Assistant Vice-Chancellor selected to join Creative Industries Taskforce

Lynn Barlow, UWE Bristol’s Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Creative and Cultural Industries Engagement, has become part of a new taskforce to help deliver a plan to grow the UK’s creative industries.

Lynn joins leaders from organisations including Creative UK, the British Fashion Council and the Royal Shakespeare Company, plus academics, investors and tech entrepreneurs, to help inform the Government’s strategy to unlock growth in the UK’s creative industries – one of the eight growth-driving sectors of the Industrial Strategy.

The Creative Industries Taskforce met for the first time on Wednesday 18 December under the leadership of its co-chairs Baroness Shriti Vadera and Sir Peter Bazalgette, who is UWE Bristol’s Chancellor.

The taskforce will work towards the development of an ambitious and targeted Creative Industries Sector Plan, helping to provide growth as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.

The plan will be published in the spring, alongside the Industrial Strategy, and will set out new policies and interventions to deliver a further boost to the creative industries’ potential for spreading growth and opportunities.

The taskforce will help to ensure that the Creative Industries Sector Plan is designed in partnership with business, devolved governments, regions, experts and other stakeholders.

“Creative Industries are a powerhouse in the UK; here in the West we have some of the biggest names in film and television, plus world class artists and tech entrepreneurs.

“It’s an honour to be representing Bristol and ensuring the region’s voice is heard during the development of the Creative Industries Sector Plan, which will attract investment and support economic growth in the long-term,” said Lynn.

Lynn began her career as a reporter for regional newspapers before moving to the BBC as a health and community affairs correspondent and a documentary producer, winning Grierson and RTS awards for the landmark series Anatomy of a Crime.

She holds trustee roles at the Royal Television Society and Wildscreen with previous non-exec roles for Encounters Film Festival, Bristol Cultural Development Partnership and Chair of Circomedia.

Lynn is member of the West of England Cultural Compact and contributes to the British Academy's working group on universities and their role in social and cultural infrastructure.

Further information about the Creative Industries Taskforce is available from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.