About the �鶹Լ�� Feed

Yes, but what’s the �鶹Լ�� ever done for us?

2015-01-19T10:30:00+00:00

The UK economy is becoming less and less dependent on finance and business sectors and more reliant on its creative and tech industries, writes Former Head of �鶹Լ�� Corporate Affairs, John Dickie. In this post, he highlights how �鶹Լ�� activities contribute to London’s economy through its creative TV industries and new technology as well as its investment in smaller independent companies.

I am currently Director of Strategy and Policy at London First, a non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation that aims to help London prosper by working with businesses and all the political parties. I work with our members to create policy ideas which we then recommend to government. I was previously the Head of Corporate Affairs at the �鶹Լ�� and a former Deputy Leader of Camden Council in London.

Everybody knows that the �鶹Լ�� makes great British programmes and provides impartial, high-quality global journalism. What is perhaps less familiar is the role that these activities play in supporting the creative sector of the UK economy; and the growing importance of that sector.

First, an explanation of my focus on London. My professional experience and knowledge is within the city of London. As Director of Strategy and Policy at London First, our data findings help contextualise London’s economic growth as a whole. Using London First’s data findings I can only speak about London’s economic growth as we aim to influence national and local government policies and investment decisions to support London’s global competitiveness. But similar points can be made across the UK. The �鶹Լ��’s presence in the national capitals, the UK regions and of course the new hub in Greater Manchester, all help stimulate the local economies of the UK and to tie them together. One of the reasons the �鶹Լ�� has such strength in the creative-tech sector, and in commerce more broadly, is that it is a magnet for global talent which is important for the growing sector.

This is certainly the case in London. Historically, London's economic growth has been driven by financial and business services; however a combination of tighter regulation and higher capital requirements mean that, important as this sector is, it is unlikely to drive such growth in future.

Research undertaken for London First by McKinsey shows that since the financial crisis it is the creative and technology sectors which have driven London’s economic growth. The creative sector added £6.5bn to the city’s economy between 2009 and 2012, while the technology sector added £2.9bn.

London is emerging as Europe’s creative and tech capital and key to this success is the depth and range of activities that take place here. These activities cover everything from pure-tech companies, such as DeepMind, through companies serving established sectors in e-commerce, food & beverages and finance, to creative, fashion and design. London Fashion Week 2014, for example, saw 5,000 visitors view work from over 150 designers and led to an estimated £100m of orders.

These complementary activities stimulate and support each other. Google’s decision to locate its new headquarters at Kings Cross, in part because it will be next to Central St Martin’s new campus, neatly makes the point. Fashion students plus geeks are greater than the sum of their parts.

The �鶹Լ�� is one of the anchor tenants of this economy, spanning the creation of original content (across television, radio and on-line), new applications (such as the iPlayer) and stimulating new markets (with the UK’s high internet take-up, and high levels of e-commerce, having been in part driven by the online content it provides).

As important as the range is the depth: the Corporation accounts for around 40% of total investment in UK original content and – thanks to the unique way it is funded – it provides distinctive risk capital for the industry.

Much of the £1bn the �鶹Լ�� spends annually on outside suppliers - through hundreds of independent TV, radio and online production companies - goes on programmes that won’t appeal to businesses needing to earn an immediate commercial return.

Some of this spend adds to the breadth of the UK’s creative range – say new music commissioned by Radio 3 – but other investments create more clear-cut economic returns. Strictly Come Dancing is now a mainstream success, earning Britain revenues from overseas licences; but when it launched it was a new and uncertain format, made possible by the �鶹Լ��’s ability to take risks.

While there are many reasons why people want to come here, one of them is surely the role that the �鶹Լ�� plays in promoting Britain and that elusive concept of Britishness and British values so effectively overseas. Kofi Annan described the World Service as Britain’s gift to the world in the 20th Century. Now the World Service - and increasingly its newer siblings like �鶹Լ�� America - are acting as a gift to the wider UK economy in the 21st.

