Creative industries

As one of the Industrial Strategy’s priority sectors, the creative industries are an engine for growth, contributing £124 billion of Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy in 2023. As the world’s second-largest destination for creative sector Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) after the USA, the UK boasts internationally renowned creative excellence. The sector offers investors a proven, opportunity-rich environment to tap into one of the most dynamic and fast-growing creative markets globally.

Opportunity highlights

The UK’s creative industries are a magnet for investment, from research and development (R&D) and innovation to world-class production facilities, this is a sector in high demand and built for growth.

Video game production

Home to Europe’s largest video games industry and billions in consumer spending, the UK has established itself as a prime destination for gaming investment. With attractive incentives, including a 34% tax credit for video game production, and a rich ecosystem with over 3,400 companies, the sector offers highly lucrative opportunities for investors. Companies can harness new technologies like generative AI and immersive technologies and invest across established games franchises, UK studios and a dynamic start-up scene.

Advertising and marketing

The UK’s advertising and marketing sector offers high-growth opportunities for investors. With £66.6 billion spent by 3.5 million UK businesses in 2024 and £18 billion in exports, the second highest globally, it’s a market with both scale and international demand. As an early adopter of AI and emerging tech, the UK leads in adtech, martech, and creative R&D. As Europe’s largest creator economy, valued at £828 million, the UK adds further opportunity in the influencer and content space.

Television and film production

The UK is the largest film and high-end TV production location outside the USA, attracting £4.8 billion of film and high-end TV inward investment in 2024. This is driven by the availability of generous tax reliefs, a world-class production talent ranging from visual effects, virtual production, sound and make-up to line production and cinematography. Join the ecosystem of major studios like Leavesden and Shepperton and producers like Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney and Netflix, and access opportunities across this growing film and TV industry.

Music

Music is a buoyant segment of the UK’s creative industries. Employing over 216,000 people, UK music generated a GVA of £7.6 billion and £4.6 billion in exports in 2023, a 15% increase from 2022. From live performance to streaming and immersive experiences, the UK’s music sector is leading the way. Invest in new platforms, music technology and AI and production facilities and benefit from world-class talent and innovation.

Createch

Createch, where creativity meets advanced technology, is one of the UK’s most exciting high-growth investment frontiers. Forecasted to generate £18 billion in GVA and create 160,000 jobs over the next decade, the createch sector is set to grow ten times faster than the wider creative industries. With around 13,800 UK creative businesses already integrating technology, the ecosystem is both deep and rapidly expanding. For investors, this presents a unique opportunity to back scalable innovation with wide cross-industry applications.

Commercial maturity

The UK is one of the world leaders in creative industries. Exports in 2021 totalled £54.7 billion, of which £45.6 billion were in services and £9.1 billion in goods, with creative service exports accounting for almost 15% of all UK global services exports. Of all UK digital trade, 67% was generated by creative digital products, further underscoring the sector’s importance in the wider UK economy. The new UK Industrial Strategy and Creative Industries Sector Plan aim to increase business investment in the sector from £17 billion to £31 billion by 2035, boosting the UK’s position as a leading location for global creative investment.

Key UK assets

From Bristol and Cardiff in the west to Leeds in the north, the UK offers country-wide investment opportunities in its dynamic creative sector, some of the most notable being in London, Manchester, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

London

A global hub in the creative industries, London alone generated £64 billion of creative GVA in 2023. Home to some of the world’s best creative education institutions, including the London Screen Academy and the Royal College of Music, London has a world-class talent pipeline for the sector. The capital is also the third biggest city for film making in the world as well as a global hub for visual effects (VFX), housing four of the world’s largest visual effects companies . London-based Framestore is one of the world’s leading VFX firms, having won multiple Oscar, VES and BAFTA awards for their visual effects and animation work.

Manchester

Home to creative developments like MediaCityUK, SODA and Aviva Studios, Manchester is a hub for film and TV, music, createch and advertising. With the highest number of creative businesses outside of London, the Greater Manchester region is home to a rich creative ecosystem. Upcoming plans to set up Greater Manchester’s Music Export Office, a first of its kind, will help showcase UK talent to the rest of the world.

Scotland

From Glasgow to Edinburgh to Dundee, Scotland is thriving with creative talent. The Edinburgh Festivals are the birthplaces of successes like Fleabag and Six, while Glasgow hosts the headquarters of BBC Scotland, STV and a Channel 4 Creative Hub. The recently opened CoSTAR Realtime Lab in Dundee is pioneering virtual production and real-time technologies, serving as a space for collaboration between industry, creators and researchers.

Northern Ireland

Award winning TV shows Game of Thrones and The Fall have been filmed on location across the country. With increased studio capacity, it has proved attractive to streaming platforms such as Netflix and HBO. The recently launched Studio Ulster, housing the CoSTAR Screen Lab, is at the forefront of virtual production innovation. Northern Ireland also boasts a rich video games ecosystem, with companies like Hypixel, BlackStaff Games, Whitepot Studios and Italic Pig.

Research and development (R&D) capability

The UK has a thriving research and development scene in the creative arts. Creative firms are engaging in innovation and being supported to leverage the latest wave of digital technologies.

Benefit from upcoming funding and support for creative R&D laid out in the Creative Industries Sector Plan and collaborate with leading creative R&D initiatives:

Convergent Screen Technologies and Performance in Realtime (CoSTAR)

£75.6 million R&D network of laboratories developing new technologies in gaming, TV, film, performance and digital entertainment. Funded by UKRI, CoSTAR is the first national network of R&D labs strengthening the UK’s leading position in the creative industries. It works with industry to develop and commercialise new technologies, products and services, supporting business growth.

Creative Cluster Programme

An R&D partnership between industry and academia, accelerating innovation and R&D in key clusters throughout the UK. A £100 million UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) investment will support the next wave of clusters involving new locations and sub-sectors, driving innovation through collaboration between universities and SMEs.

Digital Catapult

The UK is advancing deep tech in the creative sector through testbeds, facilities, and innovation programmes led by the Catapult. By trialling new R&D capabilities, it’s growing a high-potential media production ecosystem.

Business and government support

Through the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, the creative industries will receive millions of pounds of support for growth and innovation. The £75 million screen growth package, £30 million video games growth package and £30 million music growth package will support these high potential industries, generating profitable growth and low risk opportunities to capitalise on. Businesses can also benefit from comprehensive creative tax reliefs and access financing from the British Business Bank and UK Export Finance.

Talent

Thanks to its workforce of 2.4 million people, the UK’s creative industries benefit from a wide and future-focused talent pool. With world-renowned education providers, the UK is home to some of the best universities for music, performing arts and design. Unique institutions such as the BRIT School cultivate creative talent from a young age, with alumni achieving an impressive 22 BRIT Awards, 21 Grammys, two BAFTAs and two Oscars. The newly established government body, Skills England, will further strengthen this talent pool by improving flexibility for industry and enhancing the creative skills pipeline thanks to new apprenticeships.

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