Creative UK launches Barclays-sponsored growth program for screen businesses

Diego Argüello,Contributing Editor, News,GameDeveloper.com

August 26, 2026

2 Min ReadImage via Creative UK

Creative UK, the non-for-profit national membership body for the Cultural and Creative Industries, has launched a specialist business growth program called Fast Forward, which is designed to help screen businesses scale and grow sustainably.

Announced earlier today, the program, which is sponsored by Barclays and backed by BFI National Lottery funding, is designed for "established creative businesses," ranging from games to film and TV, as well as adjacent businesses.

Fast Forward is set to combine workshops, peer learning, and mentoring to address the "real-world challenges" faced by growing businesses. The announcement emphasizes the mentoring model as the heart of the program, with participating businesses being matched with industry veterans for tailored support.

Some examples of areas of support mentioned include leadership challenges, raising finance, strengthening operations, refining strategy, growing sales, building teams, or entering new markets.

The mentor team includes Aimee Bateman (people, values, and recruitment), Cecilia Thirlway (communications and brand), Martin Backlund (content, distribution strategies, and investment), Sandra Tusin (financial planning and investment), Tim McSweeney (innovation and process), and Travis Baxter (revenue growth and governance).

"Fast Forward has been shaped by everything we've learnt from supporting hundreds of screen businesses over the years," Creative Enterprise senior program manager Kate Sanders said. "The result is a program that is practical, tailored and grounded in real business experience. We know that growth isn't just about increasing revenue. It's about building strong leadership, developing the right business systems, and putting the foundations in place for long-term success."

Back in 2023, Creative UK launched a £35 million ($43 million at the time) investment fund to support the UK government's plans to grow the country's creative sector by £50 billion.

Applications are open with a deadline of September 14. Details about eligibility criteria and application information can be found on the official site.

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About the Author

Diego Argüello

Contributing Editor, News, GameDeveloper.com

Diego Nicolás Argüello is a freelance journalist and critic from Argentina. Video games helped him to learn English, so now he covers them for places like The New York Times, NPR, Rolling Stone, and more. He also runs Into the Spine, a site dedicated to fostering and supporting new writers, and co-hosted Turnabout Breakdown, a podcast about the Ace Attorney series. He’s most likely playing a rhythm game as you read this.

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