Cable appoints Livingstone as Creative Industries Champion

UK business secretary Vince Cable has appointed Sir Ian Livingstone as the Creative Industries Champion.

In the role, Livingstone will continue his work in shaping and promoting the skills and ideas that are essential to the UK games industry, a sector which has been growing faster than any other in the country over the last two years.

Cable announced the appointment at the launch of Create, a new business strategy group dedicated to the support of the UK's creative industry and doubling its export value.

"With games industry experience spanning 40 years, Ian Livingstone is a widely respected advocate and champion of the creative industries," said Cable in a statement. "His experience and expertise within the sector will be integral to his new role and I look forward to working with him.

"British creativity is the envy of the world. Our designers, musicians, film, TV and games makers have put the UK on the world map with their creative talent. They have also played a big part in driving our economic recovery. The sector now generates £71 billion in revenue each year and support 1.71 million jobs.

"On the day the industry publishes its first industrial strategy, the creative industries have earned their place at the top table of government. That's why I'm ensuring one of its leading lights will work with me to ensure our business support is adequately tailored and that the industry at large knows about our schemes so it can flourish even further. This will help us remain at the forefront of global creativity."

Livingstone is a very familiar face in the UK development world, sitting on a number of boards and spearheading many movements aimed at improving the industry's lot, particularly the Livingstone Hope skills review which lead to the reworking of the UK's IT curriculum. For more about Ian's work, see his presentation at GameHorizon 2014 in the video below.