Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Thank you for your interest in becoming a member of the Greater Manchester Creative Consortium.
Greater Manchester’s creative industries are one of the city-region’s defining strengths. Across our ten districts, creative businesses, cultural organisations, freelancers, practitioners, educators and communities generate ideas, opportunity and a strong sense of place. The sector is broad and varied – from screen, music, digital, games and design to fashion, publishing, performing and visual arts, culture, heritage and creative education.
We are establishing the Creative Consortium at an important point for the sector. Greater Manchester’s Creative Industries Sector Development Plan sets out a shared ambition for inclusive, sector-led growth, while new investment through the Creative Places Growth Fund creates an opportunity to turn that ambition into practical action. The Consortium will help us make the most of this moment by bringing together people with the knowledge, experience and insight to shape priorities, challenge thinking and strengthen delivery.
The Creative Consortium is intended as a strategic leadership body rather than a networking or advisory forum for individual organisations. Members will be expected to represent the interests, opportunities and challenges facing their wider sub-sector or area of expertise, drawing on strong networks and relationships across the creative industries. While members may bring perspectives from their own organisations, their primary role will be to help shape sector-wide priorities, advocate for Greater Manchester’s creative industries, influence policy and investment decisions, and contribute to discussions with government, funders and other strategic partners. The Consortium will work closely with the Greater Manchester Freelancer Network and other sector forums to ensure that a broad range of voices and experiences help inform its work.
We welcome expressions of interest from people who can bring strategic insight, practical experience or deep knowledge of particular places, communities or creative sub-sectors. You do not need to fit a single model of leadership. What matters is the contribution you can make, your ability to work constructively with others and your commitment to Greater Manchester’s creative future.
If this opportunity speaks to your experience and your ambitions for the sector, we hope you will consider applying.
Greater Manchester is a city-region of ten districts: Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) brings these councils together with the Mayor of Greater Manchester to work on priorities that are best addressed across the city-region, including economic growth, skills, transport, housing, culture and place.
Creativity is central to Greater Manchester’s identity and economy. Its creative ecosystem includes internationally recognised institutions and clusters, an extensive network of universities and education providers, ambitious businesses, cultural organisations, community-led activity and a large freelance workforce. It also extends well beyond the regional centre, with distinctive assets, networks, opportunities and barriers in every district.
Greater Manchester has been awarded £25 million over three years through the government’s Creative Places Growth Fund, beginning in the 2026 financial year. This investment is intended to support creative professionals, businesses and young people, strengthen innovation and skills, attract investment and unlock growth. It sits alongside wider activity including the Greater Manchester Production Fund, creative infrastructure planning, business support, freelancer engagement and work to strengthen sector governance.
The Greater Manchester Creative Industries Sector Development Plan recommended the formation of a Creative Consortium to provide strategic leadership, advocacy and sector-led governance for the city-region’s creative industries. The Year 1 Creative Places Growth Funding approach, agreed by GMCA in March 2026, confirmed the Consortium as a delivery priority.
The Consortium will be a strategic advisory body. Its purpose is to support the delivery, development and continuing relevance of the Sector Development Plan and to provide an informed, authoritative sector voice into GMCA’s wider economic, skills, cultural and place-based governance. It will help translate strategic ambition into practical delivery by offering insight, constructive challenge, advocacy and recommendations.
Its advice will help to shape and scrutinise priorities across six connected areas: sector leadership, infrastructure, innovation, enterprise, skills and inclusive place-based growth. In its first year, the Consortium will focus on the opportunities with the greatest potential for early impact while helping to build the foundations for sustained growth. It will strengthen alignment between GMCA, the ten districts, national partners and industry, and help ensure that investment and programme decisions are informed by evidence, current sector intelligence and a clear understanding of where intervention can add most value.
The Consortium is advisory rather than decision-making. Members may advise on how resources, funding and programmes could be used to support the creative industries, but all recommendations will remain subject to GMCA’s formal governance, decision-making, procurement, financial, human resources and policy requirements, as well as the wider priorities of the Greater Manchester Strategy.
To be credible and effective, the Consortium must reflect Greater Manchester’s geography, creative sub-sectors, organisational scales and diverse communities. Its membership should combine strategic leadership with practical delivery expertise, lived experience, place-based knowledge and specialist insight. Together, members will provide a coherent and influential voice for the sector while remaining open to different experiences and points of view.
We are seeking members who can help the Greater Manchester Creative Consortium become a respected, representative and useful voice for the creative industries across the city-region.
Applications are welcomed from people working across the full breadth of the creative industries, including screen, music, digital and tech, games, design, fashion, publishing, performing arts, visual arts, culture, heritage and creative education.
Members will be expected to:
We are seeking people who bring the experience, judgement and perspective needed to make a meaningful strategic contribution. Candidates should understand Greater Manchester’s creative ecosystem and be able to work inclusively and constructively with others.
Members are expected to conduct themselves in line with the Seven Principles of Public Life, commonly known as the Nolan Principles: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership. While the Consortium is advisory rather than decision-making, members are contributing to public policy development and should therefore uphold high standards of conduct, transparency, and respect in all Consortium activity.
In practice, this means members should:
| Criteria | Requirement |
| Sector expertise | Experience, knowledge or leadership within one or more creative industry sub-sectors, including screen, music, digital and tech, games, design, fashion, publishing, performing arts, visual arts, culture, heritage, or creative education. |
| Strategic contribution | Ability to contribute insight, challenge and practical recommendations linked to inclusive growth, skills, talent pathways, business support, innovation, investment readiness, international profile, and creative infrastructure. |
| Place-based understanding | Knowledge of Greater Manchester’s creative and cultural ecosystem, including local assets, networks, opportunities, and barriers across one or more districts. |
| Inclusive leadership | Commitment to equity, access, diversity, and inclusion, with an ability to collaborate constructively with people from diverse backgrounds, sectors, and organisational scales. |
| Communication and advocacy | Ability to communicate clearly, represent sector perspectives responsibly and function as a constructive ambassador for the Creative Consortium. |
| Capacity and commitment | Ability to attend three meetings per year and contribute to preparation, engagement, and follow-up activity where appropriate. |
Anderson Quigley is acting as an employment advisor to the GMCA. An executive search process is being carried out by Anderson Quigley in addition to the public advertisement.
The closing date for applications is noon on Thursday 8th October 2026.
Applications should consist of:
Should you wish to discuss the role in strict confidence, please contact:
| elliott.rae@andersonquigley.com | +44 (0)7584 078 534 |
| aino.betts@andersonquigley.com | +44 (0)20 4526 6913 |
We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to an inclusive and accessible appointments process.
www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk 