Creative Enterprise Zone Case Studies

International House – an anchor point of the Brixton Creative Enterprise Zone – is a five year meanwhile use located in a former council office building in Brixton town centre. It provides London’s largest affordable workspace alongside free space for experimentation, diversity of uses and those at risk of exclusion, for each bought space. It is also the UK’s first Living Wage building.

The site is a collaborative project between affordable workspace operator 3Space and Lambeth Council which is structured around a lease with key social value performance indicators. It operates on a ‘BuyGiveWork’ structure, whereby for every desk sold on commercial terms, one is given away rent free to support charities and social purpose organisations. The 70,000 sq ft building is split into five ‘Buy Floors’ and five ‘Give Floors’. The Buy Floors house everything from individual freelancers to a company with 100 employees. The Give Floors accommodate users at risk of displacement due to changing market conditions.

The integrated approach of the project has helped to fulfil the long-term ambitions for the Brixton Zone by providing a local testbed for business start-up and innovation, including creative and digital industries, as well as embedding community use. The space has helped halt the cycle of displacement whereby creative businesses become priced-out of the areas they have helped make desirable. This includes providing more secure spaces for established Brixton organisations, for example Photofusion – the UK’s largest and most comprehensive photography hub – who currently occupy a Give Floor in the building.

The project has successfully managed to balance the competing demands of the town centre, acting as both a market maker through introducing creative and digital industry uses whilst protecting important social, economic and cultural activities. It also contributes around £16 million GVA to the local economy and generates more than £2.7 million in social value outputs each year, including £0.8 million in rent forgone to civil society. In doing so, International House has set a high standard for other operators moving into the area, helping to secure the long-term future of the zone.

One of the outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic is the move away from traditional working practices and centralised offices towards a more localised way of working. Businesses and their teams, including those in the creative and digital sectors, are adopting a hybrid approach to work. These changes require new, flexible spaces which respond to emerging needs and create the places and spaces that local businesses need to thrive.

In the Hounslow Zone, this is being supported with a new affordable workspace offer that local residents can access flexibly by the hour, day or week as their schedules demand. Digital Dock is a modern, stylish and affordable workspace in the heart of Brentford located in a refurbished former shop owned by Hounslow Council.

The 40 seater space is fully equipped with super-fast fibre connectivity and a digital studio available to hire for professional content creation such as photography and video streaming, helping to progress Hounslow’s focus as a media and screen hub. Digital Dock is also helping reinvigorate the local High Street, giving local shops, coffee outlets and food retailers a much-needed boost through increasing footfall in the area.



Digital Dock provides a valuable affordable workspace for local creatives in an area where rents are high and many freelancers and micros are unable to afford space in the Zone. It offers new networking and collaboration space in the Zone, where start-up creative businesses will meet, innovate and grow.

The Hackney Wick and Fish Island Community Development Trust (CDT) was founded in 2017 by Grow Hackney, Stour Space, Yard Theatre and Creative Wick in response to concern about the impact of property development on the heritage and culture of the local area, in particular the loss of affordable space for community activities and the desire to retain access. The group met regularly, exchanging insight and sharing opportunities.

The CDT supported the initial bid for the Hackney Wick & Fish Island Creative Enterprise Zone and were identified as one of the existing grassroots structures which could provide the foundation for significant impact in the future. The existence of the CDT in particular was seen as an important head-start in establishing locally-led governance structures for the area. Following on from this, Creative Enterprise Zone funding was allocated to support the further development of the CDT. This including reviewing governance arrangements to ensure that the Trust was inclusive and fit for purpose, and could support enhanced engagement and responsibility in the future. Through this work, the CDT appointed an experienced Executive Chair and four additional highly skilled non-Exec Directors representing the diverse communities of Hackney Wick Fish Island (HWFI).

The CDT is operating as a community-led social enterprise with a purpose to secure ownership of, or long-term leases on, building assets in perpetuity to create active and valued cultural and community spaces as part of a diverse and sustainable economy. It aims to protect and manage spaces on behalf of the community to ensure that they are inclusive of, and relevant to, the neighbourhood. It also aims to preserve and enhance the rich cultural life and heritage of the area by ensuring that the unique identity and social fabric of the community is retained, that its enterprise is supported, and that local development and change benefits people living and working in the area. As such, it will play a key role in ensuring the long-term sustainability for the Zone, including leading on bids and driving local collaboration opportunities, as was seen through the recent response to the Mayor of London’s High Streets for All Challenge.

Creative Enterprise Zones are committed to creating a talent pipeline, opening up the creative sector for the next generation of talent and supporting people from all backgrounds to seize future opportunities.

