How Figurative is supporting Baroness Margaret Hodge’s vision for a flourishing cultural sector

The Hodge Review opens with a summary of recommendations stating that the government must find “innovative ways of responding urgently to the underfunding that has undermined the arts over the last decade” – there could hardly be a better encapsulation of why Figurative was established. 

We have extraordinary cultural and creative assets in England (and the rest of the UK), and the Figurative approach is to make sure that the ‘sector’s balance sheet’ is capitalised to support these assets to be as productive as possible. While we recognise the vital need for ongoing public and private subsidy to the cultural and creative sector, our mission is to support all organisations who are in a position to enjoy the ‘liberation’ that can be provided by investing in opportunities to reduce their dependence on grant funding. 

This kind of investment, and thinking, bridges the synthetic divide between the ‘subsidised cultural sector’ and the ‘commercial creative industries’ and helps to lift the entire cultural and creative ecosystem as one, thus enabling collaborative R&D to proliferate throughout.

Figurative is an independent intermediary, committed to supporting the cultural and creative sectors. We launched last year after starting life as an ACE-funded collaborative project, hosted by Nesta, in 2015.

Of relevance to the findings of the Review are the following features, principles and activities of Figurative:

Designed to support public, private and philanthropic capital to work in synergy – bringing new and different money into the sector

•       We are backed by Arts Council England and Nesta, as well as Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Julia Rausing Trust, Rothschild Foundation.
•       We are an asset-locked charitable parent company, governed by an expert Board of Trustees and team. Figurative was incubated at Nesta before spinning out as a separate entity.
•       We have existing investment subsidiary Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) with a ten year track record of investing in the cultural and creative sector, and expertise in designing these to allow public, philanthropic and private capital to co-invest
•       We have purposefully restricted any surpluses, profits or endowment to be invested in the cultural and creative sector in perpetuity
• Figurative has raised and invested blended capital, social impact investment funds from investors including Better Society Capital, Access – The Foundation for Social Investment, ACE (£6m), Nesta (£7m), Bank of America, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Lottery Community Fund, Freelands Foundation
•       We developed from the Arts Impact Fund pilot, developed under Sir Peter Bazalgette as a partnership between ACE, Nesta, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Bank of America, with support from Professor Kieron Boyle and the Cabinet Office, and others including Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Rayne Foundation, Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation and others
•    We have the capabilities and network to bring new capital to the sector – our recent meeting in the House of Lords expertly chaired by Baroness Thangam Debonnaire brought together existing and potential private investors in the sector 

 Delivering funding to the sector through bespoke innovative instruments

•       We deliver impact-driven repayable finance products to the cultural and creative sector, filling a market gap and changing sector behaviour
•       We are supporting organisations to utilise Theatre Tax Relief (TTR) by providing cashflow loans
•        We work hard to immerse ourselves in and inform ourselves of the sector’s specific needs, and we work with organisations to provide access to the finance products they need to support resilient growth through business transformation

Developing new more resilient business models, working assets harder

•       We have developed a strong practice and a deep knowledge of how to enable and incentivise cultural organisations to understand and invest in their assets
•       Figurative understands that the type and form of funding affects how benefits generated by those assets are distributed, and believes more equitable distribution will result in more and better work/asset utilisation), and compounded economic returns
•       Our work is evidence-based, having built on the work of Missions, Models, Money from Margaret Bolton, David Carrington and others, and The New Art of Finance by Hasan Bakhshi
•       Figurative has its own mixed-model economy – we are compelled to drive our own assets into sustainable income streams, and will reduce our dependence on grant funding as we scale, as well as diversifying our core funders

Environmental sustainability – investing in the long-term future of the sector

•       We are focused on how to bring in new capital to the sector to fund the work needed to prepare our built environment assets for the 21st century. Providing an opportunity to invest in the sector through established carbon reduction frameworks will attract funding to support the integration of carbon reduction technologies in cultural sector renovation projects – we are publishing research in the new year with Theatre Green Book, Buro Happold, MGAC, JB and Gallery Climate Coalition commissioned by ACE and Creative Industries PEC. 
•       We are designing an investment vehicle at scale (the ‘Decarbonisation of Cultural Assets Fund’, or ‘DeCAF’), supported by the above primary research, to effect an expedient and efficient sector transition to net zero. This will enable the cultural sector to function as a powerful demonstrator for other sectors – this is in line with Nesta’s ‘A Sustainable Future’ mission and we are talking to British Business Bank and Unity Trust Bank as well as private individuals and trusts and foundations

Place-based programmes and match-funded individual giving across England

•       Through our ACE-funded project, founded by Sir Vernon Ellis, Figurative Philanthropy for Arts and Culture (FPAC), we continue to develop our cohort of over 20 place-based philanthropic partnerships, and have a strategic priority to drive culture into the heart of place-based impact investment partnerships
•       We are driving individual giving into the sector and raising the profile of its positive social impacts through the match-funded Arts for Impact partnership with Big Give

Global Expertise – representing the cultural and creative sector to the impact investment sector

•     The Figurative team are considered international experts in the field, thanks to the UK being an early mover – we are already able to monetise this with our advisory business and are well-connected into a growing field of experts. Our mission here is to ensure the global impact investment movement serves the cultural and creative sector, recognising and driving its powerful social impact
•       Figurative is an established leader in social impact practice with social impact investment wholesalers recognising its exemplar performance among peer funds throughout the sector, and developing products, services and resources for the sector such as our Impact Health Check
• Figurative is committed to working with the new office for the impact economy Gemma Rocyn Jones to understand how the cultural and creative sector can be commissioned to deliver positive outcomes e.g. through the Better Futures Fund

We look forward to working with our existing and future stakeholders to support our wonderful cultural and creative ecosystem – from individual artists and freelancers through regional arts organisations to our globally recognised cultural brands – to thrive, in 2026 and beyond!