Business & Economic Development |  

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CIDS aims to build on the cityÕs reputation for welcoming new enterprise and aspires to make Manchester the destination of choice for creative businesses 
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Promoting creative business at home and abroad 
To help promote these businesses and to raise ManchesterÕs creative profile, CIDS publishes an annual brochure, Creative Annual, which includes a directory of businesses and information about the creative industries.  
CIDS represents creative businesses at exhibitions, for example the annual Business Northwest event that takes place at Manchester Central in November. A series of conferences and events throughout the year enables business-to-business links with other business communities, for example financial and professional services, and with key markets within and outside the area.  
CIDS works with a wide range of partners to support trade development projects that open up new international markets. Ways of supporting companies in their overseas activities include, music businesses being selected for the international music festival South by South West in Texas or designers being represented at 100% Design as part of the North WestÕs Design Initiative showcase.  CIDS works closely with MIDAS and Marketing Manchester to identify inward investment opportunities and to promote Manchester as a location for creative enterprise.  
Manchester has so much to offer creative businesses whether established or setting up in the area.  CIDS aims to build on the cityÕs reputation for welcoming new enterprise and aspires to make Manchester the destination of choice for creative businesses. 
Tel. 0800 169 1143 |  www.cids.co.uk 


A history of creativity inManchester
T
he CityÕs history as a hub of creative enterprise can be dated back at least to the mid 19th century Ð more precisely to 1857.  This was the year of ÔThe Art Treasures of the UK ExhibitionÕ, the first public art exhibition in the UK which provided the model for the foundation of art galleries across the country including the National Gallery in London. The HallŽ Orchestra, which also formed at that time, was the first professional orchestra to be established in England. These cultural developments were the result of private sector initiative and investment.  The business community recognised that Manchester needed to play on a world stage not only as a successful trading centre but as a global city with a strong cultural life.  The city became pre-eminent in publishing as a direct result of ManchesterÕs expertise in building the machines that drove industrial manufacture, including printing presses, and out of this evolved a new industry, broadcast media.  
In the 20th century, Manchester led the field again with the city becoming home to Granada TV, which was the most successful independent television company in the UK and is now part of the ITV network.  During the 1980s, music, fashion and art reinvigorated a declining city centre.  These businesses still flourish on the fringes of the city in areas such as the Northern Quarter, Chapel Street, Castlefield and Oxford Road. 
In the 21st century, creativity has combined with new technologies to give rise to a generation of digital content businesses specialising in web development, e-commerce and digital marketing.