Greg Dyke’s bold vision for the �鶹Լ�� was for it to be the most creative organisation in the world. It doesn’t really matter whether the �鶹Լ�� has met this objective – indeed almost by definition any really creative organisation is going to ebb and flow over time. What matters is that when you say it to people it sounds reasonable.

To have such a globally resonant brand with such an ambitious, yet credible, goal should not just be seen as a source of national pride, but also as an economic asset that supports jobs and growth.

John Dickie is Director of Strategy and Policy at business membership organisation London First, and a former Head of Corporate Affairs at the �鶹Լ��.

�鶹Լ�� in Birmingham is back on the agenda

2014-01-22T12:07:51+00:00

�鶹Լ�� One's Father Brown

It’s great to have started my new role back at the �鶹Լ�� in Birmingham after five years away from the city.

I’ve had a busy first week re-acquainting myself with colleagues old and new, as well as the city of Birmingham itself. It’s been illuminating hearing from staff, colleagues and partners about the impact of the move of production teams from the Mailbox – the �鶹Լ��’s Birmingham base. These have been difficult times.

I’ve also read with interest various blogs, tweets, letters and articles from local programme makers, former staff, concerned audiences and critical friends – people who love the �鶹Լ�� but have felt neglected by the lack of action and a plan to address the apparent disinterest in the region.

The move of network factual TV programmes out of the Mailbox to Bristol has had an impact on the building and the morale of our staff. It’s no surprise that so many have questioned the �鶹Լ��’s commitment to what was once a thriving hub. The days of Pebble Mill, where I started my career, are long gone and we clearly have a job to do in reviving our activity and scoping a new vision for �鶹Լ�� Birmingham and indeed the wider Midlands.

Despite the dark clouds, we continue to make programmes that we know our audiences cherish. �鶹Լ�� Birmingham still produces great content in the form of The Archers, Doctors, the re-born Asian Network and our local services like �鶹Լ�� WM and �鶹Լ�� Midlands Today.

Today we announced the re-commission of Father Brown for �鶹Լ�� One (pictured) from our pioneering Drama Village There’s much the wider �鶹Լ�� can benefit from in terms of the entrepreneurial and craft opportunities that Will Trotter’s team in Selly Oak are consistently delivering.

Peaky Blinders, created by local writer Steven Knight, has also been commissioned for a second series on �鶹Լ�� Two. I’m aware that much of this incredible piece of television has been filmed outside of the region. However, its impact with Birmingham audiences is un-deniable – over 28% of the audience for the programme were from the Midlands – this is almost double the national average. Having Birmingham and the wider region represented on screen is essential to audiences and vital in terms of the �鶹Լ��’s contribution to the local economy.

Last week’s Peaky Blinders open casting auditions in Digbeth shows the level of appetite and connection with Brummie viewers. Thousands of local young people queued at auditions for parts in the second series.

Tony Hall’s announcements at the end of last year have given hope that there is indeed a future – and a new one at that. The �鶹Լ�� in Birmingham is back on the agenda. Led by Peter Salmon, a team of us have spent several months exploring how we can become a key base for the whole of the �鶹Լ�� – not just in the short term - but for years to come.

The pace of change is astounding - the seismic shift in how audiences are consuming content means we can’t afford to stand still and reflect on the bygone golden age of broadcasting in the Midlands – the risk is a real danger of being left behind and caught in a perpetual cycle of disappointment.

It means making brave choices - taking a path that will place us in the midst of innovation, opportunity, and create a future legacy for new entrants into the industry. Birmingham’s young demographic, diversity and sizeable population gives us a head-start. Our rich mix and fast changing, youthful population today reflects the diversity of the UK tomorrow.

This rapid pace of change means that by the time the �鶹Լ�� reaches its anniversary year in 2022, the broadcasting landscape will have changed irrevocably. It’s imperative that Birmingham plays an integral part of the �鶹Լ��’s long term future and the plans the Director-General announced are very much a first step towards that.

