New creative apprenticeships for thousands
22 February 2008
Gordon Brown has called on Britain to become "the Hollywood" of creative industries as the Government announces five thousand new apprenticeships in film, fashion, music and design.
Speaking to Blur drummer Dave Rowntree in Downing Street, the PM said that a wide range of creative businesses, including the BBC, ITV, the Royal Shakespeare Company and many others, had signed up to provide 5,000 new apprenticeships by 2013. The move would consolidate Britain's position as a "world leader" in the field, he said.
The PM said:
"The creative industries - fashion to film, advertising, music - are one of the great exports for Britain to the rest of the world and one of the biggest employers of people for the future.
"We want Britain to be the new Hollywood of some of the new creative industries of the future in the way that Hollywood was the centre of the film industry in the past."
The PM also announced a "World Creative Business Conference" that will bring world leaders in the creative and financial sectors to the UK every year just as economic and business leaders gather at the Davos World Economic Forum.
The new apprenticeship strategy, 'Creative Britain: New Talents for the New Economy', makes 26 key commitments for Government and industry across every stage of the creative process. Launched by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, it aims to give more young people the opportunity to develop creative talents through five hours of learning per week at school.
The creative industries sector contributes £60 billion a year to the British economy and employs almost 2 million people.
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