The creative media industries and workforce in South West England
Size and shape of the workforce
Around 36,000 people work within the creative media industries in South West England, representing 8% of the industries' UK workforce.
33% of those working within the industries in the region are freelancers. 35% of the workforce are women, while only 3% are from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) background. 6% of the workforce in the creative media industries in South West England is disabled.
Sector by sector
Animation
800 people are employed in animation companies, with more employed in animation roles in other creative media companies. South West England is known nationally and internationally for its strength in animation based largely on the success of Aardman Animations, based in Bristol. However, this is also due to the considerable number of smaller animation companies across the region.
Film
In South West England, around 600 people operate in the key sub-sectors of film production. Others working in the facilities industry provide services for film, for example in post production.
Much location filming is undertaken in South West England. A number of film festivals take place each year: Wildscreen, the world's leading natural history film festival; Encounters (combining the former Brief Encounters and Animated Encounters festivals); the Cornwall Film Festival, screening a range of Cornish films and featuring premieres; the Cheltenham Screenwriters Festival, dedicated to the art, craft, and business of writing for the screen.
Interactive media
Over 1,800 people 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.
There are many creative, cutting edge interactive media companies in South West England, mainly in Bristol, Bath, Plymouth and parts of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
Bristol has a strong interactive media sector, ranging from some of the top digital agency companies in the UK to smaller innovative and fast moving companies, including the E3 Group, a full service digital agency, Hyperlaunch, a creative digital marketing agency, and highly innovative companies like Team Rubber and Nameless.
Photo Imaging
Nearly 5000 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.
Larger employers in the region include Harrier LLC (Truprint) in Newton Abbot, a large photo finishing operation and Tempest in St Ives, the largest schools photography company in the country, employing photographers all round the UK.
Transmedia is a Skillset Approved training provider and they have a training facility in Bristol to complement their main base in Greenwich.
Publishing
There are over 18,800 people working in publishing in South West England. The majority of these work in either regional or local newspapers, journal or periodical publishers. Local newspaper titles include the Western Morning News in Plymouth, Bristol Evening Post and Bath Chronicle.
Future Publishing is based in Bath and is renowned for the success of online magazines and communities it has built around it brands - particularly PC Gaming and Technology titles. Also based in Bristol are Origin Publishing and BBC Magazines Bristol. BBC Magazines also includes BBC Customer Publishing, which publishes for clients such as HMV.
There are very many small independent publishers of books in South West England. One of the best known is Alistair Sawday Publishing, based in Bristol, a publisher of travel guides.
Television
Around 1,800 people work in broadcast TV, cable and satellite, independent production community TV and TV distribution.
South West England has a strong production sector in Specialist Factual and Natural History production, both at BBC Bristol and in the independent production sector.
Bristol is an established hub for television production. In a recent Broadcast survey, of the Top 30 companies in the Nations and Regions, six have a base in Bristol and Bath. Plymouth is also a growing area for creative media - Two Four, one of the strongest independents outside of London and spanning TV, Interactive and Digital Media and Facilities, is based in Plymouth.
Media Business Clusters
South West England has a strong and active network of media cluster groups, with a large number of dynamic and engaged members.
These groups offer a wide range of services. They provide information and knowledge exchange, training and networking events. They build dialogue and links with educational institutions, and facilitate collaboration and partnerships between businesses and education. The six key clusters are Plymouth Media Partnership, Gloucestershire Media Group, Wessex Media Group, Bristol Media, Cornwall Media Focus and Swindon Media Group.
Higher Education
12 Higher Education institutions (HEIs) provide education for the creative media industries. Of these, South West England has three Skillset Academies:
- North by Southwest: The Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Skillset Media Academy (comprises University of Gloucestershire, Cirencester College, Gloucestershire College, Wiltshire College)
- Cornwall Skillset Media Academy (University College Falmouth, Cornwall College, Truro College)
- Bournemouth Skillset Screen and Media Academy (comprises Bournemouth University and Arts Institute at Bournemouth)
Other examples of HEIs with a key focus on creative media include UWE and Bath Spa.
South West England is also a pilot region for the Higher Level Skills Pathfinder project. The aim of this project is to explore and embed shared strategies for higher education provision and workforce development skills between higher education providers and employers.
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.