What We Do

The North East Create Growth Programme (CGP) is designed to support creative businesses with high-growth potential, between the seed and scaling stages, from across County Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside, Sunderland, Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland with the support and the investment they need to grow their business and turn their innovative creative ideas into the leading creative businesses of the future.

This exciting opportunity has been made possible through £1.25m funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), and acknowledges the highly entrepreneurial pool of high-growth potential creative businesses in the North East not yet at the scaling stage, who can benefit from intensive, targeted, expert support to help them secure the investment they need to develop.

As initial guidance, businesses will qualify as ‘high-growth potential’ if they are able to demonstrate the following characteristics:

• Turnover growth of 10% year-on-year over approximately 3 years (including either prior to or during the pandemic)
• Employing a minimum of 2 people over the last two years (full-time, part-time or freelance)
• Created a revenue generating product, launched a new platform or service or reached a market of scale
• Generated a sales revenue in the last 2 years

The North East CGP is available to businesses operating within the following sectors:

• IT/Software and computer services (with a focus on CreaTech; Gaming, AR/VR and E-sports)
• Design/Designer Fashion
• Publishing
• Film and TV

The CGP will provide a bespoke business development and growth package comprising business support tailored to the specific needs of high-growth potential creative businesses, with the aim of building businesses’ management skills and understanding of different finance routes to support business growth. This will be delivered through a blend of workshops and masterclasses, led by Creative UK in partnership with regional sector experts North East Screen, Creative Fuse, Generator, New Writing North, North East Growth Hub and Sunderland Software City. In addition, the CGP will provide one-to-one mentoring from investors and sector experts, and peer-learning. Content will focus on areas where Creative Industries specific advice is needed – for example Intellectual Property, business models, revenue models and access to new markets.

This targeted business support gives companies the opportunity to access a share of £7m in targeted finance, managed by Innovate UK (add in URL). This financial support will be provided to selected businesses who have demonstrated through a diagnostic assessment that it will act as a stimulus for growth and further investment.

We aim to support 100 creative businesses across the next three years, and will be opening applications to 6 cohort groups of between 15 and 20 businesses.

The Grant funding Competition 1 is now live …!

A virtual briefing event  at 10am -12noon on Monday 5 December 2022 will outline the programme further and provide attendees the chance to ask further questions about what this opportunity can provide them.  The link to register for the competition briefing event is here.

Download the Creative Growth Programme Comp 1 FAQs here.

If you are a North East creative business and would like learn more about CGP, you can sign up via this form.