[Helen Godwin, West of England Mayor]
I don’t know if this is of interest to Bath Artists’ Studios or any other art-based location in Bath, but creative organisations across the West are set to benefit from a £6 million programme launched by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority to transform underused spaces into thriving facilities and workspaces for the region’s creative sector, including film and TV.
Opening now for eight weeks, Greenlight West Creative Workspace Fund is the region’s first dedicated capital grants programme supporting creative organisations to refurbish and retrofit premises, helping tackle the growing shortage of affordable workspace across the West.
The region’s creative industries employ more than 40,000 people and contribute £1.6 billion to the country’s fastest-growing regional economy each year. Employment in the sector in the West of England has grown by 82% since 2015, but workspace provision has failed to keep pace. Studio space and specialist facilities remain in short supply, while rents continue to rise faster than inflation.
The Greenlight West Creative Workspace Fund will help create affordable, high-quality workspaces that enable creative businesses to scale, grow and innovate. Funding will support projects that expand access to:
- Specialist facilities for high-growth creative sectors, including screen and CreaTech
- Affordable workspaces and workshops
- Industry-led skills and training facilities
- Managed workspace and business incubation
- Makerspaces for creative entrepreneurs
The programme is expected to create dozens of new jobs and generate an economic boost of up to £6.7 million for the region, both during construction and once the funded facilities are up and running.
Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, said:
“The West of England’s creative sector contributes enormously to our regional economy, and we’re already one of the UK’s leading destinations for film and TV production.
“We’re determined to build on that success, growing our reputation as a world-class creative hub and creating more jobs and opportunities across the region.
“But for too long, local creative businesses have struggled to find the affordable specialist space they need to grow. The Greenlight West Creative Workspace Fund will help unlock underused buildings and create the high-quality workspaces that people need to innovate and thrive right here in the West of England.”
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said:
“Through the Creative Places Growth Fund, we’re putting funding in the hands of local leaders, giving them the freedom to invest in what works for their communities and creative sectors.
“Greenlight West is a great example of that approach in action: backing local jobs, skills and businesses, while helping the region compete.”
Organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors can apply. Applications are open until 12 noon on 3 December.
A webinar for prospective applicants will be held on 19 October. To register and find out more about the programme, including eligibility criteria, click here.
The announcement comes just weeks after the Mayor of the West of England launched Greenlight West, a new £4.5 million production fund designed to increase the quantity, range and scale of film and TV productions made in the region.
Through Greenlight West, awards of between £50,000 and £500,000 (varying by production routes) will be available for ambitious, commercially viable screen productions that can demonstrate the meaningful impact they will bring to the region in terms of local spend, employment, skills development and other benefits.
Greenlight West is funded through the West of England’s £25 million allocation from the Creative Places Growth Fund, a government programme to support the region’s creative industries from 2026 to 2029.
