A new report on craft and the economic and social contribution of its makers is one of the most significant pieces of research by the Crafts Council for a decade, says Karen Yair, the council’s research and information manager

The report, Making Value, puts craft squarely within the creative knowledge economy and provides fresh, vibrant evidence of the entrepreneurship, energy and integrity that makers bring to their work. And it gives us the message – loud and clear – that craft has a unique role to play in a changing economy and society.

We have found makers engaging in a far greater range of places, and with more different types of people, than has previously been realised or recorded.

The research comes at a crucial time. The past 15 years have been incredibly productive for the UK’s creativity and innovation, and craft has been a part of that success. The craft sector now makes a £3 billion contribution to the UK economy, and represents 13% of those employed in the UK’s creative industries. And however the world has changed, we believe that craft has a substantial part to play in the future. Making Value helps us to show the great contribution of makers in many different contexts and in sometimes unexpected ways. While many craft businesses are small-scale, they display great creativity, innovation and resilience.

We commissioned it to explore the characteristics of portfolio working makers and appraise their contributions to a range of industry sectors and community and education settings. Portfolio working is prevalent in the contemporary craft sector: other quantitative studies show 65 – 70% of makers creating their careers in this way. Making Value investigates the nature and impact of these makers who are working “beyond the making, exhibition and sale of a craft object”.

Of the portfolio working makers we interviewed, over three quarters work in other industry sectors; over half in community contexts; and just over a third work in education settings. And nearly a third of them are making across at least two of these three areas. We have found makers engaging in a far greater range of places, and with more different types of people than has previously been realised or recorded. From fashion to film, hospitals to heritage, manufacturing to mental health projects and from retailing to residential courses, these makers are highly motivated in applying their practice to make a difference. Their stories provide a rich and nuanced picture.

Makers with a portfolio practice take on multiple roles, consciously presenting themselves in different ways for different audiences, markets and areas of work. They have a deep sense of integrity about their creative identity and move with agility between different projects, finding creative impetus in their engagement with other sectors and settings.

They have developed their craft knowledges and craft thinking into valuable consultancy services, applying their understanding of the emotive qualities of materials to design which enhances narrative and characterisation in film, television, the performing arts and digital media. They contribute to economic growth in sectors such as manufacturing, driving innovation in products and processes through their materials knowledge. Their particular understanding of how people relate to material qualities and objects, in both a functional and emotional sense, informs distinctive contributions in fields as diverse as healthcare and cultural tourism.

In terms of craft and the social contribution of makers, through making, participants attain a sense of achievement and ownership; experience the enjoyment of the immediacy and concreteness of materials; and build confidence, self esteem and a sense of value.