Lewisham Council have been awarded a Creative Enterprise Zone status by London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, in a major boost for Deptford’s thriving artistic and creative industry.
The Lewisham North Creative Enterprise Zone, which covers Deptford and New Cross in the north of the borough, will provide at least £500,000 of funding to support the development of the borough’s creative sector, which is growing twice as quickly as the London average.
The CEZ will help the sector grow by:
- supporting creative enterprises to connect and collaborate
- increasing access to affordable workspace to help creative enterprises put down roots in community
- linking creative enterprises to the skills, expertise and facilities of the borough’s educational and cultural institutions
- providing career pathways from school into further education, higher education and creative employment.
The CEZ will involve a partnership between the Council and key artistic, creative and educational institutions, including:
- Goldsmiths, University of London
- Trinity Laban
- the Albany
- Second Floor Studios
- Studio Raw
- Lewisham Education Arts Network.
Damien Egan, Mayor of Lewisham, said: ‘This funding is great news for the borough. Thank you to everyone for working so hard on our bid and to Sadiq Khan and the GLA for supporting us.
‘We’re proud of our creative history, and this money will help us support creative jobs and businesses in Deptford.’
Councillor Joe Dromey, Cabinet Member for Finance, Skills and Jobs (job share), said: ‘We are hugely proud of our thriving and innovative creative community in Deptford, and this is fantastic news for our area. The Creative Enterprise Zone will help support local businesses to grow and to create good-quality jobs for local residents. We look forward to working with our partners, with local businesses and with our local community to make this a success for Deptford.’
The mix of creative and digital activity in Deptford provides a unique creative environment, influenced by the history of the borough. The areas have a growing number of creative businesses, including digital and graphic design, contemporary visual art, music and dance.
They are areas with huge cultural assets and education institutions that support the current creative sector and are key to bringing through the workforce of tomorrow. It has great potential to contribute to the CDI sector in London and has experienced rapid employment growth over the last five years.
The Lewisham North CEZ will be launched officially in the New Year.