Creative funding across the UK: Where needs to level up?

Creativity sits at the core of culture, economy and how people connect with brands. The arts help forge those connections, it is why we remember a company from its logo, respond to a well-crafted advert, or convert on a website that feels considered rather than generic.

The creative economy runs both ways: more funding can raise visibility, and greater visibility can open the door to further funding. That loop only works when investment is spread beyond a handful of well-served cities.

In Labour's first budget in 15 years (October 2024), the Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a 2.6% spending boost for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, including £3 million to grow the Creative Careers Programme. That context framed our original research; as of July 2026 we have refreshed this article for clarity and search intent but not re-run the city rankings, the tables and index scores below still reflect October 2024 data.

Arts funding sustains graphic design, web design and the wider cultural infrastructure designers rely on. Museums, galleries and community programmes give visual reference, collaboration space and client networks, especially important when around a third of people in the arts and creative sectors are self-employed (32%, Lords Library).

It matters economically too: there were over 2.4 million jobs in the UK creative industries in 2022. When local arts programmes are underfunded, freelancers and studios in those cities have fewer routes to paid public work, residencies and community commissions.

For brand strategy and visual communication, that gap shows up in thinner local talent pools and less public visual culture to draw from. Research suggests that 55% of a brand's first impressions are visual, so underinvestment in the arts is not an abstract cultural issue; it affects the commercial design ecosystem too.

Funding on a grassroots level

Arts grants and local initiatives also nurture future creatives. Education programmes, scholarships and community workshops widen access to specialist training. Workshops and neighbourhood projects let designers experiment and collaborate before they are ready for commercial briefs.

Grassroots funding often comes from councils, charities and community groups. It helps emerging artists and smaller organisations, particularly in rural or underserved areas, where large-scale Arts Council awards tend to concentrate on established institutions in major hubs.

Creativity in parts of the UK is being squeezed by uneven distribution of those smaller grants, not only by national totals.

The current state of the arts across the UK

Despite the sector's economic contribution, public spending on culture remains politically contested. Campaign for the Arts reports that the UK ranks among the lowest in Europe for arts funding. That underinvestment affects working creatives and the everyday cultural life of cities, from choirs and gigs to exhibitions that shape how a place feels.

How Berlew ranked England's cities for creative funding

To understand where levelling up is most urgent, we compared England's largest cities by population (ONS data) with two funding signals:

1. Arts Council England, all projects in each city, using annual funding data for 2023–2026, expressed as spend per 10,000 residents.
2. Local council ceilings, the maximum grant available to small and medium-sized businesses or community groups for arts development or cultural events, taken from council websites at the time of research.

We combined both into a weighted index score out of 200. A higher score means stronger combined impact from national ACE investment and accessible local grant pots. Data is correct as of October 2024.

Where are the best cities for arts funding in England?

Manchester ranked first on the combined index. With a population of around half a million (city boundary, excluding Greater Manchester), it received over £24 million from Arts Council England in the published cycle, roughly £52,000 per 10,000 residents.

Manchester's Cultural Partnerships Grant programme (since 2011) also allows eligible cultural organisations to apply for up to £40,000 annually, among the highest council-linked ceilings in the study.

Leeds, with a population of over half a million, saw over £28 million of ACE investment, about £53,000 per 10,000 residents. Other strong performers included Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sheffield and Bristol. Birmingham, despite being the UK's second city by population, placed sixth on the index.

Sheffield offered the highest single council-linked ceiling in the sample: up to £50,000 through its Cultural Pipeline Fund.

What cities need more funding for the arts?

Preston ranked lowest on the combined index, not only because ACE spend worked out at roughly £2.40 per resident (about £24,000 per 10,000 people), but because Lancashire's culture and sports fund caps contributions at £1,500 for not-for-profit community cultural or sports projects.

Other cities that scored poorly on the index include Rochdale (up to £500 via the Rochdale Borough Culture Network), Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent and Derby, home to a nationally recognised biennial book festival but with weaker combined scores in our measure.

The gap between a £50,000 cultural pipeline fund in Sheffield and a £500 network grant in Rochdale is the levelling-up story in miniature: national ACE totals alone do not describe what a freelance designer or community group can actually apply for locally.

What this means in 2026

Our October 2024 rankings remain the published benchmark, we have not re-pulled ACE or council data for this July 2026 refresh. If you are using the tables for policy or pitch work, treat them as a snapshot of that cycle rather than live 2026 totals.

The underlying point holds: visibility and funding reinforce each other. Cities with strong ACE investment and usable council grant routes give creatives more runway; cities at the bottom of the index face a double constraint. For brands and studios, that shapes where talent clusters and how rich the local visual culture feels.

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Methodology

To assess arts funding impact across England's cities, Berlew used population size as a baseline, on the basis that population affects local economic need and the scale at which funding should work.

We analysed England's largest cities by population (ONS), reviewed Arts Council England funding for 2023–2026, and calculated annual spend per 10,000 residents. We also checked council and local organisation websites for the maximum grant available to small and medium-sized businesses or community-led arts initiatives.

Those two data points were combined into an index score out of 200. Higher scores indicate stronger combined impact on the local creative landscape.

*Maximum grant figures reflect the highest published council or programme ceiling we could verify at the time of research, individual eligibility rules vary.

Data is correct as of October 2024. This article was copy-edited and structurally updated in July 2026 without recalculating the underlying dataset.