The place and people-making power of culture

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The place and people-making power of culture

Lessons from The Lowry

With economic growth, social improvement and the breaking down of barriers to opportunity being at the heart of the new government’s mission, it is time for one of the UK’s most important sectors to be better supported and funded.
 
As part of its manifesto pledge, the Labour Party issued a sector plan for arts and culture in March 2024 which clearly acknowledged its economic importance and social value [1]. Furthermore, the Party now in government rightfully made strong commitments to support the growth of the sector in the UK so that it reaches its full, globally significant economic potential whilst enabling communities to thrive and providing individuals access to life-changing opportunities. Thangam Debbonaire (then Shadow Secretary of Stage for Culture, Media and Sport now replaced by Lisa Nandy as Secretary of State) said in Labour’s sector plan that:
 
Labour in government will fire up the engines of our creative economy [by] backing the [cultural and creative] industries in which we are already world-leading to bring growth, good jobs and improved productivity to every part of the country.

We are committed to growing this industry, for its economic benefit and the enrichment of lives across the country.
There is a considerable and growing body of evidence demonstrating the place-making power of arts, culture and heritage facilities, and their exceptional strength in generating investment confidence in previously neglected localities, resulting in flourishing and contagious regeneration. Indeed, on top of reinforcing the extraordinary contributions these organisations make within their local communities, supporting the growth of the sector provides the opportunity to unlock substantial economic and social rewards up and down the country.
  
It would not be surprising to learn if Labour had paid attention to UK writer, radio and television broadcaster, Lord Melvyn Bragg who, during a speech in the House of Lords on 1 February 2024, strongly articulated the need for the UK to realise the full potential of the arts for economic and social transformation. Bragg opened the debate by saying:
  
Last year there were over three million job roles in the creative and cultural industries, and there could be more if we recognised and reached the full potential of what is still considered, too often, to be the cherry on the cake.
 
The arts are not the cherry on the cake – they are the cake.[2]
Drawing on The Lowry in Greater Manchester as an example case study, we explore if there was ever a panacea for integrating economic growth, social improvement and place-making power through a single investment, one would be hard pressed to find a more compelling example than that of well-planned and soundly delivered arts, culture and heritage assets.

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Reversing falling funding

As we highlight later in this article, investment in arts and culture can deliver impressive value-for-money when it comes to measuring return on public investment.  However, funding for the sector has been volatile and has been following an alarming path of gradual decline.   
 
The UK-wide alliance, Campaign for the Arts found that between 2009/10 and 2020/21, per-person cultural funding has reduced by 50% in England, 33% in Scotland and 36% in Wales (in real terms).  They report that there have been 80,000 jobs lost in music, performing and visual arts due to the pandemic, and only 23,000 are projected to return by 2025[3].
 
Reinforcing this finding, research by Equity indicate that funding from the UK’s Arts Councils have been cut by 16% in real terms since 2017[4].
 
With a new Government keenly seeking avenues to enable economic growth and improve the lives of people who need access to opportunities the most, organisations and partnerships delivering arts, culture and heritage should be fully recognised and provided with sustained, long-term routes to more stable and better funding prospects.   Whilst such funding may not necessarily be 100% public, a reasonable degree of certainty in future investment flows is essential.   It is difficult to find a sector better equipped than that of arts, culture and heritage to deliver key elements of the Government’s growth agenda, both nationally and at community and place-based levels.  
 
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More than art and artefacts

Arts, cultural and heritage organisations and the venues they open up to society are so more much more than what meets the eye and pleases the senses.   Research recently undertaken by Lichfields to assess the social and economic impact of The Lowry (Theatre, Exhibitions & Events | About Us | The Lowry[5]), provides an outstanding example of the immense power of arts and culture in performing a game-changing, multi-faceted role in reinvigorating local communities, generating significant local and regional economic activity,  raising the aspirations and life opportunities of disadvantaged people and, by anchoring regeneration, stimulating substantial additional investment which breathes new life into places. 
 
At a macro level, there is no shortage of evidence which shows the considerable economic contribution of arts, culture and heritage in the UK.  Whilst not necessarily using precisely the same sectoral definition, this evidence includes that of the Labour Party itself.   It’s sector plan states that creative industries contribute £125 billion GVA per year to the UK economy having against the odds, grown by 5% between 2019 and 2022 compared to 2% growth across the whole economy   Other independent research conducted in 2023 by McKinsey suggested the UK arts sector contributed £40 billion GVA in 2022, equivalent to 2.2% of the national economy[6]. Also in 2023, a study carried out for Historic England assessed the heritage sector as having contributed £45 billion in GVA to the UK economy in 2021[7].  To put these numbers in perspective, the collective economic contribution of the UK’s arts, culture and heritage sector is similar to that of the country’s construction or education sectors and indeed around two thirds of the UK’s substantial financial services sector[8].   This enormous economic value is despite the sector facing considerable funding challenges as we have already alluded to.  As the Labour Party states, Britain is already a world-leader in this sector and has ‘huge growth potential’. 
 