The Lewisham Zone has partnered with the Lewisham Education and Arts Network (LEAN) to deliver Creative Careers, a programme of work focused on creative career development pathways and opportunities for local people.

The programme has worked in partnership with anchor institutions such as The Albany, Trinity Laban and Horniman Museum to lead youth consultation exercises with 60 young people. From this, LEAN has provided opportunities for three paid part-time internships and nine university placements. So far, the programme has delivered 15 industry workshops that have been attended by over 150 young people in the borough as well as delivering a one day exchange event at Tate Modern with over 100 attendees. In addition, 25 local artists and freelancers have benefited from paid employment opportunities through facilitating workshops and skill-sharing.

It has also produced a Creative Careers Report which sets out a clear plan for highlighting creative careers provision across the borough, for example through delivering an annual creative careers event and developing resource packs and referrals for local teachers and youth advisors.

Some planned activity is also now being delivered digitally due to social distancing requirements. This includes a youth consultation pilot project to champion young voices and shape a collaborative art project on climate change and social activism; and ‘Unlock The Arts’ – an online project for 13-18 year olds in the borough comprising a series of ‘chat’ with creative professionals, specially commissioned promotional films and a ‘top tips’ document that is being shared with all Lewisham secondary schools and colleges.

Recognising the impact of the pandemic on freelancers and artists working in the sector, LEAN have also been delivering a monthly online ‘Freelancers’ Breakfast Club’ as a space for local creatives to connect, share referrals and opportunities and support improved wellbeing.

Made By Tottenham is an online resource designed and delivered by the Haringey Creative Enterprise Zone. It supports the local creative economy, freelancers and businesses by offering business advice and guidance, skills and training and a platform for news, events and opportunities.

At the heart of the website is a local creative business directory featuring profiles of creative people and businesses within the local area across media, film and photography, visual arts, design, craft, fashion, music and performing arts. The directory aims to:

• Raise the profile of creative freelancers and businesses within the local area

• Facilitate direct employment, paid opportunities and commissions from Haringey based companies, London Councils and across the sector more broadly

• Establish new connections locally, as well as across the wider London creative community

• Showcase and discover talent

• Inspire a new generation of creatives through increased awareness of – and access to – the vast array of creative sectors and careers available

There are 158 profiles currently registered on the site, including Hazel Brown, Founder of Hazel Brown Creative who said:

Being part of the Made By Tottenham directory has been an inspiring and positive experience, especially during such a challenging time for many creatives in Tottenham and further afield.

Since having my profile on the directory, I have received a sales enquiry and even secured work based on my involvement with the project. It's brilliant to be a part of such a vibrant community and have the opportunity to connect with other creatives in the local area.

The site is currently receiving 400 unique visits each month. Activity is also being supplemented with a local poster campaign featuring artists and makers within the zone.

N17: Creative Callings is a flagship creative skills project delivered in the Tottenham Zone. The project, which is funded by the Greater London Authority and the European Social Fund, and supported by Haringey Council, works with Londoners and small businesses within Tottenham to boost Haringey’s creative sector and support growth.

Delivered in partnership with Fashion-Enter Ltd and Collage Arts, the £500,000 project brings together local creative small and medium enterprises (SME's) and micro SMEs with training providers to co-design improved new training offers. It is helping to address skills gaps in areas including leadership and management, digital marketing, strategy, supply chain management and finance, as well as offering industry accredited qualifications specific to the design and textiles industries.

The project also helps open up creative career pathways by supporting small creative businesses to provide work placements, internships and project opportunities for students, and helping existing sector employees advance their careers.

The project will support 130 early-stage sector employees to develop their careers, and help 38 small creative businesses to provide training and work placement opportunities at. At least 50% of project beneficiaries will be from under-represented backgrounds, including women and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups.

Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries, said:

London is at the heart of the global fashion industry‎ so I’m delighted that Fashion-Enter will be working with small businesses in Haringey to help them make the most of this thriving sector. The Haringey Creative Enterprise Zone is all about supporting and showcasing local talent, and this project will make a big difference by providing skills and opportunities for young people to kick-start their creative careers.

In March 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic threatened catastrophe for the sector. Many creative businesses and cultural organisations faced unprecedented financial hardship, with some experiencing up to 100% reductions in income at the peak of the crisis and with economic uncertainty ongoing.

In response, the Hackney Wick & Fish Island Zone established a new small commissions programme, making £20,000 of funding available for organisations to bring forward creative skills, engagement and training programmes for local communities. Each project supported by the fund employed a minimum of 4 local creative practitioners, paid at London Living Wage, helping create work and replace lost contracts. The projects also help unlock new revenue models, improving sustainability for local creative organisations and stimulating future growth.

