Social inclusion and SMEs: The case of creative SMEs in Hackney Wick and Fish Island, London

Creative cluster urban policy, aimed at regenerating parts of cities in the UK, has been linked with ameliorating social exclusion in the extant policy literature. This is paradoxical given levels of exclusion within the creative and cultural industries in the UK. Moreover, this type of policy favours more publicly funded creative and cultural organisations as opposed to creativesmall and medium-sized enterprises including micro-organisations (SMEs) - those who primarily trade, and who make up the bulk of the sector. This is because creative SMEs have unique labour, organisational and economic realities which might limit their levels of social inclusion practice (SIP). Moreover, what SIP looks like for such an assorted array of organisational and sub-sectoral businesses, and how this benefits them, has not been accurately presented in the literature. If creative cluster policy is to deliver social inclusion (broadly defined) then it must contend with the business realities which exist for creative SMEs. This paper draws on research conducted in the established creative cluster of Hackney Wick and Fish Island (HWFI) in London. Using an operational definition for SIP derived from the policy literature as well as descriptive and nonparametric correlation analysis of survey data, this paper investigates three questions. First, does SIP by creative SMEs lead to business growth? Second, does SIP by creative SMEs lead to business longevity? Third, what are the implications for creative clusters? By addressing these three questions this paper aims to shed light on the costs and benefits of SIP for specifically creative SMEs and how this affects the clusters within which they are nested. While data limitations exist, findings suggest that short term, immediate rewards identified as business growth, and analysed through annual turnover, are not imminent for creative SMEs that pursue SIP. However, longer term benefits, analysed as business longevity or how long these businesses stay in operation, are apparent for those creative SMEs that do pursue SIP. This indicates a positive impact for creative clusters regarding ameliorating social exclusion but could be markedly improved if policy provides appropriate incentive structures for specifically creative SMEs who pursue or plan to pursue SIP.