#Massive Attack, Liz Fraser, and More Back Guild Supporting Bristol Creative Sector

Several of South West England’s foremost cultural figures have come out in support of the newly formed Bristol United Guild, a nonprofit company supporting Bristol musicians and other creative freelancers hit by the pandemic. Massive Attack, Portishead’s Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley, Cocteau Twin Liz Fraser, Tricky, and IDLES are among the musicians to back the guild, signing an open letter outlining how limited government support and arts funding risk creating “a lost generation of talent, direction and vocation.” Others signees include the actors Daniel Day-Lewis, Maisie Williams, and Stephen Merchant.

The guild’s first major proposal is a city-wide Business Improvement District. Under the plan, the guild would urge big businesses that have continued to expand through the pandemic to commit to a “small percentage levy of their business rates,” according to a press release. The guild would work as an advisory body to “quickly identify recipient spaces, places, individuals, bodies, groups, and projects,” the open letter adds.

The guild, which is registered as a community interest company, has written to Bristol mayor Marvin Rees requesting that the local government come on board to implement the levy within 3 months. The press release cites a recent IMF report calling for emergency surcharges, including “solidarity business levies” such as those proposed by the guild, to prevent disastrous fallout from the pandemic.

Massive Attack’s Robert “3D” Del Naja said in the press release: “As established Bristol artists we can see the danger now of a lost generation of creativity. We recognise that social conditions have changed a lot in the last few decades; especially in terms of housing costs and the hollowing out of local services. With the BUG project, we want to prevent a forehead engraving culture of ploughing young people into low skilled, insecure work. We want to invest in unlocking potential and expression, and vitally, to encourage independence.”

Read the full open letter, whose signatories also include Roni Size, Martina Topley Bird, and Jen Reid:

The COVID-19 crisis has magnified social inequalities on a vast scale. The impact will be acutely felt in cities and urban districts, and Bristol – a city that had more than 40 distinct neighbourhoods ranked as some of the most deprived in England prior to the pandemic – is no exception.

In the coming months of serious economic hardship, the limited nature of much centralised arts
funding and/or governmental support for the freelance sector, combined with the impossible position of those entering the arts, working in live events or arts production will become both clear and acute.

As a result, the transmission belt between the fiercely independent arts and music culture that Bristol is internationally synonymous with, and the next generation of independent artists, performers, musicians, producers, technicians, and venue operators – especially from our most deprived districts – will be cut; resulting in a lost generation of talent, direction and vocation. 

As artists, creatives and community projects, we now believe an emergency solution lies in the establishment of a city-wide Business Improvement District, with the newly formed Bristol United Guild working as advisory body to quickly identify recipient spaces, places, individuals, bodies, groups and projects. 

In taking this step, commercial identities who benefit extensively from what Bristol has to offer and who have seen their operations expand positively during the pandemic period, can help to ensure that we do not lose an entire generation of citizen talent and human potential to the aftermath of the COVID 19 pandemic. We believe this investment is now vital.