ITV chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette highlighted the importance of the UK’s creative industries during an inaugural lecture at the launch of Bath Spa University’s new Centre for Cultural and Creative Industries.
Speaking to 60 members of staff and students from the university, the former president of the Royal Television Society and deputy chairman of the National Film School addressed the role of the arts in creating empathy amongst people – a theme he explores in his recent book The Empathy Instinct. 
Sir Peter, pictured, highlighted the need to keep encouraging talented youngsters from a wide variety of backgrounds to choose a creative career rather than more traditional professions.
“If you ask me what the greatest challenge is for the creative industries today I’d say without hesitation that it is encouraging the next generation to consider a ‘creative’ career over and above more traditional career paths like accountancy or law,” he said.
“We also have a job to do in attracting talent from all backgrounds and increasing diversity within the industry, which we’ll only be able to do if we create the right networks, much like the new Centre for Cultural and Creative Industries at Bath Spa University, which provide opportunities to meet and collaborate with like-minded people.
“If we're going to have a really creative industry that truly lives up to its name, it should be drawing on all the cultural influences we have in our country – and I don't think it does that currently.”
Click here to watch a short video of Sir Peter’s speech
The new centre will bring together practitioners from across the creative industries, supporting and enabling collaboration around its core themes of creative entrepreneurship and research.
Centre director and Professor of Creative Writing and Digital Media at Bath Spa University, Kate Pullinger, said: “Sir Peter’s inaugural lecture, with its emphasis on the importance of the creative industries to our economy as well as our lives, provided the perfect kick-off for the new centre.
“His exploration of the idea of the ‘empathic citizen’ who is enabled by the arts to experience and understand the lives of other people is inspiring for students and practitioners alike.”
The Centre for Cultural and Creative Industries will officially open to external practitioners his summer. Anyone interested in collaborating with Bath Spa University on creative research projects should contact Kate Pullinger on 01225 876285 or k.pullinger@bathspa.ac.uk
