/ http://vimeo.com/cqnottm
––– Find Us
Photography by:
Creative Quarter Company 11 Beck Street Nottingham NG1 2HG
Sam Kirby Grace Elkin Lamar Francois Shawn Ryan Dan Hodgett Dan Matthams
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0115 8599816 Email Us
info@creativequarter.com Website
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www.creativequarter.com
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