Makers Map

Creative businesses across the Solent, in one place

Most people making a living from creative work here are sole traders. They don't appear in Companies House, so councils, funders and organisers can't see them — and they miss the funding they're eligible for. We're counting them properly, council area by council area.

7,535Businesses found
1,422Of those, likely sole traders
3,331Published so far

Found means we've identified the business and worked out which council area it trades in. Published is the smaller number we hold enough verified detail about to give a page — that's what the directory contains.

Browse the directory Add your business

Browse by craft

Graphic & brand design 871 Film & video production 404 Architecture & spatial 337 Music & sound 325 Fine art & painting 270 Photography 191 Digital & interactive 176 Writing & publishing 131 Furniture & woodcraft 106 Jewellery & silversmithing 99 Performing arts 93 Print & signage 89

Recently added

Why this exists

For makers

Council and Arts Council funding is allocated by council area. If we know where you work, we can tell you what you're eligible for. Listing is free, and claiming your profile takes a minute.

For the council

Southampton's Cultural Strategy commits to sector support that can't currently be measured at practitioner level. This is the evidence base — counts, crafts and growth by ward.

Built openly

Every fact on every listing carries its source and the date we collected it. You can see exactly what we hold and ask us to remove it.