Craft Focus - April/May 2020 (Issue 78)

9 INDUSTRY NEWS Industry news Latest news from the craft industry  The Cockpit Effect Impact Report 2020 London’s independent craft businesses might be tiny, but they pack a mighty economic punch. Makers based at Cockpit Arts make a surprisingly hefty contribution to the capital’s thriving creative industries, according to a report published today. The 147 businesses based at London’s leading studios for contemporary craft enjoyed increasing profitability in 2019, according to results in this year’s Cockpit Effect report. Together these jewellers, ceramicists, weavers and woodturners (some of whom are international leaders in their field) generated £5.9 million in total annual sales. Profits and GVA grew by an average 12 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, against an increase in turnover of 7.7 per cent, for those reporting two years’ data. Making Community: The Cockpit Effect 2020 reveals impressive resilience amongst Cockpit businesses in the face of increasing market pressures. In the craft sector, as with retail more generally, market conditions continue to challenge, as does the disruption to established models and routes. Last year, the Mayor of London highlighted the threat to studio space in the capital – with a loss of 17 per cent of affordable spaces and a forecast drop of a further 24 per cent. According to the report, Cockpit makers’ success is down to how they marry exceptional skill and artistic excellence with savvy business sense cultivated by the in-house enterprise support at Cockpit’s Deptford and Holborn studios. This impressive impact has not gone unnoticed. For the second year, Cockpit has been recognised on the NatWest SE100 index of the top 100 UK social enterprises. And this year the London charity has also been shortlisted for the SE100 Impact Champion Award. For further information, visit the website cockpitarts.com