Projects funded included: a series of co-creation workshops for young people with Hackney Arts, leading to a piece of installation art at Stour Space, interactive tours celebrating the area’s diversity and heritage, a programme upskilling local creatives to work with self-defined survivors, and activities to support and upskill local craftspeople in creating new revenue streams.

Catalyst is a structured programme of targeted innovative support for creative businesses across the Lewisham Zone, delivered in partnership with Goldsmiths, University of London. The offer was developed in response to a need amongst local businesses for additional strategic support, particularly to help them navigate the challenges caused by COVID-19 and enable stronger, more resilient re-opening.

The fully funded programme comprises a dynamic schedule of online workshops and talks in areas including client engagement, finance, business planning, team building and future-proofing, all designed to support long-term sustainability. Catalyst gives creative entrepreneurs the opportunity to take time out from their business to self-reflect, access specialist advice and resources, build their creative network and gain new skills, techniques and insight to support – and sustain – their personal and professional growth.

Founders of 22 creative SMEs are currently participating in the programme, representing diverse sub-sectors including sculpture, photography, community regeneration, film and graphic design.

Working with partner operators, the Croydon Zone has provided £60,000 of rent relief to young people looking for a studio or creative workspace. The Croydon Workspace Subsidy Scheme has provided discounts of 40 per cent for young creatives under the age of 25, helping them test their business ideas, establish their brand and have access to secure, affordable spaces to work.

So far the scheme has supported 50 young local creatives. These include Shelby Fuller, who started making knitwear as a hobby in 2014. Completely self-taught, Shelby completed a Princes Trust business course in 2016 and realised that could make a business out of her hobby. She began working from home, but quickly released she needed additional studio space to develop and grow her brand. She is now based at ASC Arthouse in Croydon and making her one-off designs under the brand name Elizabeth An'Marie. ASC have also found Shelby a mentor in the fashion industry.

In Shelby’s own words:

I finished the course and began running my business from home. I was at home alone and didn’t need to go out anywhere so no connection with people or travel. I worked for 5 years in that environment. Then I found ASC on Instagram. The location is good. Other studios I was looking at were expensive - £400 or £500 - but this was affordable, plus the chance to take up the discount really helps. It feels safe – even when I leave late in the evening. It’s a good area for the studio to be placed. It’s easy to promote events locally. Recently I have been having model shoots – every time they come they are amazed! I tell them the back story of what this place is about. I think the workspace discount scheme has helped in that at least I know for a year I am secure. This is my first time in a studio and being able to have that first year with a discount means perhaps I can save for the next year.

As the COVID-19 crisis hit, Lambeth Council pivoted local recovery grants to those most at risk and unable to access initial Government grants through a Local Hardship Fund. The Fund have several distinct strands, three of which focussed specifically on the creative economy. This included:

• Arts and Culture at Risk Fund – £95,000 was awarded to 7 not-for-profit arts and culture organisations (including artist workspace providers) in the Brixton Zone, collectively support 27 jobs and 159 freelancers

• Shared Workspaces Fund – £650,000 awarded to 65 businesses based within shared and flexible workspaces in the Zone, collectively support 223 jobs

• Independent Hospitality Fund – £140,000 awarded to 7 hospitality businesses who support creative output (i.e. live music venues), with 277 jobs supported.

In addition, the council granted 3 months rent free for 124 small business tenants of the council across the borough, at a value of over £415,000.

This has been further built on Lambeth’s Economic Resilience Fund, created in December 2020 to maximise immediate grant support and pandemic response business support activity in the borough. Within the Brixton Zone, 64 creative and cultural organisations have received support, totaling £565,000. Example beneficiaries include:

• Bureau of Silly Ideas – figureheads in the UK Outdoor Arts sector, BOSI are recognised pioneers within the field and continue to transform public spaces, creating new pathways / platforms for engagement and challenging what ‘art’ is through silliness and interrogation - £25,000 grant

• Connection Crew CIC – an award-winning event crewing company who provide vital support for ex-homeless people, training them up and helping them build a career in crewing - £25,000 grant

• Brixton Recording Studios – Creative music recording studio and youth mentoring facility - £10,000 grant

At the beginning of April 2020, Croydon Council launched the Culture Relief Fund in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cultural organisations were hit early by the economic impact of the lockdown, with creative activities, theatres and other entertainment venues among the first to close their doors.

The £135,000 Fund ws allocated to 38 organisations over three funding rounds. It has provided programme funding for cultural activity alongside emergency funding to support cultural organisations in danger of closing as a result of the ongoing crisis.

Grants averaging £3,401 were awarded to various local organisations in the Zone including: Talawa Theatre Company, Savvy Theatre Company and Writerz&Scribberz, who delivered 100 creative wellbeing packs to homeless people housed in hotels at the height of the pandemic.