We’re continuing to shine a light on some of the partner organisations we work closely with to support the Hull and East Yorkshire visitor economy.

This month, we spoke with Max May, Chief Officer at HEY Creative. Max is also a member of the VHEY Advisory Board.

Tell us about HEY Creative.

HEY Creative is a cross-sector partnership that supports the region’s arts, culture and heritage sector to thrive. It is one of around 30 ‘Cultural Compacts’ established by Arts Council England and the Department for Digital, Culture, Medi and Sport around the country.

We embrace partnership and cross-sector working to support arts, culture and heritage to develop – and support those in business, education, healthcare, the public and voluntary sector to better understand, engage with and advocate for our own sector.

In the last year, we’ve launched the Hull & East Yorkshire Creative Charter, which has amassed over 100 signatories, developed an Arts, Culture & Heritage manifesto ahead of the 2025 mayoral election, produced a research report into the region’s cultural and cross-sector international connections, and led Hull and East Yorkshire’s first ever involvement with the national skills campaign, Discover! Creative Careers Week.

We’re funded by Arts Council England, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Hull City Council City, Health Care Partnership, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, University of Hull, Wykeland Group, Beal Homes, Horncastle Group, HullBID, For Entrepreneurs Only, Future Humber and the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.

Why has HEY Creative partnered with VHEY?

The visitor economy and arts, culture and heritage have a lot of natural synergies, including many of the same opportunities and challenges.

Working together allows us to be more strategic and joined up; to send stronger and more unified messages.

This was seen in practice in May 2025 when the Advisory Board of VHEY and HEY Creative co-organised a culture and visitor economy hustings ahead of the mayoral election.

All six candidates attended, and it gave people a tailored opportunity to hear from would-be mayors as to their support for our sectors.

What are the benefits of being a VHEY partner?

Alongside the benefits of partnership working, which result in a stronger overall position for both sectors and the streamlining of certain efforts, partnering with VHEY is a great opportunity to learn, and share learning.

Although our sectors are similar, the visitor economy has a more developed understanding and evidence base for its economic impact, for example.

This is something we’re doing a lot of work on ourselves, so that arts, culture and heritage can better articulate its impact. So being close to VHEY and the models it uses is really valuable.

Tell us something about Hull and East Yorkshire that people outside the region may not know.

That there are over 250 venues across the region that people come together in to participate in arts, culture and heritage!

Whether that’s professional theatres and galleries, community centres and places of worship, or a range of libraries and civic spaces – there’s always something happening in the region.

What sets Hull and East Yorkshire apart as a visitor destination?

Hull and East Yorkshire ticks every box!

It has a beautiful, historic city (with a newly crowned ‘hipster edge’!), alongside stunning coastline and rolling hills full of incredible food producers and local artisans.

You can do it all in Hull and East Yorkshire.