GLA Reports On Success Of Creative Industries In UK

Creative industries remain at the forefront of London's international reputation and are key to the capital's continuing economic success. This is the conclusion of a new report published by GLA Economics.
Its publication coincides with a range of festivals celebrating and promoting the creative strength of the city: the London Design Festival, London Fashion Week, Frieze Art Fair, London Film Festival and London Games Festival.
London's Creative Sector: 2007 Update shows that 18,000 new jobs were created in the sector between 2004 and 2005. This brought the number employed in London’s creative industries up to 554,000 - 12 per cent of all London workers. London and the South East remain the hub of the sector in Britain, accounting between them for 57 per cent of all British creative workforce jobs.
This renewed growth of the creative industries - by five per cent in a single year - is almost double the growth rate of the financial and business sector.
This report sheds further light on the intimate links between London's creative industries and its financial and business services. For example, 91 per cent of demand for advertising and 73 per cent of demand for architecture comes from other businesses. The location of so many creative businesses in and around central London and the City suggests there is a symbiosis with the capital's business and finance sector. 40 per cent are located in the West End and City Fringe alone.
The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said: "This new report highlights the major contribution that the creative industries make to the economy of the city, and confirms that – alongside the continued growth in the financial services sector – they are on a dynamic upward trend. This is good news for the city. The creative industries are a crucial component in the overall strength of the city. Our lead in the creative industries helps ensure London remains at the global cutting edge, attracting all kinds of companies to choose London to do business because of the strength they can draw on in design, advertising, pr and many other creative fields."
The report can be downloaded at: www.london.gov.uk/mayor/economic_unit
(DS)