The creative media industries and workforce in North West England
Size and shape of the workforce
North West England is home to nearly 7 million people. More than 33,600 people work in the creative media industries in the region.
North West England has the largest concentration of people working in broadcasting outside London, with nearly 4,200 employed in television broadcast and production. Publishing is also a significant employer in the region employing around 15,000.
The North West's creative media industries workforce has a slightly older profile with 47% aged 35-49 compared to the UK's creative media industries as a whole where this age group makes up only 39%. Women represent 40% compared to the that of 42% of the UK's creative media industries as whole; people from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds make up 4.5% whilst for the UK's creative media industries, the figure is 6%. In the North West 4% of the workforce is reported as having a disability compared with the UK's creative media industries as whole for which the figure is 8%.
Sector by sector
Computer games
1,200 people work in computer games in North West England. This industry is recognised as a strength in the region and North West England was described in the Department for Culture Media and Sport's Creative Industries Mapping as one of the world's most important regions for computer games. However, the Liverpool games cluster is threatened with being left behind by more dynamic and better supported clusters elsewhere in the UK. One of the key threats is the lack of a recognised publisher in the cluster.
Facilities
Over 900 people are employed in the sub-sectors of post production, studio and equipment hire, special effects and outside broadcast.
The facilities and post production sector in North West England is seen as one of the strengths of the region. Based in Manchester, BBC Resources and Granada have joined together to establish 3sixtymedia, the largest facilities company outside of the BBC in London. Sumner's, the regions largest post production house, has increased its post production facilities over two sites to include studio facilities at mediacity:uk.
Film
Around 300 people operating in the key sub-sectors of production live in North West England. Figures are not available for employment in cinema exhibition at national/regional level.
The film industry is highly concentrated in London but there is a strong core of talented local directors and writers in the region. Merseyside markets itself as having the most significant film industry outside London and North West Vision and Media reported that 2006 was the busiest year to date for filming in the region, during which it dealt with over 6,000 film enquiries.
Interactive Media
1,800 people in the region work for specialist companies in the key platforms of web and internet, interactive television and offline multimedia. Others also employed in these roles in other sectors of the economy.
According to the Strategy for the Digital Industries in North West England , the ‘digital industries', which include Information and Communication Technologies and interactive media make a significant and growing contribution to the region's economy. The regional Creative Industries Strategy also emphasises the importance of the digital industries in light of the BBC move and the development of mediacity:uk as a hub for digital media companies.
Photo Imaging
Around 5,000 people work in photo imaging in the region and over half of these are photographers. Most of the businesses are very small, with almost 90% employing just 1-5 people, reflecting the high number of freelancers and sole traders in the sector.
Redeye (the North West Photography Network) is based in Manchester and has over 2,000 members. Venture Portraits, which has franchised portrait studios throughout the UK, has its Head Office and fulfilment centre in Cheshire.
Publishing
There are over 14,500 people working in publishing in North West England. Over one third of those employed in the industry work in newspapers and book publishing. Major employers include the Manchester Evening News (Guardian Media) and Liverpool Daily Post (Trinity Mirror) as well as many local and regional titles.
Book publishers tend to be small to medium sized independent companies and include Manchester University Press, Cornerhouse Publishing and Milo Books. In addition, there are a range of regional or specialist interest magazine companies including the smaller Flux and Orbis as well as Archant Life's Cheshire Life.
Radio
In North West England, 2,600 individuals work in publicly funded, commercial, community and voluntary radio.
There is a large radio sector in the region, including four BBC local stations and approximately 30 broadcast commercial radio companies, a number of which are owned by the large radio groups. In addition to the public service and commercial radio stations, there are a number of community radio stations and stations with short term Restricted Service Licences around the region.
Television
Around 4,200 people work in broadcast TV, cable and satellite and independent production.
Television broadcasting is an important component of the creative media industries in North West England. Manchester is a large and established broadcasting centre and the leading regional TV centre outside London. The BBC is about to embark on a significant relocation of 1,500 of its London-based staff to a new home at mediacity:uk in Salford. This will bring the total of BBC employees in North West England to 2,300.
ITV (formerly Granada), also based in Manchester, produces a significant amount of network and regional programming. However, it downsized its operations in 2007 to a workforce of just over 800.
Independent production is strong in the region and according to North West Vision and Media there are over 90 production companies in North West England. In addition, there are also several cable and satellite companies in the region.
Data taken from the Skillset 2006 Employment Census (supplemented with figures obtained directly from Sony and Traveller's Tales by the Northwest Regional Development Agency in July 2008 - for Computer Games only), Skillset/UK Film Council Feature Film Production Workforce Survey 2008, Experian 2007, Skillset/Equity Performing Arts Industry Workforce Survey 2005 and LFS 2005. For more information, please visit our Research section.