Liverpool City Region is now home to a thriving hub of digital, creative and tech companies with more than 6,500 creative businesses and a 51,000-strong workforce.
And one organisation is steadily supporting those businesses to start up, grow and develop.
Growth Platform, the city region’s central business support service under the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, is working to help business leaders navigate challenges, access funding and support, and seize opportunities for national and international growth.
READ MORE: Liverpool’s creative ecosystem: thriving, bold, and built on collaboration
I spoke with Helen Cross, Creative Industries Lead at the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, to find out more about how the initiative is working to strengthen the city region’s creative economy.
A central hub
Growth Platform has evolved from its roots in the former Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) into a fully established business support brand, now embedded within the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
Today, it operates as a one-stop hub where entrepreneurs and established businesses can access everything from start-up programmes and scale-up support to supply chain advice, export opportunities and sector-specific cluster initiatives.
Through services including the Local Growth Hub, sector development activity and tailored support programmes, Growth Platform says it has supported more than 20,000 businesses since 2015.
“We do a lot of work around ensuring we’ve got the right support in place for businesses. We are really proud to have the Gather programme in the region, delivered by Form, which focuses on leadership, management and what leaders need in the creative sector,” explains Helen Cross.
READ MORE: Liverpool’s creative ecosystem: thriving, bold, and built on collaboration
“We also work closely with universities to look at how we retain talent within the city region and strengthen connections between education and industry. That extends to collaborating with stakeholders across the region to develop their offer to businesses, whether that’s investment readiness or access to finance.”
She highlights the range of programmes delivered by Growth Platform, with some of them backed by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), which help businesses strengthen their supply chains and expand into export markets.
In 2024, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority also established several cluster boards to drive growth across key sectors including Advanced Manufacturing, Creative Industries, and Health and Life Sciences.
Made up of leading industry figures, each board provides strategic insight into sector opportunities, helping to shape investment, innovation and growth priorities across the region.
“Growth Platform is essentially about coordinating business support for the city region,” explains Cross. “We provide a central place where businesses can find the support they need, from leadership and management programmes to connecting with universities and investors, and signposting to industry events.”
Supporting the creative industries
Over the past few years, Liverpool City Region’s creative industries have become increasingly “tech-enabled”, and it’s a shift that has become a key focus for Growth Platform.
“I don’t think people were using the phrase CreateTech in the past — that’s something that’s coming up more and more now,” says Cross. “Businesses in the marketing and advertising sector, for instance, are driving innovation in campaigns that feed into games, film, immersive experiences and design.”
READ MORE: Liverpool City Region’s creative industries unite behind a shared ambition for growth
She adds that bringing those sub-sectors together has been a priority.
“We previously had a real gap in connecting parts of the sector. We want to see that collaboration grow and make sure each sub-sector feels supported.”
She also highlighted the importance of collaboration across the city region’s creative ecosystem too.
“We’re bringing creative sub-sectors together and making sure they’re not working in silos. For example, games companies are exploring health-based applications, showing how creative skills can have a positive societal impact. Our role is to facilitate those connections and strengthen the ecosystem.”
Most importantly, this support is not limited to established creative firms. Freelancers, a “growing sector” across the region, are also a key focus.
“We’ve been meeting with freelance networks to understand what they need and how we can better represent them. Many freelancers go on to start businesses, but even those who don’t are a vital part of the business ecosystem.”
Growth Platform works closely with the Combined Authority’s Skills Bootcamps team, which is delivering business skills bootcamps specifically for creative freelancers.
“We want to make sure those growth opportunities are there — particularly for people who may have strong creative talent but haven’t necessarily had formal business training.”
Events, networks, and future vision
Growth Platform also plays a key role in supporting major sector events that bring businesses together.
Initiatives such as the Liv Games Summit in June and the two-day Creative Cities Convention provide opportunities for companies to network, collaborate and showcase their work on a national stage.
And with the Labour Party Conference returning to Liverpool from 27–30 September, Cross hopes conversations will extend beyond innovation to include more on freelance support and long-term sector sustainability.
Looking ahead, Growth Platform will expand its support plans to include larger, more established creative businesses as well as freelancers, groups that have not previously been the focus of dedicated programmes.
“We’re looking at how we support businesses across the full journey, from start-up through to scale-up and beyond. Ultimately, we want to make sure everyone has access to the right opportunities.”
Growth Platform was also a regional partner for Prolific North’s Northern Marketing Festival in 2025, which brought together more than 150 marketing professionals for a day of insight, creativity and collaboration, shining a spotlight on the North’s most exciting voices and forward-thinking brands.
This year, it returns as a partner once again, with the Festival heading back to Liverpool on 12 May.
“We want to meet creative businesses. This year, we’re looking at how we can better profile some of our agencies to that audience and really showcase the wealth of creative talent we have here in Liverpool — so businesses know they have exceptional agencies right on their doorstep.”
Growth Platform is offering space on its exhibition stand at the Marketing Festival in May for up to three Liverpool City Region creative agencies. If you are interested in joining them, please complete this short expression of interest with examples of campaigns that showcase your work.
