The creative media industries and workforce in the West Midlands
Size and shape of the workforce
Around 5.3 million people live in the West Midlands region. Birmingham tends to dominate the creative media industries in the West Midlands, both in terms of the number of companies and the size of the workforce.
There are around 18,200 people working in creative media industries in the West Midlands, representing 4% of the industries' UK workforce.
In terms of the make-up of the region's workforce, women represent around 34% of the workforce, compared to 38% across the whole of the UK. Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups account for 10% of the workforce, which is higher than the 6% nationally. And 3% of the workforce is reported as having a disability, compared to 8% UK-wide.
Sector by sector
Animation
Around 100 people are employed in animation companies with more employed in animation roles in other creative media industries. Due to rounding, this is an extremely crude estimate and may understate the size of the sector in the West Midlands.
Animation is growing in significance with companies spread across the region, including The Character Shop in Birmingham, Synthetic Dimensions in Wolverhampton and Spark and Zoom (Brothers McLeod) in Worcestershire. The Lighthouse Media Centre in Wolverhampton hosts an annual animation festival called Flip which is steadily growing an international reputation.
Computer Games
1,600 people work in computer games. The West Midlands is the UK's second largest regional base for the computer games industry with 20% of the sector's workforce. The most notable companies include Blitz Games and Codemasters.
Facilities
1,100 people are employed in the sub-sectors of post production, studio and equipment hire, special effects and outside broadcast. The studio and post-production facilities in the region are mainly focused on television, digital TV production or corporate work. Businesses include Aquila TV, Audio Suite, HD Heaven in Birmingham and Oakslade Studios near Warwick.
Film
Around 100 people operating in the key sub-sectors of production live in the West Midlands. Figures are not available for employment in cinema exhibition at national/regional level.
Film production in the West Midlands is limited to a small number of independent organisations. There are no distribution companies with a national remit based in the region. A number of short films have been shot in the region in recent years, but the West Midlands does not have any fully commercial feature film production companies. Screen West Midlands offer a range of support for emerging film talent and also invest in productions through the Film and Media Production Fund.
There are 46 cinemas in the West Midlands, providing a good spread of exhibition across the region. This includes multiplex cinemas in the main urban areas, an IMAX cinema and a number of smaller independent cinemas and art cinemas (some of which have production facilities and house small production companies). In Birmingham, Star City, the UK's largest multiplex with 30 screens, specialises in Asian cinema.
Interactive Media
800 people in the West Midlands 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 of the economy.
There are a large number of interactive media businesses operating in the West Midlands. The largest concentration of businesses is again in Birmingham, with a further concentration in and around Rugby, Coventry and Leamington Spa.
Photo Imaging
With nearly 2,700 people working in photo imaging, it is the second largest sector comprising a large number of laboratories and retail outlets. Rhubarb Rhubarb, a photographic training and development agency based in Birmingham, is internationally acclaimed for its exhibitions and the career development opportunities it offers to professional photographers.
Publishing
Just over 8,300 people work in publishing, including books, newspapers, journals and periodicals and directories, making this by far the largest sector in the region, with a strong regional press.
Over one third work in newspapers with employers including Metro Midlands, the Birmingham Post and The Midlands News Association Ltd. Nearly 2,500 people work in periodicals and journals. Book publishing has the smallest number of employees in the area.
Radio
Around 1,000 individuals in the region work in publicly funded radio, commercial radio and community and voluntary radio.
There is a good geographic spread of radio stations across the West Midlands, but the largest concentration of stations is in Birmingham. There are 30 commercial stations, dominated by the larger radio groups such as G-Cap plc, Global and GMG. However, there are some strong performing specialist stations including rock station Kerrang! and Radio XL providing music and news for the West Midlands Asian community. The BBC has five local stations and there is a growing number of community radio stations.
Television
Over 1,200 people work in broadcast TV, cable and satellite and independent production.
Both the BBC and ITV Central have studio bases in Birmingham. The BBC has two bases, namely the Mailbox where regional and network television and radio productions are produced, and the Drama Village at the University of Birmingham. ITV Central is located in purpose-built premises.
There is a strong base of small independent production companies. With the decline in demand from both BBC and ITV in the region, a number of these have successfully diversified, taking on network commissions from London or specialising in regional commissions, cable or commercial work. The main output of these companies is factual entertainment for network and cable television.
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 secion.