Abstract
Creative firm clusters are typically seen as urban phenomena, representative of the cultural divisions between cities and smaller town and rural areas in the UK context. But recent evidence is starting to reveal the presence of creative business and activity forming rural microclusters.
In this paper we showcase the use of policy-oriented evidence gathering to inform both an action research programme and to influence innovation policy at the regional level. We show how survey and web-scraped data analysis can work with on-the-ground programmatic business support to form an iterative cycle of research-based policy and intervention for rural-based creative firms based in the rural, using a learning network approach. It shows how the priorities and motivations of the participants can shape policy and raise the profile of rural creativity and intelligence surrounding policy and programmes.