Successes to-date and future plans
It’s exciting times at the Studio in Bath! We are having a significant impact on the creative tech sector in the region, and our community and team is growing.
Caroline Anstey recently joined us as Studio Manager, along with our new Impact Manager, Stacey Pottinger. Caroline’s focus will be to support our Residents in their growth and development, to attract new businesses and individuals to the Residency programme, and to help Bath become a beacon for innovation. Stacey will roll out Counting House – a radical new approach to financial support for the arts and culture sector in the city region; and develop a reporting model on the impact The Studio has within the city. We have also recently appointed Naomi Smyth as Creative Technologist. Naomi is introducing our Residents to the new immersive technology that we now own – VR headsets, Haptic Suits, and specialist audio mics. We will soon be advertising for two new roles that support the Studio with fundraising and business development – our community is a-buzz with new innovations, knowledge-exchanges, collaborations and future plans!
At this pivotal time in our development, we’d like to share the successes that the Studio, its Residents, and connected research projects have had over the last 12 months.
Our Resident portfolio has increased from 35 to 50, we now have eight members of staff, and nine associates who support our start-ups and sole traders in all aspects of business. And our top floor is now home to Peirenepress, Flow Design, Kerve, Ministry of Design, Doodle Learning and SETsquared Bath who all benefit from the low cost space and free access to the Residents programmes.
We hosted and supported 14 events for Residents, external creatives and technologists. Highlights included the Amplified Publishing Showcase which brought together publishers and creators who specialise in games, music, books, magazines, video, and audio, to discuss their research and showing prototyping from the Bristol+Bath Creative R+D programme. The Studio Recovery Fund 2022 Showcase which featured 6 awardees who received a proportion of the £25k fund with business ideas and developments that included a game that focused on the ethical use of NFTs, the world’s first classical music discovery assistant, a custom-built robotic drawing machine, development of Fringe Arts Bath, a ‘Sonic Dancer’ interface that uses movement and sound to enable connection in a virtual space for people who are visually impaired, and a prototype a ‘City of Imagination’ – an open source visual map of Bath’s creative ecology. Heritech? The future of creative technology and heritage in Bath with Holburne Museum which explored the role of creative technology within the heritage sector and how it is bringing history to life in innovative ways and reaching new audiences. And the launch of MyWorld’s Immersive Audio Network for Bath and Bristol-based practitioners, educators and enthusiasts.
We also forged partnerships with two satellite creative hubs in Twerton and Radstock who encourage the local community to engage with creativity and technology; and collaborated with Bath Women’s Fund, Creativity Works, and techSPARK. The Studio work with Bristol+Bath Creative R+D – a £6.8m collaboration between UWE Bristol, Bath Spa, the University of Bath and the University of Bristol, and Watershed, formed to connect the worlds of university research and creative business. This programme has generated 62 jobs, resulted in the start-up of 13 new businesses and 41 new business or IP models, engaged over 280 industry figures and entrepreneurs, developed 64 new prototype products and technology services, secured £18m of follow-on funding, driven over 260 collaborations with creatives and academics, published 28 academic research papers. We also support MyWorld – a £30m with a match funding of £16m taking the full fund to £46M. The impact of MyWorld funding and the inward investment it attracts is estimated to be £223 million in economic activity, 21 new businesses and the creation of more than 700 jobs in the region.
We are here to support Bath’s creative communities and build upon the city’s creative tech excellence. We’re encouraging investment, nurturing innovation and building a confident sustainable start-up and micro business community that will generate social and economic growth for the city and the region.
Find out how you can become a Resident at the Studio here and apply online. We’d love to welcome you to our community.