From start ups to established companies, the creative industries make up eight per cent of the UK economy and account for £67,000 export revenue – every minute!
Looking at the statistics, there can be no disputing the fact that the creative industry brings a great deal to the UK.
Recently pulling together reams of information from across the internet, Kristina Marie, the Content Editor for The Formation Company’s blog – Build British Business – found that “human creativity is the ultimate economic resource”, shown in the Formation Company’s recent Creative Britain infographic.
Government Commits To Backing The Creative Industry
The creative industry is certainly one to keep an eye on, with a focus on maths, science and IT on school curriculums ensuring talent will continue to thrive.
Earlier in January 2014, the Confederation of British Industry published a strategy for creative industries to encourage growth and to help creative business to achieve even greater success, allowing Creative Britain to continue to be a world leader.
Government seems equally committed to backing the sector. Reviewing Government’s own figures, showing that employment grew at more than twelve times the rate of the UK economy as a whole, Maria Miller, the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, said that the creative industry was a powerhouse within the UK economy, punching well above their weight.
Creative Britain Contributing To The UK Economy
The creative industries’ value to the economy is now worth £71.4 billion a year, or £8 million pounds an hour. This includes:
- Fashion – £21 billion a year
- TV – £17.5 billion a year
- Publishing – £4.1 billion a year
- Performing Arts – £4.6 billion a year
Creative Britain – The Big Players
In her Creative Britain report, Kristina Marie recognised that there are seven characters in the industry, together employing more people, and making up a larger part of the UK economy than the financial services sector.
Fashion
The largest of all the creative industries, UK fashion supports 816,000 jobs and has a direct value to the economy of £21 billion. With Oxford Economics estimating that sales of designer clothing from the UK has been rising by 20% a year in the last ten years, and London voted as the global fashion capital for two consecutive years, fashion is a great area for start ups and entrepreneurs alike to join.
TV and Film
The success of the UK film industry is easy to appreciate with films such as Stephen Frears’ Philomena just nominated for an Oscar this year.
In just over ten years the TV and film industry has doubled in size, supporting over 117,000 jobs for people with an average starting salary of £32,500 per year. In fact, UK TV is second only to the US in terms of international sales.
Gaming
With a market of 33.6 million active gamers in the UK, collectively spending £3.8 trillion on games in just one year, the gaming industry is booming. And as the third largest games industry in terms of developer success and sales of hardware, it’s no surprise that the average salary for those working in the industry rose by 10% between 2012 and 2013, against a national average of 2.1%.
Music
The rise of iTunes and its impact on traditional music stores has given rise to much innovation in the British music industry and we are one of only three countries, along with Sweden and the US, to be net importers of music. The industry employs around 146,000 people.
Publishing and Books
Growing at a rate of 2.6% a year since 2009, the UK publishing industry employs around 25,500 people, with 30% of those based in London. The UK publishing industry is the largest in Europe, exporting more books than any other country in the world.
Design
The number of designers in the UK has risen significantly since 2005 and reflecting the economy as a whole, 28% of these are freelancers. Design looks set for good future growth, with businesses reporting significant rises in income and budget and overall annual earnings in this sector are estimated at £15 billion.
Performing Arts
With around 179,290 people working within the performing arts industry, and nearly half of those in London and the South East, between 2011 and 2012 the National Theatre income reached £80 million – more than twice the figure reported ten years ago.
A Revolution Worth Joining
With many, including urban theorist Richard Florida, recognising that “creative people are linked to economic growth”, Creative Britain certainly seems like an industry worth joining.
This is reflected too by the increasing number of organisations working to support and nurture those in the industry. In their Creative Industries Strategy for 2013 – 2016 the Technology Strategy Board state: “We would expect to invest in excess of £30 million in support of the creative industries strategy…We are investing in research and development and support for creative businesses, particularly start ups and SMEs, encouraging them to experiment, take risks and establish new markets”.
A spokesperson from The Formations Company said: “There are so many ways to form a company, and taking that leap into the unknown can be daunting. For entrepreneurs in Creative Britain – a clear area of economic growth and national pride – that leap can surely never have been easier.
At The Formations Company we aim to make the process of setting up in business even simpler to contemplate with a number of different packaged solutions to suit the needs of start up businesses across the spectrum – All allowing innovation to flourish”.
If you’re interested in forming a company, in the creative industries or any other, The Formations Company’s step by step guide shows your next moves.