• £13.5 million awarded to boost Merseyside’s thriving live music sector and help creative firms in the West Midlands revolutionise live performance with VR and immersive technology 

• Clusters funding builds on UK’s regional strengths as part of government’s growth-driving mission for the creative industries

• Next phase of advanced ‘movie magic’ research labs launched, with £6.6 million of funding available for SMEs 

Creative technology firms and artists in Merseyside and the West Midlands are in line for a major financial boost, as a £13.5 million investment in training, research and development funding is announced by the Culture Secretary to boost economic growth and job opportunities.

Liverpool City Region’s MusicFutures cluster will benefit from £6.75 million to bring together partners including the city’s two universities, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Liverpool M&S Bank Arena. The cluster will provide funding and training for musicians, educators and small businesses to harness new technologies such as AI and Extended Reality (XR) and explore making the live music sector more environmentally sustainable.

CreaTech Frontiers in the West Midlands will also benefit from £6.75 million, with the investment focusing on developing small, micro- and medium-sized businesses specialising in creative tech like video games and immersive reality. Several regional universities alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) will work with industry to boost skills and develop new products, technology and multi-platform content. This will include using VR, 3D-modelling and animation techniques in live events, and adapting video game engines for use in music, theatre and film.

Experimental performance projects curated by the RSC will be showcased at South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Texas in 2026, while the Birmingham Opera Group and The Rep theatre will stage new works, including co-creations with young people in deprived areas of the West Midlands.

It comes as the CoSTAR network of R&D labs being built across the UK to drive the next generation of ‘movie magic’ visual effects tech in film, TV and performing arts enters its next phase, with £6.6 million now available to help innovating firms build prototypes and take their products to market.

Merseyside and the West Midlands have been selected in the government’s Creative Industries Clusters, delivered by the Arts and Humanities Research Council on behalf of UK Research and Innovation, which aims to grow specialist creative subsectors across the UK. The UK’s world-class creative industries have been named as one of the government’s eight growth-driving sectors in its forthcoming Industrial Strategy. 

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said:
“Talent is everywhere but opportunity is not. That’s why we are supporting firms, artists and freelancers that are innovating, using new technology and driving growth in creative clusters across the country. 

“Liverpool and Merseyside hold a special place in our nation’s music landscape, and this funding will support imagination and experimentation across the city and region, as creators explore how we can make gigs more environmentally friendly.

“Birmingham and the West Midlands have a rich industrial history, and we are putting them at the forefront of a potential new industry developing the amazing technology that will revolutionise visual effects in film, theatre and gaming.” 

AHRC Executive Chair Professor Christopher Smith said:
“AHRC is delighted to announce the launch of a new wave of Creative Industries Clusters.  

“The two new clusters announced today, MusicFutures and CreaTech Frontiers, will create vital support for technology and innovation in the UK’s world-leading creative industries and expand our regional investment.

“These clusters will support artists and creators so they can benefit from new technologies across a wide range of platforms, and develop their innovation and business skills.

“The remarkable projects made possible through our Creative Industries Clusters span sustainable fashion, game design and extended reality, and have attracted major co-investment. They have helped solve real-world problems and they deliver commercial benefits to the UK economy in line with the Government's Industrial Strategy."