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Creating a Creative & Digital Hotspot: Key to Placemaking in Colchester
Creative & Digital Sector Profile
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A recent NESTA / Creative England
report puts Colchester on the national
map for its creative cluster, ranking
the town 20th out of 47 places in the
UK, beating Brighton and Newcastle
for concentration and growth of
creative industries
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Around 6,587 people are employed
within Colchester’s creative industries
representing 5.7% of all employment
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More than 865 business units create
the largest creative economy in Essex
and the wider Haven Gateway
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The GVA of the creative and digital
industries in Colchester was £332.5m
in 2016, 7.5% of the total GVA.
Main: Rafael Vin
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oly’s £28m Firstsite contemporary art gallery provides the anchor for the regeneration of St Botolph’s
in the town centre. The red brick building in the background will transform into a Curzon Cinema in 2017.
Inset: Plans showing the Mercury Theatre’s £8.8m redevelopment which will extend audience capacity and production facilities.
The £2.6m Creative Business Centre providing Ultrafast Broadband and work,
meeting and networking space for creative and digital businesses.