At Culture Commons, we care deeply about the creative and cultural life of the UK. We're a not-for-profit that operates like a consultancy but thinks like a sector support body.
From our world-leading creative industries and vibrant cultural sectors, to the 'everyday creativity' taking place quietly in communities the length and breadth of the country, the UK is home to a rich and dynamic creative ecosystem.
The sub-sectors that make up this ecosystem are deeply interconnected but often require very different policy approaches to support their flourishing. Some parts of the ecosystem have not had enough attention from policymakers and this has prevented them from unlocking the many economic and social benefits they can bring to individuals and communities.
That’s why Culture Commons bring cutting-edge research and policy development services together to help our clients and partners to co-design policy and influence decision makers at the local, regional and national levels.
Our work is always evidence-informed, implementable and impactful. As a not-for-profit organisation, our work is also underpinned by values of transparency, collaboration and bringing people who are often excluded from policy making processes to the table.
Alongside our traditional consultancy services, we run nation-wide open policy development programmes to ensure that all parts of the creative ecosystem are part of the policymaking process.
We are delighted to be supported by grant funding from grant giving organisations and arms length bodies. They are:
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Who we work with
We support individuals and organisations operating in the creative industries and the cultural sectors too. We work with leading universities, independent think tanks and research institutions. We regularly engage with local, national and international governments, senior parliamentarians, arms length bodies, grant giving organisations, trade unions and sector representative bodies. We increasingly work with artists to help us design and communicate policy.
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Who we are
Our team is made up highly experienced professionals who've worked in senior positions within policy and politics, research and academia, as well as the creative and cultural sectors; we have extensive experience of taking ideas into law. Between us, we've worked in local, national and international governments and parliaments, as well as in mainstream political parties.
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What we do
We provide a suite of services, including policy co-design; stakeholder mapping and engagement; designing policy roundtables, debates and outreach events; government, regulatory, and parliamentary analysis; 1-2-1 senior leadership counsel; political risk management; and communications and public affairs services.
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Why we're different
We're not your average consultancy. With team members based in London, Manchester and Sheffield, we've developed a not-for-profit and cross-subsidy model that enables us to work with industry leading organisations as well as those who are all too often excluded from policy development processes. We're not interested in growing fast - our boutique offering means we can give our clients and partners the attention they deserve, leading to more impact and faster change.
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Who supports us
Recognising our unique place in the policy landscape, we are kindly supported with direct and indirect project and core grant funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Arts Council England, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch), the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Federation of Entertainment Unions and Research England.