The creative media industries and workforce in South East England
Size and shape of the workforce
Home to over eight million people, South East England is the largest region in the UK by size of population and workforce. 15% of the UK's creative media industries workforce is based in South East England, exceeding 71,000 people.
25% of those working in those industries in the region are freelancers, compared to 36% across the UK. Women represent 34% of the workforce; people from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds make up 6% of the workforce and 3% of the workforce is reported as having a disability.
Industry by industry
Animation
1,000 are employed in animation companies with more employed in animation roles in other creative media sectors. Brighton Animators Network Group and Oxford Animation Station are also thriving networks.
Computer Games
1,700 work in Computer Games. The Guildford/Woking area has a concentration of companies working in computer games development and publishing. These include the European headquarters of the American games company, Electronic Arts, publisher THQ, large development studios such as Kuju and Lionhead, and a number of other smaller development studios such as Media Molecule. The Brighton and Oxford areas are also strong in this sub-sector.
Film
Over 1,700 people working in film production crews live in South East England, with 2,000 performers.
Others working in Facilities provide services for film, with 5,700 employed in the sub-sectors of post production, studio and equipment hire, special effects, outside broadcast, processing laboratories, transmission, manufacture of AV equipment and other services for film and TV.
The independent film industry is dominated by small, often micro production companies in the region, and is (along with the commercials sector) the highest user of freelance labour. A number of high end film companies and documentary companies also exist in the region including Spice Factory and Seventh Arts.
South East England was the birthplace of commercial filmmaking in the UK and holds a significant position in the international film industry. Pinewood Studios is Europe's largest film and television studio facility, providing a work base at full capacity for some 3,000 people working in production and facilities. At least 265 independent companies form ‘media villages' at Pinewood and Shepperton, most of which are at least partially dependent on the studio for their business.
Over 80% of production that comes into the UK is based in and around South East England and London. The film spend in the region between April 2004 and April 2005 was £131,642,000, with 1,180 shooting days and 1,987 prep and strike days within the same period.
The region has 293 cinemas and a total of 468 cinema screens. There are currently 44 film societies and two film archives, in Brighton and Winchester, with a combined total of 23,000 artefacts in their collection.
The South East also holds numerous film festivals, many of which attract international attention including: Brighton International Film Festival; Oska Bright Film Festival; OxDox International Film Festival and Chichester Film Festival.
Interactive Media
The interactive media and computer games sub-sectors make up 11% of all creative media employment in South East England. Over 6,000 people work for specialist companies in the key platforms of web and internet, interactive television and offline multimedia.
Others are also employed in these roles in other sectors in the economy. A significant cluster of interactive businesses exists in Brighton and Hove, comprising largely web design companies, together with IT software and services, corporate media and e-learning producers. World renowned companies such as LindenLab and Club Penguin have set up their British HQ in Brighton.
Other content creation
1,200 people work in creating other types of content, including commercials, corporate production and pop promos.
Photo Imaging
There are over 6,800 people working in Photo Imaging in South East England with Nikon in Kingston upon Thames, Noritsu in Milton Keynes and a significant amount of SMEs and sole traders throughout the region.
Publishing
Over 37,600 people work in Publishing in South East England, including books, newspapers, journals, periodicals and directories. This is the largest concentration outside of London and includes key clusters in Oxford and Sussex.
Oxfordshire is a major centre for educational, academic and specialist book and journals publishing, with companies such as Wiley Blackwell and Oxford University Press. Regional newspaper groups include Newsquest Media Group and the Kent Messenger Group. Major magazine and business media companies include DMG Media and Reed Business Information, both with offices in Surrey.
Radio
South East England accounts for a significant proportion of the overall Radio industry. 2,400 individuals work in publicly funded, commercial, community and voluntary radio.
There are 43 commercial radio franchises in the region, including 10 community radio stations (e.g. Unity 101FM, Radio Reverb), plus 28 RSL radio operators, whose services include hospital radio, sports information and campus radio. The BBC is represented by five local radio stations.
Statistics for the regional spread of employment indicate 6% BBC, 14% Commercial and 11% all radio. This means that South East England accounts for one of the greatest concentrations of commercial radio employees (alongside the North West and London).
Television
There are around 2,400 people working in broadcast TV, cable and satellite, and independent production. The region is home to key broadcasters including ITV Meridian, BBC South and BBC South East, ITV Local, Six TV and Kent TV.
Over 10% of the UK's 1,500+ production companies are based in the region and some companies have regional offices in South East England (e.g. Talkback Thames, Mentorn and Ten Alps). This represents the largest grouping outside of London and includes companies making feature films, corporate audio visual material, programmes for broadcast television and commercials.
Maidstone Studios in Kent are a significant creative media cluster; the region also boasts two major broadcast support employers, Virgin Media and Arqiva.
Higher Education
There are 24 Higher Education institutions in the region, including the internationally renowned National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield which has been awarded both Skillset Screen Academy and Skillset Media Academy status. Over 50% of the UK's higher education research and development activity is based in the South East and the acclaimed Art, Design and Media Centre is based at the University of Brighton.
Data taken from the Skillset 2006 Employment Census, 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.