What is the West Yorkshire Create Growth Programme?

Funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and delivered in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the Create Growth Programme has been designed to support creative businesses to explore and secure commercial investment opportunities. Selected businesses gain access to a programme of activity including tailored workshops, one-to-one mentoring, and opportunities to connect with investors.  

The first year of the programme, which ran from May 2024-March 2025, saw 41 creative businesses benefit from one-to-one mentor support, access to tailored workshops, and critical introductions to investors through pitch and dine events and larger-scale summits. Businesses from the inaugural cohorts of the West Yorkshire Create Growth Programme are already seeing growth, with an impressive £1.2 million in investment secured since joining the initiative.   

The Big Creative UK Summit: Investment in West Yorkshire, which took place in Bradford in February 2025, saw 13 businesses exhibiting to an audience of over 150 investors, partners, creative networks and local business owners, with four given the opportunity to take part in a pitching competition to a selected audience of investors and partners.