Cardiff’s creative community uncovered

Research by Cardiff University shows that there is a high demand for creative work spaces in the city. A survey of people working in one of Cardiff's busiest arts centres, Chapter, has revealed more about the people who use this space and the importance of a creative work environment.

Cardiff University has recently established the 'Creative Cardiff' project which is working to support and develop the city's growing creative industries. The University is in the process of assessing the potential to establish a 'creative hub' in the city where students, academics and people working in the creative economy can share space and work together on innovative projects.

The University, working in partnership with Chapter, carried out a survey over a week in November 2014 to gather more information about the people using Chapter's café space for work. The results show that over half the people working there use the building at least once a week and that over 60% are there for more than 2 hours at a time.

The most important reason that people chose to work at Chapter was its atmosphere. Over a third of people surveyed were freelance and although most were from the local area some had travelled from Cathays and Splott and others had come from as far away as Newport and Bristol.

Sara Pepper, Director of Creative Economy at Cardiff University said: "This research revealed a wealth of people working in Chapter – from people writing TV scripts and plays to web developers working on an international conference on coding."

She continued: "The creative industries are growing and many of our graduates will go on to work in the creative economy. Finding out how people are using the space at Chapter has helped inform our plans to create a creative hub where graduates, academics and people from the creative industries can work together. In this way we're ensuring that Cardiff University is enriching the city's creative economy."

Andy Eagle, Director of Chapter, said: "We've always known that we have a wide range of creative professionals working in our building, but this research helps us find out who they are and why they choose to work here. This is an exciting time for Chapter as we're looking at how we will further develop the building. These findings will feed into this process to ensure that the space continues to be a home to the city's creative community."