The Re:Create 2023 business support programme helped 50 artists, makers, and creative businesses in the borough of Wandsworth to be bold in their business plans by providing one-to-one mentoring support, access to a bespoke e-learning course, and networking events. The objectives of the programme were to increase business resilience and financial sustainability, build business confidence and skills and develop networks in the borough.
2023/24 Annual Impact Report
Welcome to our Annual Impact Report for 2023/24. Once again, we are pleased to share this report as a digital only publication, helping to keep our carbon footprint as light as possible. A PDF version of the text is also available to download using the button below, should you require a more accessible format.
This annual report is a particularly special one for Creative United as it marks our 10th year operating as an independent community interest company.
We started the year with a celebratory event which brought together many of the brilliant people and organisations that we have collaborated with over the past 10 years in the development of our services, all of which have been focused on increasing access, inclusion and participation in the arts and creative industries.
We are hugely grateful to our friends at the World Heartbeat Academy (WHB) for hosting us at their new venue in Wandsworth which provides such fantastic music learning, performance and recording facilities for many hundreds of talented young people. Without organisations like WHB, our own Take it away scheme, which provides affordable access to musical instruments, would be less impactful as the opportunity for young people to get access to music tuition, rehearsal and performance experience is also vital to the future of the music education sector and wider creative industries.
Thanks to renewed investment from Arts Council England, we were delighted to be able to relaunch the Take it away scheme in November 2023 on an ‘open to all’ basis through our network of more than 100 high street music shops across the country. This means that we are now able to provide essential support to aspiring and professional musicians of all ages and abilities. In addition to this, we continue our commitment to understanding and responding to the needs of disabled players through our involvement with the Inclusive Music Consortium and PhD studentships at Queen’s Belfast and Kingston University.
This year we also looked afresh at how our work as a social enterprise is benefiting the livelihoods of visual artists and craftspeople across the UK. Thanks to funding from Creative Scotland we were able to extend our service offer through the launch of Made Possible, a 12-month pilot programme designed to test the viability of the Own Art model when working directly with a cohort of independent artists and makers selling direct to consumers. We also initiated our Artists Advisory Group as a mechanism through which we hope to increase our understanding of the current challenges and opportunities facing contemporary artists seeking to establish a sustainable career through their creative practice.
In combination with our brilliant Re:Create business support programme (which we are now successfully growing in partnership with multiple London borough councils), there is no doubt that the reach and impact of our work is stronger than ever. We are very grateful to all our partners for working with us to establish a more financially and socially inclusive creative sector across the UK. We look forward to continuing this journey with you and many new partners in the decade ahead.
Mary-Alice Stack
Chief Executive
Headlines
Evolving with the music retail industry
Our flagship consumer credit programme, Take it away, was relaunched with a fresh look and updated terms. We took the important step to open the scheme up to all age groups, providing a vital solution to the financial challenges faced by both music retail businesses and consumers amidst the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Upskilling creative businesses
In 2023 the Re:Create business support programme has helped 50 artists, makers, and creative businesses in Wandsworth enhance their financial sustainability, boost business confidence, and develop key skills. We’re thrilled to be expanding the programme to the boroughs of Richmond and Westminster in 2024.
Connecting with creative communities
We created the Artist Advisory Group (AAG) to more accurately understand the challenges and opportunities that exist for artists and makers to develop sustainable careers in the UK. We piloted an innovative consumer credit programme, directly for makers, to further understand artists’ role as drivers of the visual arts economy.
Empowering creative entrepreneurs
In 2023, we proudly partnered with The Mayor of London’s Office and retail consultants Alice Mayor and Jo Armitage to train and support 12 creative enterprises to market their products to new audiences during the festive period for the London Made Me pop-up shop on Carnaby Street.
Re:Create 2023 and beyond: upskilling creative businesses in London’s boroughs
What did Re:Create 2023 achieve?
Hear from a participant...
Lætitia Algalarrondo Ahmed
Lætitia Algalarrondo Ahmed is a mixed media artist who set up a Community Interest Company (CIC), The Arty-Crafty Crescent Club, to encourage Muslim women and children to explore their creativity and boost their mental health through different types of art and crafts.
Overall, the Re:Create 2023 programme has had a hugely positive impact on Lætitia and her work:
The Re:Create 2023 programme has had a profound impact on both me and my business, prompting significant changes and improvements across various aspects. (…) I anticipate seeing improvements in several areas, including brand visibility, audience engagement, and overall organizational effectiveness.
By aligning my business practices with the insights and strategies learned through the Re:Create programme, I feel more confident about the future and optimistic about the potential for growth and success.
Looking ahead, I am committed to leveraging the knowledge and skills acquired from the programme to continue evolving and refining my business operations.
New horizons for Re:Create
After the success of the Re:Create 2023 programme, we are delighted to be expanding the business support programme to the London boroughs of Westminster and Richmond-upon-Thames as well as continuing to support another cohort creative businesses in Wandsworth. In 2024/25 we will be empowering and upskilling over 90 creative professionals across three London boroughs to take their practice to the next level.
Take it away
At Creative United, we believe in inspiring and empowering people to make music. We do this by enabling them to own their own instrument – or pay for tuition, equipment and software – with access to interest free finance.
