Regional leaders have approved an ambitious multibillion-pound action plan to accelerate the growth of West Yorkshire’s creative industries at a meeting of the Combined Authority in Leeds.
Alongside this, Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin has signed a new agreement with Sport England to expand access to grassroots sport and physical activity. Together, these milestones mark a major step forward for health, culture, and opportunity in the region. They also underline the Mayor’s commitment to investing in culture, heritage, and sport as powerful drivers of economic growth – placing jobs, opportunity, and ambition at the centre of West Yorkshire’s future.
At a full meeting of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, regional leaders gave the green light to the first-ever Creative Industries Cluster Action Plan for West Yorkshire. The plan sets out an ambitious vision to grow the region’s creative economy from £2.2 billion to £4.1 billion by 2035, by supporting freelancers and creative businesses, strengthening communities, and putting more money back into people’s pockets.
It also lays out how 50,000 new jobs will be created across sectors such as fashion, textiles, music, screen, and gaming, with measures to deliver affordable workspaces, expand skills training, and improve access to finance and investment.
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire said:
“This is a great moment for West Yorkshire. With record investment in our creative industries and grassroots sport, we’ll build happier communities and boost jobs and growth. This bold new culture plan, combined with our flagship agreement with Sport England, will help more of our young people to live healthier lives, pursue creative careers, and contribute to a stronger, brighter West Yorkshire.”
The new plan underscores Mayor Tracy Brabin’s influence in shaping the national Creative Industries Sector Plan and aligns closely with One Creative North – a collaboration between Northern Mayors, Arts Council England, Creative PEC, public service broadcasters, and other partners. With 70% of the UK’s creative industries currently based in London and the South East, One Creative North seeks to nurture, sustain, and champion local talent, helping to retain skills in the region and contribute an additional £10 billion to the North’s economy by 2035.
This builds on West Yorkshire’s recent recognition as one of six national ‘priority places’ for the creative industries between 2026 and 2029. As part of this status, the region will receive a share of £150 million in government funding to accelerate new initiatives, expand existing programmes, attract private investment, and provide space for innovation and new ideas.
The adoption of the Creative Industries Cluster Plan coincides with Mayor Tracy Brabin signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Simon Hayes, the new Chief Executive of Sport England, to strengthen grassroots sport, increase physical activity, and improve health across West Yorkshire.
Simon Hayes, Chief Executive, Sport England said:
“The Memorandum of Understanding with West Yorkshire Combined Authority marks a vital step in embedding physical activity into the heart of local policy and investment. Alongside Mayor Tracy Brabin and her team, we’re proud to be supporting the region’s bold ambitions to get people active, reducing pressure on the NHS, boosting the economy and creating happier and healthier communities.”
Lisa Dodd-Mayne, Executive Director for Place, Sport England said:
“West Yorkshire is already showing what’s possible when local leadership, community insight and system change come together. This Memorandum of Understanding is about taking the next step to deepen those relationships, building on what is strong through adding a regional lens and working as one team to create the right conditions for more people to be active, regardless of background or postcode.”
The agreement outlines a shared ambition to make physical activity a part of everyday life, ensuring that everyone, regardless of background or income – has the opportunity to get active and stay healthy. It will support schools to integrate movement into daily learning, help local sports clubs engage more young people, and back community projects that use sport to bring people together.
In West Yorkshire, levels of inactivity vary sharply – with 33.8% of people in the most deprived areas physically inactive, compared with just 21% in the least deprived. This gap highlights the urgent need to tackle health inequalities.
With active lifestyles shown to ease pressure on the NHS, the new agreement aims to build healthier, fairer communities while strengthening the region’s sport and physical activity sector. Already worth nearly £840 million to the West Yorkshire economy and supporting around 78,000 jobs, the sector is set to play an even greater role in boosting wellbeing and opportunity across the region.
