Move Over, Hollywood: Bristol, Glasgow & Cardiff Lead the Film & TV Revolution
The three cities saw a 50% average increase in GVA from their production hubs, attracting a 61% increase in content investment and creating nearly 8,000 extra jobs since 2016
The new findings demonstrate how domestic and global broadcasters and streamers are investing in the UK’s regional production hubs.
Impressive growth comes as latest ONS growth figures highlight strength of creative industries
Key regional ‘screen sector clusters’ over a seven-year period have delivered highly significant levels of economic growth and created thousands of skilled jobs in film and TV, a new report has determined - in another sign of the continued success of Britain’s booming film and television sectors.
The three creative clusters are Bristol, Cardiff, and Glasgow, which have grown rapidly since 2016. They were found to have jointly contributed £1.95bn to the UK economy in just one year and are attracting highly sought after content investment, with an average 8% YoY increase.
Bristol’s screen sector nearly doubled in size from 2016, whilst Cardiff and Glasgow grew by 52% and 42% respectively. Their success is based on a range of different investors all playing their part, including domestic and global, private and public. The number of jobs in the three regions grew by 70% over the same period to 19,200.
The new analysis comes from a report jointly commissioned by the Association of Commercial Broadcasters and On-Demand Services (COBA) and Pact, the UK screen sector trade body for independent production and distribution companies, in order to inform the Government’s regional growth strategy, as well as their overall industrial strategy which includes the creative industries as one of the UK’s eight strategic sectors.
The report identified Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Belfast, and Greater Manchester as strong drivers of growth across the creative sector, with notable developing clusters identified in Birmingham and Leeds.
It also highlighted that in a period of declining business sentiment and confidence in the UK economy, creative clusters have proven themselves as attractive destinations for investment, with the three main clusters seeing a 61% increase in investment from 2016.
Productions such as Doctor Who, His Dark Materials, and Murder Trial have helped fuel this growth as demand for new productions from on-demand services and commercial broadcasters has increased rapidly. Whilst Public Service Broadcasters’ commissioned content has provided a firm foundation of stable demand across a range of genres.
The success of the clusters has come despite challenges in the sector over the last few years including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Hollywood writers and actors strikes, and the disruptive effects of high inflation.
The findings were welcomed by Media Minister, Stephanie Peacock, who said: "The UK's world-class film and TV sector is a key driver of economic growth in regions across the country, as shown by this report.
"As part of the government's Plan for Change, I am determined that the industry can build on this success in Bristol, Glasgow, Cardiff and the rest of the country, and create even more fantastic jobs in all regions of the UK."
COBA and Pact hope the report will help guide the Government’s approach to supporting the UK’s creative industries which features prominently in the upcoming industrial strategy. The latest growth figures from the ONS have identified the creative industries as one of the few sectors driving economic growth across the country.
The sector currently benefits from a tax credit regime which has been “hugely important to incentivising production” across the UK, according to the report. Since the introduction of the tax credits, total production spend across the sector has increased from £393.8m in 2013 to £2.08bn in 2019. COBA and Pact are therefore recommending four key policy levers to support the continued growth of the UK’s TV and film sectors across the UK, and to facilitate the development of emerging clusters:
- Maintaining a mixed commissioning and production ecology
- Establishing a new, ambitious industrial strategy
- Securing talent and developing skills schemes
- Maintaining the competitiveness of the audiovisual expenditure credit
COBA Executive Director, Adam Minns, said: “Our screen sector is a genuine British success story, and this report underlines how that success and growth isn’t just limited to London. We are seeing a genuine range of investors – domestic and global, public and private – all playing their part.
“By analysing what has made our screen clusters world leading we are providing a blueprint for policies that can further support growth across our sector. Crucially, we also want to demonstrate how the Government can continue to promote regional growth and opportunities, supporting their economic agenda, by fostering a genuine range of investors that doesn’t rely on any one source of funding.
“In the face of significant headwinds across the sector, I would urge the Government not to rest on their laurels and ensure the creative sector continues to enjoy an operating environment which is fuelling the growth that has transformed communities across the country.”
Pact CEO, John McVay OBE, said: “Britain has an outstanding reputation for film and television production, in large part because of the variety of high-quality screen clusters across the UK which are bustling with talent and opportunities.
“In the face of challenges posed by industrial action and the consolidation of the streaming market, the UK’s clusters have put the sector in a strong position internationally and will continue to underpin the future success and growth of UK film and TV.
“As the Government looks to pursue economic growth right across the UK, we hope this report will emphasise how the creative industries are an essential part of any regional growth strategy.”
The report commissioned by COBA and Pact is titled Screen Sector Clusters: Securing Sustainability and Growth, and was prepared by Oliver & Ohlbaum Associated Ltd, in collaboration with Nick Toon, Director of Rationale Consulting. To access a full copy of the report please contact [email protected].
About COBA
COBA is the Association for Commercial Broadcasters and On-Demand Services. It represents multichannel broadcasters in the digital, cable and satellite television sector and leading on-demand services. More details can be found at www.coba.org.uk.
About Pact
Pact is the UK screen sector trade body for independent production and distribution companies. Our mission is to help make the UK’s independent production sector the most successful in the world. Since 1991, our work has helped transform the sector from a cottage industry into a British success story which employs thousands of people and is worth billions to the UK economy.