January 2019 Round-up of news and reports
This is our monthly round-up of news and reports from our sectors of interest – this time for January 2019.
Culture and creative industries:
The DCMS’s Cultural Development Fund revealed its five winners, which will share £20m: Grimsby, the Thames Estuary, Plymouth, Worcester and Wakefield.
The winners were officially announced by the DCMS Secretary of State, Jeremy Wright, during a set-piece speech in Coventry on the value of culture.
The Scottish Government released an analysis of the consultation on its proposed Culture Strategy for Scotland.
The Audience for the Future project announced £18m of funding to develop immersive technologies – recipients include the RSC and the Science Museum.
The DCMS released another set of economic estimates for its sectors, this time focusing on business demographics.
Heritage and museums:
The HLF (which is changing its name to the National Lottery Heritage Fund) issued its new Strategic Funding Framework this week. Our director, Dan Anderson, blogged about its significance here.
The Theatres Trust published its annual update of its Theatres at Risk register.
Placemaking and urban regeneration:
We attended a conference on the future of town and city centres, organised by the Key Cities group of mid-sized cities. The papers and presentations from the day can be found here.
The Guardian examined the (mostly negative) trends in shop openings and closures over the last five years. There was, though, some good news for museum and gallery shops.
Ten years ago, Woolworths closed its UK stores. The retail consultant Graham Soult has been tracking what happened to those shop units in the years since.
The Mayor of London’s Night Time Commission released its report into what London should do to support nightlife.
Fourth Street:
And finally in Fourth Street news, we were delighted to be selected to work on a new masterplan for the Horniman Museum, as part of a team led by Studio Egret West.
