London’s creative industries chief warns against taking capital’s cultural heft for granted

Justine Simons has said her “North Star” is to make sure everyone in London can lead a “creative life”, as a “participant, an audience member, or in a job”.

But the capital’s Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries, who received an OBE in 2015 for services to culture in London, told Arts Professional maintaining the metropolis’ reputation as a global cultural superpower was not something people could “take for granted”.

“My North Star has always been to keep London as the top of its game as a world-class creative capital well into the future, and for everyone in London to lead a creative life,” Simons said.

“But that’s something we can’t take for granted,” she continued. “It doesn’t happen on its own; we have to all work really hard behind the scenes collectively to keep ourselves in that premiere position.”

‘London’s no longer on its own’

Simons was speaking at an event held at Acme Artist Studios’ newly-acquired premises in Deptford, a former propeller factory.

For some years, the organisation has leased the building for use by hundreds of artists, but funding from the likes of Greater London Authority (GLA), individual donors, and grant-making organisations such as the Julia Rausing Trust has enabled Acme’s leaders to purchase the building outright, for use by artists in perpetuity.

In an event held to celebrate the £250,000 contribution made by the GLA to Acme’s acquisition, as well as a wider £2.2 million investment in London’s Creative Enterprise Zones (CEZs) announced today (15 January) by Mayor Sadiq Khan, Simons said the building had been “saved”.

She described the CEZ initiative, begun in 2018, as “hugely successful”. The districts designate areas of London where artists and creative businesses can find permanent affordable space to work and where local people may gain knowledge of creative sector skills and employment opportunities.

“We are now on our way to a major milestone,” Simons said.

“We are on course now to deliver 80,000 square metres of affordable, permanent workspace for artists by 2028.”

Simons, founder and chair of the World Cities Culture Forum, told Arts Professional London could indeed be seen as a blueprint for other cities looking to regenerate through investment in culture and the creative industries.

She said of the forum: “We’ve learned lots from other cities and they’re learning from us.”

“We’re no longer on our own,” Simons said, “we’re all looking around and sharing our ideas.”