Summative Evaluation of Creative Fuse North East (CFNE)

Creative Fuse North East (CFNE) - “Unlocking the true potential of digital and tech sectors to drive innovation and growth in the region’s economy.”

Delivered through a unique partnership between the North East’s five universities - Newcastle, Durham, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside - academics and students work alongside industry, cultural organisations, charities and the public sector to explore how Creative, Digital and IT firms can have a sustainable future adding value to the border economic base.

CFNE, led by Newcastle University, was a three-year project researching and delivering the ‘fusion’ of creative, culture and digital technology, including immersive applications, in the North East of England. CFNE was scoped around the ‘Eight Great’ technologies in which the UK is set to be a global leader.

The mid-term evaluation focussed on what had worked well and areas where attention could be placed, particularly in relation to marketing and onboarding beneficiaries. All 11 key recommendations made by the Consultants were taken on board by the Project. The Project was funded via ERDF, AHRC and ACE, totalling £2.1m, and its objectives were as follows:

  1. Utilise expertise from the five universities to embed innovation, processes, digital innovation and know-how in to North East creative and cultural SMEs enabling growth and fostering best practice.

  2. Exploit the potential for creative and cultural SMEs and emerging areas, including Manufacturing, Data and Health.

The evaluation confirmed that CFNE had achieved all targets, the key metrics being 265 SMEs receiving support, 22 new businesses supported and 48 enterprises cooperating with research intuitions. The summative evaluation included an online SME survey, which received a response of 63 (a response rate of 29.4%), considered by the University as excellent, and 16 personal stakeholder interviews, including funders, trade representatives and academics. The Consultants attended six Collaboration and Knowledge Exchange (CAKE) events across the region, with such events attracting over 2,000 attendees across 25 events over two years.

Key final-term evaluation findings were as follows:

  1. Companies found out about the project from universities (30%), word of mouth (25%) and social media and the website (14%).

  2. Main motivation to engage was support in product development, business growth and R&D (34%), software advice, mentoring and skills (27%) and marketing (24%).

  3. 28% of respondents scored the project 4 or 5 (on a scale of 1 to 5) for clarity and accessibility.

  4. 84% of respondents reported satisfaction in project as either excellent or good.

  5. Placements were rated as excellent by 62%.

  6. 35% had achieved new products/services, and 32% had already achieved new markets.

  7. Two thirds of businesses said funding would be the most important contribution to their business, followed by product development and R&D (28%) and marketing (26%). 8. Potential areas of programme improvement included making the intervention more directly relevant to the business, matching student knowledge and ability with the business, increasing the amount of funding, and providing more advice and support.

Key recommendations produced by the Consultants included:

  1. Look to expand the project across the Northern Powerhouse region.

  2. Seek follow-on funding from Research Councils (UKRI) and the Creative Event Fund.

  3. Participant universities to operate more as one entity and have a ‘single door’ policy.

  4. Expansion of CAKE network (research/significance), digital provision and social media.

  5. Encourage ‘clustering’ by promoting fused, super-fused and innovation pilot funding.

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