Non-metropolitan creative hotspots grow in UK
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Editor
| 11 January 2019

Research from OnBuy.com has discovered that it is not just London that is growing creative industries and attracting investment in the UK.

In its survey, British business and consumer marketplace, OnBuy.com sought to identify which areas across the UK have an above average specialism within the creative industries with the highest employment rate and businesses.

The creative industries are currently a motor of growth within local economies spanning across the UK, not just in London and the South East of England. The survey discovered that the following six towns and cities had the highest employment, with an above average number of employees specialising in film, TV, radio & photography: London (107,965 employees), Slough & Heathrow (15,155), Manchester (12,830), High Wycombe & Aylesbury (1,835), Ipswich (1,170) and, surprisingly to most, finally Penzance with 975.

Unsurprisingly, London has the highest number of businesses with an above average specialisation in film, TV, radio & photography at 15,015 businesses. After London (107,965), the Slough & Heathrow area was found to be the highest employment rate within film, TV, radio & photography (15,155). Out of the top six towns and cities, Penzance currently has the highest gross added value (GVA), 9.73%, in terms the number of employees employed in the area with a speciality in film, TV, radio and photography. After the Cornish city came London (2.85%), Slough & Heathrow (2.71%), Manchester (1.88%), High Wycombe & Aylesbury (1.50%) and Ipswich (1.31%).

The OnBuy.com data was obtained using the Nesta ‘Creative Nations’ interactive tool, selecting each creative industry (seven in total) and using the tool to collate data and statistics on the towns and cities with an above average local specialisation in each selected industry.