With the continued shift of programmes and services outside of London I strongly believe that Birmingham is ripe for creative renewal and there is a real opportunity to rebuild a base with a new story that cements and grows our presence in the Midlands. We want to amplify the strengths of our output and become an intrinsic part of the �鶹Լ��’s offer to audiences – locally, nationally and globally.

I’m under no illusions about the task ahead – but am relishing the challenge to re-invigorate our place in a city that has much to shout about and celebrate.

One of the highlights of my first week back in Birmingham was the afternoon I spent at the University of Birmingham’s Digital Humanities Hub. The �鶹Լ�� Fusion Lab, in conjunction with the University, set up a two-day workshop to explore the world of interactive touch tables as a potential platform of putting the riches of the �鶹Լ�� archive at the fingertips of the general public.

A group of students, small and medium-sized enterprises, programme makers and academics were brought together in this innovative lab. The aim was to de-mystify the word ‘Digital’ and open up the potential crossover of skills between content producers, media managers and technologists.

Sitting with a panel of judges, I was blown away by the powerful potential of the emerging ideas and the incredible opportunities this fusion of disciplines could bring to open up our content for audiences. It was inspiring stuff.

Tony Hall emphasized in his speech outlining the future of the �鶹Լ�� that this is potentially a new golden age of media. The �鶹Լ�� embraced television; we embraced the internet; created Freeview and �鶹Լ�� iPlayer. Now, we want to harness the energy and ideas of the ‘YouTube generation’ and that will mean creating content in fresh and exciting ways with new teams that tell stories differently on all sorts of devices.

A team of �鶹Լ�� innovators will be based here in Birmingham, soaking up our rich and diverse culture – who knows what such a team could bring to not only Birmingham, but indeed the creative sector in Britain?

Historically, Birmingham was known as the ‘city of a thousand trades’ – everything from guns to jewellery, steam engines to cars were mass produced here; James Brindley, the engineer, even built more canals here than Venice, to get much of this stuff out to the world.

Think of the skills it must have required to design the world’s first purpose-built factory or to invent gas lighting. Even today, hundreds of craftsmen and women make clocks and watches here in the Jewellery Quarter. This city was built – more than most – on skills.

We now need new skills in the UK, in Birmingham, to fire up a different production sector – digital skills. No less creative, no less enterprising, but skills that apply themselves to small portable devices and fast moving technology, clouds, games and telephony.

We can’t do it alone. The �鶹Լ��, like many of our public institutions, is facing an unprecedented period of financial challenges. Our case for re-investment has to provide value for money to our most important stakeholder – the audiences who consume the myriad of content we make.

We want to work with partners in the city to truly achieve our aspirations. Our plans for the first phase of our activity for the �鶹Լ�� in Birmingham are aligned to the ambitions of the region and these partners as a whole. They understand the absolute need to create and implement a new story and vision that ensures their emerging plans, and ours, are compatible and sustainable.

In Birmingham ‘Digital’ is a word we need to embrace and not be fearful of. Content will always be the driver – regardless of the platform. The heart of �鶹Լ�� Birmingham remains in the great content we make here and will continue to make, grow and deliver – but in new ways.

As well as creating new content, we also want to become more of a catalyst for creativity in Birmingham and the wider region – where people meet and spark off each other. A hub, an inspirer, a stimulator.

There are no quick fixes and things won’t happen overnight, but I’m very much looking forward to working with teams in �鶹Լ�� Birmingham and partners in the city to help sow the seeds for a new path in Birmingham.

It promises to be a busy, disruptive, challenging and exciting year ahead and I hope to keep you posted on progress and developments over the coming months.

