June 23 saw the release of a definitive Creative Industries Sector Plan, a four pillar programme aiming to enhance the recognition of industry workers and businesses. Falling under the broader Modern Industrial Strategy, the strategy focuses on increasing funding for Creative Industries, as well as establishing a stronger link between the UK government and creative businesses.
The intention of the Plan is to better support the creative workforce, with the end goal being to secure the United Kingdom as the “number one destination worldwide for investment in creativity and innovation”.
Significance
As of 2025, the UK Creative Industries draw in £17 billion through business investment, contributing £124 billion per annum (5.2 per cent GVA). If the Creative Industries Sector Plan was to succeed in accomplishing all four of its aims, this figure would increase to £31 billion and secure the United Kingdom as a strong contender in the industry’s international competition.
As of 2019, the Creative Industries have shown consistent growth of 6 per cent annually, and as of 2025 employ 2.4 million individuals. Investment in the creative workforce on this scale will not only enhance the competitive status of the UK’s Creative Industries but also facilitate the growth of the industry, funding the creation of thousands of new jobs nationwide.
The Four Key Aims
The Creative Industries Sector Strategy is arranged into four key aims. These are to transform cross-cutting support, boost growth in higher-potential sub-sectors, realise the potential of Creative Industries clusters, and deliver joint commitments from government and industry working in partnership.
1. Transforming cross-cutting support
Research and development investment is due to increase at both public and private levels, with the intention to support the creation of Intellectual Property for the Creative Industries. The intention is to secure the UK as the most accessible location to set up and invest in creative businesses, offering a wide range of financial support using the £380 million boost in funding.
The UK government aims to develop a resilient and diverse workforce, working alongside both businesses and freelance creative workers to ensure needs are met and a healthy relationship is maintained. This level of government support will hopefully incentivise those in the industry to choose the United Kingdom as their desired location for setting up their businesses and investing in the United Kingdom’s Creative Industries, leading to an increase in GVA and stabilising the position of the sector.
2. Boosting growth in our highest potential sub-sectors
The Sector Plan identifies: Film and TV; Music, performing, and visual arts; Video games; and Advertising and marketing as the United Kingdom’s highest grossing industries.
Last year, the UK grossed £4.8 billion of investment in the Film and TV industry, marking it as one of the leading nations in film production. The investment into Film and TV, working alongside the BBC, aims to maintain the attractiveness of the UK for further inward investment, with the government’s commitment to this cause hoping to result in the preservation of the public media as well as the UK’s status as an internationally recognised hub of media production.
Similarly, the UK music industry is the third largest in the world, constituting £7.6 billion in revenue in 2024 (with £1.49 billion of this resulting from UK recorded music exports, this figure seeing a 4.8 per cent annual increase). The UK government pledges to identify and capitalise on home-grown British talent, and utilise the funding promised under the Creative Industries policy to aid the achievement of this goal in the music and performing arts industries.
Furthering on the policy outlined in the Digital and Technologies Sector Plan, the UK also aims to secure its status as the largest video games industry in Europe by catalysing the expansion of studios and the development of smaller UK-based game companies.
In 2024, the UK advertising market held a value of £32 billion, seeking to reach a value of £44 billion in 2028. The government aims to achieve this through the exploitation of modern technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, allowing for the boosting of exports of advertising campaigns produced by UK-based firms.
3. Realising the potential of Creative Industries clusters
Creative Industries clusters across the UK are acknowledged to hold high potential for the creation of thousands of high-quality jobs, recognising the 709 microclusters and 55 major clusters that exist within the nation.
Not only does the Sector Plan recognise the importance of the Greater London supercluster (which constitutes for 34 per cent of creative businesses in the United Kingdom), but it also aims to capitalise off of the smaller clusters across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, working with their governments to support the growth corridor. This policy aims to develop the clusters already aided by the 2018 Creative Clusters Programme, working in tandem with the UK’s governments to provide adequate funding to these areas and stimulate economic growth outside of Greater London.
4. Delivering joint commitments from government and industry, working in partnership
The UK government aims to develop a more positive relationship with all businesses and employers alongside the relaunched Creative Industries Council, with an intention to achieve shared goals regarding diversity and inclusion, equality in the industries, and response to security and global concerns.
Summary
The intentions of the government with the ten year Creative Industries Sector Plan are clear: to stimulate economic growth, increase employment in the industries, and re-establish clear connections with leaders in the industry in order to achieve their goals more effectively.
However, the Sector Plan still fails to acknowledge widespread issues within the industries, such as the use of generative AI and its impact on freelance artists and graphic designers. The encouragement of the use of AI outlined in the Digital and Technologies Sector Plan, therefore, limits the amount of positive long-term impact which the Sector Plan can offer in terms of supporting the development and protection of Intellectual Property for artists.
The Plan, if successful, will undeniably support the Creative Industries, particularly in delivering joint commitments and developing microclusters, as well as offering financial support to creative workers of all levels and as a result, boosting the growth of the UK’s creative economy.
