Manchester has been named the ‘creative capital’ of the UK

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Another day, another new title Manchester can be proud of.

Fresh off the back of being named one of the best places to visit in the UK in 2024 by Time Out, and followed by the New York Times giving us a shoutout as one of the best cities in the world to head to this year – and also not so long after we’ve been ranked as the ‘chlamydia capital’ of the UK too (but we not quite so proud of that one, obviously) – Manchester has found itself at the top of another list.

This time around, our city has been praised for its culture and artistic vision, as Manchester has been named the ‘creative capital’ of the UK – or, otherwise known as, the country’s most creative city.

Manchester’s newest title comes as Adobe Express recently-ran a survey of 2,000 UK adults, and learned that just one in six (15%) Brits are planning to take up a hobby as one of their new year’s resolutions in 2024.

The same survey found that more than two thirds (67%) of the nation declared themselves as ‘very creative’.

Manchester has been named the ‘creative capital’ of the UK / Credit: Marketing Manchester | Kimpton Clocktower Hotel

But which UK towns and cities officially lead the way on the creativity scale? 

Well, in a bid to find out, Adobe Express experts took a look at look a variety of factors, such as the number of jobs available in the art sector, the number of museums and galleries, and the number of notable artists born in each of the 30 towns or cities compared within the study, to come up with the top 10 list that Manchester sits atop of.

Top 10 most creative cities in the UK

  1. Manchester
  2. Brighton and Hove
  3. Bristol
  4. Leeds
  5. Edinburgh
  6. Liverpool
  7. Newcastle
  8. Glasgow
  9. Norwich
  10. Nottingham

Manchester claimed the title with an overall creativity score of 8.7/10, as we’ve apparently got a whopping 111 notable creatives per 100,000 people – including musicians, painters, and writers – as well as around 31 relevant job roles per 100,000 residents in the creative arts sector too.

More than two thirds (67%) of Brits declared themselves as ‘very creative’ / Credit: Flickr

Brighton and Hove follow close behind us in second place, with the rest of the top five being rounded out by Bristol, Leeds, and Edinburgh.

Fellow Northern cities Liverpool and Newcastle also feature in the top 10.

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At the other end of the spectrum, however, the UK’s least creative town out of all 30 locations analysed was found to be Northampton, with an overall creativity score of just 2.0/10, and it’s joined near the bottom of the list by other places such as Hull and Stoke-on-Trent.

Featured Image – Marketing Manchester