Creativity generates industry!

The UK’s reputation draws from its past, but today the country is increasingly inspired by its future. A unique spirit of innovation, eccentricity and all-round creative energy is giving the UK a real edge. The UK not only attracts the best of global talent, but also acts as a true catalyst, bringing out the best in people.

The sector’s strengths lie in the UK’s global reputation for creativity and innovation, together with London’s role as a leading cultural centre. The UK creative sector employ nearly 2 million people, grew at nearly twice the rate of other sectors, accounting for ￡14.6 bn of exports in 2005.

According to the Mayor’s Office, creative industries account for 525,000 jobs (one in five) in the capital, with a growth rate of 9 per cent a year, compared with 5 per cent for financial services. Creative promotes diversification, and the merging of ideas is one of the defining characteristics of the UK creative industries.  

UK workers combine technical skill with creative vision. Innovation is nurtured by a strong domestic creative industry and world-class academic institutions. The UK fosters an “edgy” and “individualistic” spirit where the convergence of a variety of cultures has created a melting pot of ideas which help to inspire creative vision.

The creative industries sector comprises 13 different sub-sectors in line with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) definition of the creative industries: advertising, architecture, art and antiques market, craft, design, designer fashion, film and video, interactive leisure software, music, the performing arts, software and computer services, and television and radio.

Architecture

The UK is home to many world-famous practices, including those of Richard Rogers and Norman Foster – whose recently completed Swiss Re building is already a landmark feature of the London skyline. UK architects are in high demand both nationally and internationally, including the more recent talents of Will Alsop and Zaha Hadid – the first woman to win the coveted Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Recent worldwide flagship projects by UK-based architects and practices include the Rosenthal Centre for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati (Zaha Hadid). Foreign Office Architects also recently completed work on the Yokohama Port Terminal in Japan and was part of a team shortlisted for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center in New York.

Furthermore, cities throughout the UK are enjoying an architectural renaissance, with major city-centre plans having been undertaken in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Cardiff.

Design

The UK design industry is large and diverse, spanning disciplines from branding and graphics, packaging and commercial interiors to product design, multimedia and crafts. In the UK, design is viewed as being an integral part of a wider strategy. UK consultants excel at translating ideas into commercial success. UK designers use the inclusion of a strategic approach to problem solving as a fundamental business tool.

In 2005, the industry’s turnover was £4.6 billion, with fees of £4 billion. The UK design industry consists of 4,000 commercial design consultancies and many independent or freelance designers. In total, the consultancy industry employs approximately 70,000 people. Design-literate consumers and a strong design education sector have attracted high levels of inward investment. Moreover, an increasing proportion of the UK’s 20,000 first degree and postgraduate design students come from overseas, attracted by the quality and kudos of UK courses.

London is recognised as a major centre for the international fashion trade, along with Milan, Paris and New York. This global status has fostered many of the world’s most famous names in designer fashion. Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney, for instance, are global players, both heading up major international fashion houses.

Game

Games are a significant creative and economic force in the UK. The UK games industryis the third-largest interactive entertainment market in the world, with the highest number of games development companies and publishers in Europe. In 2004, the UK computer and video games industry recorded sales of more than ￡2 billion for the third year running, accounting for more than 15% of the global video games market.

There are 6,000 professionals working in the games development industry (half are in-house developers) and 3,000 professionals working in games publishing. The main wholly UK-owned publishers in the UK include Eidos/SCi, Codemasters and Empire. The UK’s best-selling series (FIFA Soccer, Grand Theft Auto, Harry Potter) now sell close to one million copies each in a year across all games hardware formats.

You can download Creative Industries UK brochure (PDF, 1.5MB) for full introduction about UK creative industry, such as music, performing arts, publishing, and screen industry: film & television.