The Arts Council of Northern Ireland commissioned Simetrica-Jacobs, in partnership with Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy (TFCC), to estimate the social and economic return of ACNI’s investment in the arts sector in Northern Ireland. This work seeks to help raise awareness about the value of the arts in Northern Ireland, and provide a framework for organisations to understand and measure their own impact. It involved engagement with arts organisations through in-depth structured interviews, estimating the economic impact of ACNI’s investment portfolio and social value analysis of four case study organisations, the development of ACNI’s impact framework, and finally setting out further steps that ACNI and the arts organisations it supports could take to enhance their social value measurement going forward.
Some findings include;
- ACNI’s investment generates *almost double its value* in economic activity. £13.27 million invested by ACNI directly generates £24 million in GVA (gross value added) annually.
- ACNI invests in organisations that generate 80% of the economic output (GVA) of Northern Ireland’s arts sector.
- ACNI’s investment portfolio supports 1,633 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs per year.
Read the full report here