It's boom time for creative industries

The Press and Journal - 27th January, 2005

Predicting the next big success story in business is the hallmark of the very successful entrepreneur and, indeed, its accuracy depends on many variables.

But shrewd commentators are pointing to the creative industries coming to the fore over the next few years. The creative industries sector currently supports 70,000 jobs in Scotland and generates more than £5billlon annually for the national economy. Creative industries are defined as those industries that have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property. They include advertising, architecture, the art and antiques market, crafts, design, designer fashion, film and video, interactive leisure software, music, the performing arts, publishing, software and computer services, TV and radio.

Scottish Culture Minister Patricia Ferguson said at a special seminar earlier this month that the creative industries had an increasingly important role in the economy and must have the right conditions to flourish. She said: "The non-digital creative industries are predicted to grow by between 3% and 7%, and digital media by between 10% and 20% annually."So we can see clearly the vital role that the creative industries play. They enable innovation across large sections of the Scottish economy as well generating cultural and social benefits."Vital to their future is being able to react quickly to market trends by building a collaborative infrastructure which can compete on a national scale."And, most importantly, we must recognise the creative individual being at the heart of this growth and support them in all that they do. Their ingenuity, their innate creativity and their entrepreneurial skills allow the creative industries in Scotland to flourish, in turn helping Scotland's economy to flourish, too."

One such creative enterprise is Aberdeen-based international translation company Lingo24, which started just three years ago and is now offering a truly global 24-hour translation service after opening an office in New Zealand. The expansion comes after a period of increased sales for the company, which now has an annual turnover of about £million and a portfolio that includes major blue-chip companies from around the world. Local clients include BP, The Wood Group, ExxonMobil, and Varco.

Christian Arno, who started the company with help and advice from Business Gateway, said: "Our clients are requiring ever-tighter turnaround times for translations. For example, we had a call to our Aberdeen office at 6.30pm requesting an urgent translation assignment. Working with our New Zealand colleagues meant that we were able to have the translation on our clients’ desk at 9am the following morning."The company already has a satellite office in Switzerland and with the expansion to the southern hemisphere, will be able to provide Asian-Pacific translations services in addition to the English, European and Asian languages already offered. Mr. Arno has recently appointed a sales manager to cope with the growing demand. Lingo24's next step is to open an office in China, and it is currently in the process of researching the market with the help of Scottish Enterprise Grampian, which also provided an internationalisation grant for the New Zealand office, which Lingo24 opened with four staff"."There are huge opportunities with the emerging market in China and we want to take advantage of this.

Translation services will be vitally important to all companies who are planning to do business there, said Mr. Arno. Lingo24's reputation as a quality provider of translations has resulted in the company being short-listed for several awards. In 2002, the company won the best e-business startup award from Winners at the Web and has recently been accepted as a hill member of the Association of Translation Companies.

A company which has grown and expanded is Aberdeen-based Viscom. Synonymous with the supply of passenger safety briefings to the North Sea helicopter aviation sector, it is also now targeting new markets.

One of its recent successful projects was with 3P, which was looking to capture the achievements of one of its most successful years to date for the Bruce, Keith and Rhum assets.

The oil giant opted for a fully interactive DVD programme, which was produced from start to finish by Viscom. Choosing this interactive approach gave personnel the opportunity to give their impression of the year's successes and BP said that by involving everyone, it was possible to experience the delight, enthusiasm and sense of achievement of all those concerned.Bruce Milne, general manager and head of production at Viscom, said: "This has been a fantastic programme for the Viscom team to work on and has demonstrated the strengths that we can bring to a project of this nature"

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