Finding the hidden value of the creative economy
The Fifth Sector measures creative economies and the value they create for places.
The Fifth Sector was established in 2011 to provide specialist strategic and economic development consultancy to the public sector, universities and commercial investors. Our methods are adapted to reflect the reality of continuous innovation and rapid transformation across a 'mixed economy' of cultural, creative, social and tech enterprises. Our Places platform pulls live data from dozens of active feeds and builds on our corpus of 15 years' analysis and records to produce up-to-the-minute mapping, sector and workforce intelligence that shows you a local creative economy as it is right now, with a place-specific lens on what has changed over the preceding decade.
Our work
Creative economy
We map creative economies and workforces to measure the value they create and provide insights that help clients identify ways to build resilience and spur growth in their place. Our mapping for Aberdeen City Council shaped North East Culture Connects, the Regional Economic Partnership's new cultural and creative industries cluster development framework for Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
Frontier creative sectors
We map the most innovative parts of the creative economy, from 'established' sectors like music, games, animation, film and television production to newer expressions of creativity through the creator and experience economies. In Liverpool, we worked with the University of Liverpool and Liverpool City Region Music Board to develop an innovative and dynamic model of the city region's vibrant music economy. Read the Liverpool City Region Music Economy report. In Surrey, North Hampshire and Mid Hampshire we mapped the creative and digital workforce, freelancers included. Read about the Surrey+ Creative Constellation
Creative places
As well as writing cultural strategies and plans for cities and regions, we carry out studies that identify and measure the wider impact of culture and creative industries on places, including on the visitor economy, health and place-based regeneration.
Evaluation
We carry out Green Book evaluations of the programmes that fund creative work, from film and television production funds to cultural development projects, events and festivals.
Places
Places is our method for mapping the creative economy of any place. It brings together company records, workforce estimates and network analysis. It finds the creative activity, people and connections in a place, including freelancers and companies registered under other industries. Clients receive a dataset, a map and an evidence pack that show what is already there before they choose what to support.
Examples of our work can be found here. For more background on our vision of a future creative economy, read our blog.
To find what is hidden in your place, talk to us.