Following a new funding agreement with Arts Council England, we were able to rethink and refresh the terms for our flagship consumer credit programme Take it away. We revised and simplified our offer for Take it away’s network of independent music retailers to provide improved access to musical instruments for customers of all ages and abilities. Continuing our investment, we unveiled the refreshed brand identity and key messages to better connect to our customers.
This strategic move will provide increased support for high-street musical instrument retailers across England, directly addressing the financial challenges faced by both businesses and consumers due to the current cost of living crisis.
Affordable access to the right equipment is key in ensuring creativity can flourish. Alongside our £151 million investment this year in music organisations and projects, our increased support of Take it away means even more people can access the musical instruments they need, helping us build a country where everyone can enjoy music and the benefits it brings.
– Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England
In numbers...
In words...
Own Art
Own Art is Creative United’s pioneering initiative dedicated to making contemporary art more accessible and affordable. The scheme offers interest-free loans to buy original work through a network of over 300 galleries, art fairs and artist-led organisations across the UK.
In numbers...
In words...
Arkley Fine Art at the British Art Fair
037, Felice-Hodges courtesy of Vanner Gallery
Journey of a Lifetime, Jilly Edwards
In video...
Artist-led innovation
In addition to the Own Art scheme creating new pathways for artists to sell their work through galleries, the 2023-2024 financial year saw Creative United launch new programmes to better understand the needs and realities of artists working in the UK.
Made Possible was a pilot consumer credit scheme that ran from November 2023 to October 2024 with support from Creative Scotland. Its goal was to research and test the viability of providing a retail finance facility for independent artists and craft makers who are primarily focused on making sales direct to consumer.
Through the pilot, we supported 10 Scotland-based makers to offer interest free credit on their work to customers across the UK over a period of 12 months. The results of the pilot are now being evaluated, helping us to understand the value of the service for artists that do not have the benefit of gallery representation and/or are looking for ways to sustain their creative practice through increased sales.
A word from our Chair…
This will be my final contribution to the Creative United annual report as I am stepping down at the end of September 2024, having been Chair for 10 years, and having served as a Director of Artco (our previous company) for 8 years.
I would like to initially comment on the 2023/4 financial year.
This has been a year of challenge and opportunity for us on many fronts, consistent with the social and economic challenges so many arts organisations are currently facing.
We have successfully addressed those challenges with our customary combination of determination and skill.
We now have strong social programmes, income streams and balance sheet, and together these give us great resilience as a company.
Over the last 10 years we have supported tens of thousands of beneficiaries, including artists, musicians, disabled people and small creative businesses.
This is a considerable legacy to be proud of.
My own focus has always been on taking an entrepreneurial approach to income generation to fund our social programmes, and the results over those 10 years speak for themselves in this regard.
At the heart of our company are our people and we have been very fortunate to have had so many excellent individuals on our Board and in our Executive team, including of course our outstanding CEO Mary-Alice Stack.
I would particularly like to thank our friends at the Arts Council who have supported us so substantially over the years.
Looking forward, I am confident that we will continue to develop and expand our social mission in the future.
David Gilbert, Chair of Creative United 2013 – 2024
Financial Accounts
Overview
The principal activity of the company during the period covered by these financial statements was the delivery of our two consumer credit schemes (“Own Art” and “Take it away”), alongside a number of business support programmes (“Re:Create”, “Heritage Compass” and others), all of which are designed to support the creative economy and encourage increased public engagement with the arts and cultural heritage.
During the year, Creative United received £661,103 in grant funding from Arts Council England. This investment included a transition grant of £411,103 as we moved away from our previous status as a National Portfolio Organisation towards a new funding relationship with Arts Council England for the 2.5 year period commencing 1 November 2023. The Lottery funded ‘Transition Fund’ award of £411,103 covered the 7-month period 1 April – 31 October 2023. £250,000 was awarded under a new funding agreement for the 5-month period 1 November – 31 March.
Grant income was received from Creative Scotland for the continued delivery of the Own Art scheme in Scotland, as well as for the development of a new pilot initiative (“Made Possible”) designed to test the potential for offering a similar service to individual artist/makers that do not benefit from gallery representation.
Additionally, the company generated revenues from contracts for services, membership fees and commissions relating to the delivery of the consumer credit schemes.
Reserves Policy
The company holds reserves to provide mitigation against unexpected costs or shortfalls in income. The current reserves include £350,000 of funds which the Board has decided to ringfence for reinvestment in business development support services. These funds may be repurposed at any time, depending on the prevailing economic conditions.
Following confirmation of a new 2.5 year funding agreement with Arts Council England in October 2023, the directors have reviewed the reserves policy and are now considering plans for investing the ring-fenced reserves over a period of 2-3 years, reducing the total amount held in reserve down by 25% -35% depending on circumstances.
Directors
The directors shown below held office during the period from 1 April 2023 to the date of this report.
F S Amidi (appointed 19 October 2023)
S N Bull
A R Collins
D S Gilbert (Chairman) (resigned 10 October 2024)
K Hall
N D Henry
H Kayi Mason (appointed 19 October 2023)
M-A Stack (Chief Executive)
A Tucker (appointed 19 October 2023; resigned 3 July 2024)
Income and Expenditure
Balance Sheet
Thank you to our funders and partners
We wouldn’t have been able to achieve so much in 2023/24 without the support and help of our funders and partners. Thank you.