At a local level, the economic benefit of arts, heritage and cultural organisations is tangible with the Lowry alone contributing £48million GVA annually to the Salford and wider economy.  As a single arts entity, The Lowry supports 650 jobs and, attracting nearly 1 million visitors in 2023/24, is the North West’s most popular cultural asset.
 
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A catalyst for regeneration and place transformation

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Looking beyond the direct economic impacts, how the arts and culture sector can improve the lives of people, create stronger communities, stimulate place-changing regeneration and leverage huge additional investment into lagging localities is where the depth of impact is most profoundly felt.  Continuing with the Lowry case study, its creation was one of the first attempts in the UK to place a cultural institution at the heart of a social and economic regeneration project.  Since it opened in 2000 and become the North West’s most visited cultural attraction, The Lowry has become the heart and soul of the rebirth and dramatic transformation of Salford Quays.  Today Salford Quays has become a blueprint for successful regeneration and contributes £1.3 billion in GVA to the economy, more than double that before The Lowry arrived.  This includes the huge success of MediaCity which has become home for the northern (and partly national) headquarters for The BBC and ITV studios as well as a major cluster of creative, digital and tech businesses.   Most key players at MediaCity attribute its birth to the existence of The Lowry.  For example, Josie Cahill, chair of ‘We Invented the Weekend’ stated recently that:
 
The Lowry provided the catalyst for all development around it…for the BBC coming and the birth of MediaCity. [9]
The Lowry is not alone in being an arts and cultural organisation with an iconic physical presence and providing the trigger for large-scale urban renewal and place-making impacts.  Across the UK, varied but equally powerful examples, to name a few, include the Tate in Liverpool, Hepworth art museum in Wakefield, Turner Contemporary in Margate, SS Great Britain in Bristol, National Centre for Circus Arts in Hoxton and Seamus Heaney ‘HomePlace’ in Bellaghy Northern Ireland.   These examples all share common transformative features including:
 
  • Breathing new life into localities through revitalising redundant industrial and long run-down areas which typically are surrounded by areas of deprivation and structural inequalities.
      
  • Changing these locations into substantially more attractive places to live, work, visit and do business. In doing so, their communities become more economically and socially prosperous bringing jobs, investment, skills and a sense of social cohesion.
      
  • Stimulating and making feasible other forms of development including: complementary creative institutions and businesses; visitor attractions and events; restaurants, cafes, hotels, retail and new community hubs.
      
  • Fostering a sense of pride and ‘place-ownership’ amongst local communities.

 

 
 
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Community reinvigoration and social change

Perhaps the most unsung benefit of arts, culture and heritage facilities is their importance to the communities that surround them and their power as vehicles for social change at the local level.
 
For example, The Lowry has had and continues to have a hugely positive and measurable impact on its local communities and the people of Salford and Greater Manchester.  Driven by an overarching vision to empower people from all backgrounds and delivered through a diverse range of programmes and activities, The Lowry has shaped the well-being, livelihoods, and self-belief of local people.  It has created a story of impressive and diverse impacts on the lives of those who need enhanced access to opportunities the most.  The Lowry is an exemplar of how arts and cultural organisations can deliver an extensive package of arts, employability and community programmes which provide a lifeline to thousands of young people, families and economically vulnerable people who are underserved, stigmatised and excluded.  To demonstrate this, in 2022/23 the Lowry:
 
  • Engaged 22,000 people in participation programmes to significantly help them develop the tools to overcome life’s barriers and build their own futures whether that be through educational, employment, volunteering or community focused initiatives.
     
  • Delivered over 3,200 sessions across all learning and engagement programmes, totalling over 6,000 hours.
     
  • Generated at least £25 million in quantifiable Social Value, representing a social return on investment of £15.45 for every £1 of public funding.
     
  • Through schools’ outreach programmes, supported multiple projects to increase the capacity of local schools to deliver impactful creative education – collectively these projects reached over 10,200 school students in a single year.
 
Further details of the specific programmes delivered by The Lowry are provided in the Lichfields report as referenced above.
 
How does your visit to The Lowry make you feel[10]?
 
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Making good business sense

Not only do organisations in the arts, culture and heritage sector triangulate economic development with social enrichment and place-making regeneration, but they can also offer exceptional value for money.  As highlighted above The Lowry has a social return on investment measured at over £15 for every £1 of public spending.  Adding to this its direct economic contribution, the total return on investment is an astonishing £33 for each £1 of public funding.  Indeed, public funding represents only 6% of The Lowry’s annual income. Such an exceptional return if applied to a Green Book business case appraisal framework would result in an outstanding cost:benefit ratio (BCR), and a sliver bullet in the world of economic and social development.
 
It should be stressed however, that this kind of return on investment is not easily achieved.  It requires that the people and local partners which underpin such organisations, from the Chief Executive and local authority leaders through to volunteers, work tirelessly as a unit towards a shared mission.  For The Lowry this means putting local communities and people at the heart of everything it does.
 
