Manchester’s Creative Talent at Risk from Class Barriers

Greater Manchester’s vibrant cultural landscape, birthplace of icons like Peter Kay, Caroline Aherne, and the Gallagher brothers, faces a potential talent drain. A new inquiry warns that working-class individuals struggle to enter the creative industries due to class discrimination, low wages, limited networks, fewer performance spaces, and exploitative work conditions.

The Class Ceiling inquiry, led by Nazir Afzal, chancellor of the University of Manchester, and co-chair Avis Gilmore, former deputy general secretary of a major European trade union, launched its findings at an event in the Whitworth Art Gallery on Oxford Road. Attendees from the arts community heard from artists and experts about the sector’s growing gentrification.

Urgent Call from Local Leaders

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham opened the event with a speech advocating for more paid placements in arts and media for young people. The inquiry draws from over 150 hours of interviews with artists, including emerging musicians, mid-career professionals, and award-winning playwrights and screenwriters.

Participants expressed frustration and hope, highlighting an existential threat to the region’s identity. The report states: “For a region famed for its working-class culture, it presents an existential threat. If the outpouring of talent that has long fertilised Manchester begins to dry up, then the city is at risk of losing its identity.”

It paints a stark picture: “Imagine our region stripped of the talents of Peter Kay, Sophie Willan, Caroline Aherne and the Gallagher brothers. Think what it would be like without the music of Aitch, Buzzcocks, New Order, The Stone Roses and The Verve. Or if the stories of Lemn Sissay, John Cooper Clarke and Jeanette Winterson were never told.”

Without this energy, Manchester risks becoming “just another bland city.” The report attributes this to the city’s own success: two decades ago, it led the UK’s creativity rankings, spurring economic growth. However, this boom has displaced working-class opportunities in favor of middle-class entrants.

Barriers and Stark Statistics

A survey respondent captured the issue: “People who have been to a private school don’t realise that they can speak a language that people who didn’t can’t. It’s the language of easy confidence. It’s the language of ‘I’m meant to be in this room, I deserve to be in this room and I have things to say that are worth listening to’. If you grow up where I did, that’s just not how you feel.”

Key challenges include limited arts exposure for working-class youth, financial constraints on attending events, scarce paid gigs, and fewer venues for emerging talent. Alarming data reveals that only 44 percent of creatives earn a sustainable living, often needing second jobs. Additionally, 51 percent faced class-based bullying or bias, just 18 percent see their experiences represented in their art, and only 22 percent knew arts professionals growing up.

National funding cuts and venue closures exacerbate the crisis, dimming prospects for diverse talent.

Path Forward: 21 Recommendations

To address these issues, the inquiry proposes 21 actions, including recognizing class as a protected characteristic, appointing a class champion, expanding apprenticeships, stabilizing casual employment, and establishing a GMCA-led body to coordinate resources and best practices.

Nazir Afzal emphasized: “Britain and Manchester do not have a talent pool, it has a system that quietly filters out talent. Class, income, geography and access continues to decide who gets to stay in the room and who does not. Until we confront that reality, progress will remain cosmetic. For one reason change has stalled is because class is treated as an awkward afterthought, it’s rarely mentioned, rarely published and almost never targeted directly. If we’re serious about inclusion, class must be treated as a core issue in arts policy and strategy. What we do not measure, we do not change.”

Avis Gilmore highlighted positive shifts, such as the Co-op’s push for apprenticeships. She noted: “The things I am particularly pleased about are making employment opportunities more accessible. It is absolutely shocking that if you want to get a job right across the cultural field you’ve almost got to pay for the first several years. It’s real exploitation. I’ve been really worried when talking to some of the people who are trying to get into the field. They have no security whatsoever, no sick pay, holiday pay and it’s costing them money to go and get experience. What if you want a family. I spoke to a couple of women who could only have children because they could rely on their partners having a full time job to support the whole family. Working class people are less likely to go into the arts now because gentrification has permeated it, both nationally and in Greater Manchester. Most people say they can only get a job if they know someone. It’s not fair and it’s not open.”

Gilmore praised initiatives like Richard Street Studios in Rochdale, the Frog and Bucket Comedy Club in Manchester, Company Chameleon in Openshaw, and Snug in Atherton for supporting new talent through council programs and independent efforts. The report urges sustained mainstream funding to restore access and prevent further exclusion.