How does clustering affect SME growth in the Creative and Digital Industries?

Background and objectives
The challenge for this research is to establish the extent to which business growth in the creative and digital industries is enhanced by networks, clusters and ecosystems; to explore the essential aspects of such ecosystems and the constraints for both individual businesses and local economies. The context should involve the Creative Quarter, the physical manifestation of Nottingham’s (UK) creative and digital ecosystem.

Extant research
Early studies (Chaston, 2008; Bagwell, 2008) suggested that the creative industries are distinct in fostering micro-businesses with life-style objectives. However both the definition of creative industries and the characteristics of the businesses that make up the sector, have changed, and some subsectors of the creative and digital industries now demonstrate rapid growth and complex competitive challenges (Hotho and Champion, 2011.

Building on Porter’s iconic concept (1998) extant literature is generally consistent that local concentration of activity supports firm growth and subsequent economic development. However, there is less consistency of approach, with the Creative and Digital Industries context ranging from networks (Oxborrow, 2012) to clusters (Porter, 1998; Bagwell, 2008) and ecosystems (Bramwell et al., 2012; Hearn et al., 2007). In other sectors, there has been extensive recent research to explore how concentration has supported firms, for example in biotechnology industries (Angelakis and Galanakis, 2016; Simba, 2014) but there has been little recent research that reflects both the latest arguments in support of ecosystem development and the dynamic and growing nature of the creative and digital industries.

Approach and Recommendations
An innovative approach is suggested, potentially based on comparative cases such as Nottingham’s Creative Quarter and other analogous concentrations of creative and digital activity, in the UK or overseas. The successful candidate will be assisted to access
businesses and organisations within Nottingham’s Creative Quarter and their findings and recommendations could have far reaching impact within the local economy.