The contributions made by organisations such as The Lowry in a manner which represents excellent value-for-money to the public and private sectors is increasingly under threat from funding challenges and uncertainties. With Labour settling in at No. 10, we hope that they will follow up on their manifesto commitments to invest in and consistency support the arts, culture and heritage sector.  It makes good business sense does it not?
  

 

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Determinants of success?

What are the key determinants of economic, social and place-making success for organisations like The Lowry?  Looking under the skin of The Lowry and engaging closely with its beneficiaries, supplemented by a review of other arts, culture or heritage bodies brings us to the conclusion that there a number of common features which tell the story:
 
  1. Early development of a shared vision, usually in partnership with an ambitious, forward-looking local authority including identification of potential, often prominent site options within a defined locality. Some shared risk taking often is required and often a degree of upfront capital funding will be necessary (for example, to purchase, donate or decontaminate a site).
 
  1. A shared vision is typically accompanied by strong leadership, generating wide appeal amongst potential trustees, partners, sponsors, funders and investors with a drive to improve lives and create new opportunities.
 
  1. The leading organisation must have a deep-seated commitment to local communities and key groups such as young people with a passion for raising aspirations.
 
  1. Willingness to take an innovative approach to bringing different forms of art, culture or heritage together and making them accessible to all communities and their people. In the case of The Lowry, this is demonstrated in how they have blended together the multiple facets of both visual and performing arts alongside local heritage. 
 
  1. An openness to embrace extensive, genuine and meaningful collaboration with other institutions, private investors, the public sector, businesses and the wider creative sector. Again, drawing on The Lowry case study, it’s relationship with the National Theatre provides an obvious example of willing and effective collaboration:
  
The Lowry is one of the National Theatre’s most important and longstanding national partners, helping to inspire younger generations across Greater Manchester to participate and engage through the power of world-class theatre.[11]

Image credit: The Lowry

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Nurturing a positive future

Taking The Lowry as a case study example, robust and convincing evidence is plain for all to see that the Labour Party is right to pinpoint arts, cultural and heritage as a critical sector in the UK’s future economic and social success story.  In charting the role of The Lowry and other iconic venues, the sector is unique in that it can: generate deep forces of economic growth; stimulate internationally significant place-creating regeneration; leverage considerable private sector investment; foster effective, varied and meaningful partnerships; and change lives by providing inspiration and creating learning and employability opportunities that otherwise would not exist for those that need them most.   The sector is distinct in that organisations within it can achieve such widespread, all-embracing economic, social and place-making achievements.   Moreover, our analysis of The Lowry shows that these organisations can deliver outstanding value-for-money. 
 
With the new Labour government not holding back in taking early action to support economic growth and break down barriers to opportunities, we hope to see it’s manifesto sector plan for arts and culture developed and delivered promptly.  This should include the stabilisation and securing of long-term funding, which inevitably must include improved support from the public purse.  In parallel, the opportunity is there to create a better platform for enhancing private investment into arts, culture and heritage.  We have shown how great the impacts can be and how value-for-money can readily be achieved. 
   
I have been astounded by The Lowry’ impact on Salford for a long time. It truly is a force for good and has allowed us to really level up in terms of what we can achieve.

Paul Dennett – Major of Salford & Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester

 

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Insight authors

Richard Coburn

Senior Director
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Alex Davies

Senior Economics Consultant
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Footnotes

[1] Creative Growth (March 2024):  Labour’s Plan for the Arts, Culture and Creative Industries. Labours-Arts-Culture-Creative-Industries-Sector-Plan.pdf
[2] Lord Bragg speech in House of Lords, 1 February 2024.
[3] Campaign for the Arts | The UK alliance for arts and culture
[4] UK arts councils cut funding 16% in real terms since 2017 | Equity
[5] Making Culture Count (2024):  Lichfields for The Lowry. Making-Culture-Count-Full-Lichfields-Report.pdf (the-lowry-site.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com)
[6] McKinsey & Company (November 2023):  The arts in the UK:  Seeing the big picture.
[7] Historic England (August 2023):  The heritage sector in England and its impact on the economy, CBRE for Historic England.
[8] Based on ONS industry output estimates, 2023. 
[9] Josie Cahill, Chair – We Invented the Weekend

[10] From survey of nearly 900 visitors to The Lowry conducted by Caledonia Market Research for Lichfields, 2023. 
[11] Alice King-Farlow, Director of learning and National Partnerships, National Theatre.

 

Image credit: The Lowry 

Disclaimer: This publication has been written in general terms and cannot be relied on to cover specific situations. We recommend that you obtain professional advice before acting or refraining from acting on any of the contents of this publication. Lichfields accepts no duty of care or liability for any loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from acting as a result of any material in this publication. Lichfields is the trading name of Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners Limited. Registered in England, no.2778116

 
 

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