Cabinet Office minister visits Europes largest creative hub

From: Cabinet Office
Published: Thu Feb 10 2022


Minister Adams toured Europe's largest community of independent artists and businesses as it expands to Yorkshire, facilitated by a 20 million Levelling Up grant.

  • Minister Nigel Adams visited Tileyard London on Thursday, 3 February, 2022.
  • The Minister toured key Tileyard facilities, including the in-house management, publishing, and record company Tileyard Music.
  • Tileyard Music includes Pixie Lott and Brit and MOBO award winning singer, Ella Eyre, on its roster.
  • Tileyard North is under construction in Wakefield, Yorkshire and is expected to deliver around 500 new jobs and is benefitting from a 20 million Levelling Up grant provided by central government
  • The UK is the second biggest exporter of music globally after the USA.

Cabinet Office Minister Nigel Adams visited the co-founders of Europe's largest creative hub, Tileyard London on Thursday, 3 February. The Minister heard plans to strengthen Yorkshire's place within the UK's creative industry and understand how Tileyard's new site will increase international exports.

The Minister's visit to Tileyard London, based in London's Kings Cross, heard from creative experts and Tileyard co-founders, Paul Kempe and Nick Keynes. The Minister was briefed on their plans to level up the creative industry with Tileyard's expansion to a new state-of-the-art facility in Wakefield, currently under construction.

It is expected that the new site in West Yorkshire will create around 500 new skilled jobs in the area and is benefitting from a 20 million Levelling Up grant provided by central government to support the creative and digital hub which will complete the regeneration plan for Waterfront Wakefield.

Minister of State Nigel Adams recently said:

This significant investment and vote of confidence in the northern creative industries is fantastic news. Tileyard North shows that levelling up is not just a government policy, but an opportunity of which the private sector and creative industries can take full advantage.

Residents of Wakefield and the surrounding areas will benefit massively from Tileyard North, just as so many have from the amazing facilities at Tileyard London.

The UK is known globally as a hub for the creative industries to thrive in and this government is continuing to invest in the sector with the help of our GREAT campaign which successfully promotes the UK across the globe.

Minister Adams spoke to resident businesses Gearbox records, a vinyl-led record label with an analogue vinyl cutting facility, and Spitfire Audio, a technology company based in London who create sample libraries of virtual instruments used for musical synthesis.

He also toured Tileyard's in-house management, publishing, and record company - Tileyard Music. Tileyard Music includes Brit and MOBO award winning singer Ella Eyre, DJ and Producer, Joel Corry and singer and coach on The Voice Kids UK, Pixie Lott, on its roster.

From here, Minister Adams spoke to students at Tileyard Education - a higher education and professional training company. It provides globally recognised, industry-driven tuition, mentoring and work-based learning programmes at the London and Wakefield locations, as well as online.

Paul Kempe, co-founder of Tileyard London, added:

It was a delight to receive a visit from cabinet office minister, Nigel Adams, who toured the facilities and met a number of the community residents at Tileyard London.

We acknowledge the vast number of opportunities that can and do happen when creative industries collaborate in a community or within close proximity. And how fundamental the creative industries are to the UK economy.

We are looking forward to opening the doors to Tileyard North in the north of England early this summer and replicating the success of Tileyard London. Setting out a new stage for creative communities of the north to plug into Europe's largest music community and eventually providing both high-quality jobs and opportunities to Wakefield and beyond - which sits exactly within the government's levelling up agenda.

Notes to Editors:

  • Details of the GREAT campaign are available via the website
  • In 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK music sector generated 2.9 billion in exports. In 2020 exports totalled 2.3 billion.
  • Tileyard London is Europe's largest community of independent artists and businesses, convening 150 creative companies and home to over 250 creative organisations, artists and independent creative industry businesses, including an industry-leading educational and training facility.

Company: Cabinet Office

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