Creative, Digital & Tech
The Wakefield district has a long history of creativity and artistry, which has transformed from its sculpture past to a thriving creative, tech and digital industry. The district has a strong past in sculpture, being the home to world renowned artists Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, and has shaped our DNA to be the creative district we are today. Wakefield is now the home to two Art Fund Museum of the Year winners, the Hepworth, and Yorkshire Sculpture park, and is the only area outside of London to boast 2 of these award-winning cultural attractions. Through the fusion of our creative past and the entrepreneurial spirit of our people the district is now home to both small independent companies such as video production company Stada Media to the world-renowned Production Park.
The highly anticipated Rutland Mills development brings Tileyard to Wakefield, acting as their Northern base and will foster a community of creatives by giving them the space to work collaboratively across music, film, TV, design, and all facets of the commercial creative sectors.
Outside of Wakefield city, Production Park is a collection of studios, businesses and educational facilities specialising in the creative, tech and digital industries. The world-renowned site welcomes household names from across the globe to utilise the highly skilled offerings of the businesses based there. Alongside the commercial side, the Academy of Live Technology offers bespoke training, undergraduate and post graduate degrees around the live events and creative industry ensuring a continuous supply of highly skilled people into the Wakefield district from these industries. Opening in 2022, the £7 million research and innovation centre Xplor is the first of its kind in the UK.
Read more about our expertise within this sector.
TILEYARD NORTH
Tileyard is a globally recognised creative community and is expanding to an extraordinary new space in Wakefield.
Tileyard London is currently Europe’s largest creative community and home to over 250 creative organisations, artists, and independent creative industry businesses, including an industry-leading educational and training facility.
Amongst Tileyard London’s residents you’ll find the likes of The Prodigy, Joel Corry, Ella Eyre, Sigala, Platoon, Beats One (Apple), Spitfire Audio, Hipgnosis, Marathon Artists, Focusrite, Key Production, Pioneer DJ, 13 Artists, and many more.
In an exciting move representing significant investment, regeneration, and job creation, Tileyard’s founders have begun work on their second site Tileyard North, based in Wakefield. Tileyard North will be a 135,000 sqft creative industries hub, based at Rutland Mills, which when re-generation is completed will transform the site into the UK’s largest creative community outside of London and will, without doubt, put Wakefield and the surrounding areas on the map as the ‘new creative destination in the North of England’.
Phase one opened early in 2023 and is home to 30 professional recording studios, creative office spaces, world-class educational facilities, delicious food and beverage offerings, and an event space to accommodate up to 1000 people. The completion of the site will also contain a brand-new 50 room boutique hotel with diverse food and drink offerings for Tileyard residents and the wider community.
This will be the first creative hub of this scale, in the north of England.
PRODUCTION PARK
Based at Langthwaite Business Park, South Kirkby, the premises are situated on the well-established and popular Langthwaite Industrial Estate which is located approximately 11 miles east of Barnsley and 11 miles Northwest of Doncaster. There is access to the A1 approximately 5 miles to the east. Production Park is the leading European centre of excellence for the design, development, and rehearsal of concert touring productions along with degree-level education for the live events industry. The site spreads over 300,000 sq ft and includes a cluster of businesses within the music, TV, film, sports, corporate events, and the arts. Production Park offers flexible terms on workspace and great opportunities to collaborate with likeminded businesses!