Tommy Nagra is Head of Business Development, �鶹Լ�� Birmingham

Dragons' Den goes back to school

2011-07-11T14:56:52+00:00

Today sees the culmination of a project we've been running with schools across the North of England called 'Dragons' Den Goes Back to School'. Inspired by some work the team at Waterloo Road and �鶹Լ�� Outreach did last year where schools wrote and filmed their own episodes of the drama, we have spent the last few months working in our own way with students from Sunderland, Bolton, Lincoln and Bradford. By using the power of the Dragons' Den brand we've been trying to encourage the next generation of British entrepreneurs by giving Year 10 pupils a unique opportunity to pitch a business idea to the fearsome Dragons.

Each of the schools were personally set a business challenge by the Dragons - a particular market or sector that they wanted the students to tap into and work out a way of exploiting financially. The aspiring young entrepreneurs then spent a couple of months developing their idea, under the mentorship of some of my wonderful (and hard-working!) Dragons' Den team.

On the day of filming, I have to say I was worried. Having seen around 400 entrepreneurs walk up those few but intimidating Den stairs, and seen dozens of those go to pieces (a totally understandable reaction by the way, I dread to think what I'd be like!), the parent in me was desperately trying to think of ways to protect them. In the end, the best way was to ensure my team gave them as much information and training as possible about what it might be like, trust that their fantastic teachers would do the same, and then find a sofa to put in the gallery and hide behind!

To their absolute credit, the students who pitched to the Dragons did a spectacular job. Each of the four pitches were either educative, informative or entertaining (recognise those values from anywhere?), and in most cases, were all three. And although one school did falter slightly during their pitch (I did have to calm our director down who instinctively was going in for the big close-up at that point!), those students had such a good business proposition and were so clued up on what it was about, that the Dragons instantly forgave them their stuttering start.

In a change to the usual format, the young entrepreneurs didn't find out which of the Dragons may have been 'in' or 'out' on the day, because that is what tonight is about. All the pupils and the teachers who have committed so much time to the project, will come to the �鶹Լ��'s new home in the north - MediaCityUK in Salford - to see an edited version of their pitches, and find out what our five influential business leaders thought of their ideas.

There's also the small matter of having two awards up for grabs. The Dragons will be presenting one for best pitch and one for best idea. But really what is important is that as well as producing what will hopefully be a hugely successful 9th series of Dragons' Den, we are able to take advantage of those assets that we have here in �鶹Լ�� North, in order to give potential entrepreneurs of tomorrow an opportunity that will hopefully shape their perspective on what it takes to succeed. How many students can boast on their CV that they have pitched to five of Britain's most successful business leaders, and lived to tell the tale?

Aside from this project, it's been a big year for us on Dragons' Den. Not only were we successful in getting a three series deal, (thanks both to Janice Hadlow - Controller, �鶹Լ�� TWO and Mark Linsey - Controller, Entertainment Commissioning), but we also have a new Dragon for this series - Bolton-born Hilary Devey. She has certainly put her individual stamp on the Den, as this year's entrepreneurs will no doubt attest, and I'm certain our viewers will welcome her addition.

Finally then, back to tonight. Working on one of �鶹Լ�� Entertainment North's longest running shows is a privilege in itself, but having the opportunity to experience at first hand, the impact that the show has, in this instance on some of our younger audience, is a real treat. I just hope they think that we've given them a bit of a treat in return.

Sam Lewens is Executive Producer of Dragons' Den

Dragons' Den Goes Back to School is a collaboration between Dragons' Den and �鶹Լ�� North. The project aims to help develop entrepreneurial skills from initial idea, through planning, budgeting and marketing all the way to pitching for investment. The schools' pitches were for educational purposes, not for actual investment and will not be shown on network television.
The picture shows Lincoln Castle Academy in the Dragons' Den with Dragons (L-R) Duncan Bannatyne, Hilary Devey, Theo Paphitis, Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones.
There's always more news and information on the �鶹Լ�� North web site and on the �鶹Լ�� Outreach web site.