Creative PEC highlights creative exporters' fast growth

Exporting among UK creative businesses is expanding at a faster rate than exporting in other areas of the economy, according to new research from the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC) which highlights the potential and benefits of supporting future growth in UK creative exports.

The share of creative businesses that export increased by 10 percentage points over six years from 15 per cent to 25 per cent whereas in other industries, the percentage that exported was static at around 9 per cent, Creative PEC estimates. In some sub-sectors, such as Advertising and Marketing, the share of exporters went from 21 per cent in 2018-2020 to 38 per cent in 2022-2024, and in Publishing from 31 per cent to 40 per cent.

In all regions and nations of the UK, creative industries companies are also more likely to be exporters than other types of businesses in their areas.

Additionally, the study finds MSME (micro, small and medium-sized enterprises) exporters, across all sectors, significantly outperform non-exporters in terms of profit, hence encouraging exporting could contribute towards the UK government's regional and national growth ambitions.

Other insights from the report called, 'Will the creative exporters please stand up?' were:

• 25 per cent of creative MSMEs are exporters
• 19 per cent are also export champions (majority of turnover coming from exports)
• 33 per cent are majority-owned by female owners41% are innovative in introducing a new product or services in the past three years
• 94 per cent applied to their main bank for funding

The report's recommendations include:

• UKRI should consider how its remit connects to trade support opportunities rather than approaching R&D and innovation separately
• Maximising the opportunity devolution presents for place-specific strategies and for devolved policy makers to coordinate activity between local creative MSMEs and UK-wide export support initiatives, such as those offered by UK Export Finance
• Embedding a combination of policies that target creative industries firms generally alongside policies that target individual creative specialisms, as the report finds not all challenges faced by creative MSMEs are sector specific, but some are.
• Boosting mentorship programmes that build management capacity and exporting knowledge among creative MSMEs, as the report finds creative exporters tend to be younger and smaller than exporters in the rest of the economy and so require additional support with managerial and administrative planning.  
• Improving the evidence base to understand barriers to finance, and especially whether new financial instruments might be developed to support creative exporters.
• Raising awareness of key export support programmes to further expand creative industries exports, as the report finds low awareness of key initiatives such as Global Export Facility among exporters.
• Stabilising international trade uncertainty through agreements and continue to set out clear public strategies such as the Sector Plan for the Creative Industries, as the report finds creative MSMEs are more likely to say that the current economic climate is a barrier more than other businesses in the economy.

More at the Creative PEC website.