London’s creative industries entertain, educate and inspire people all over the world. We are leading global exporters of film, TV, gaming, music, marketing, fashion and architecture[62].
London is particularly dominant in film and TV, rivalling Hollywood as a global production centre. London has strengths in creative sector technologies including virtual and post-production, immersive, adtech and ecommerce.
Why it matters
These sectors are productive, tradeable and growing[63]. They are also the heart of London’s soft power, reaching the hearts and minds of audiences globally with London’s creativity, diversity, heritage and values.
London will use all its levers to support these creative industries clusters to thrive – including planning, infrastructure, public land, placemaking, business support, inward investment, skills development and promotion.
Places for growth
- Secure the places to grow London’s creative industries: London has seen a boom in building major film and TV studios but smaller scale, affordable spaces are limited. See local places for more on this topic.
- Grow internationally significant creative industries clusters: London has well-established, globally significant clusters but must nurture these as well as developing clusters for the future.
Explore London’s current and future creative industries clusters on the map.
What we will do
To grow London’s priority sectors, we will:
- Grow the skilled workforce: This is the primary task, as all our priority sectors rely on human capital. The plan for this is in the inclusive talent strategy.
- Promote the sectors to win international investors and customers: We will promote London’s strengths in the key sectors and focus our inward investment activity on them. The plan for this is in investment and promotion.
- Dramatically increase investment into innovative companies: This is especially relevant for frontier innovation, but is also critical to grow technology companies. The plan for this is in investment and promotion.
- Support our growth sector businesses to scale internationally: Exporting is key to our ambition to grow global companies. The plan for this is in backing our businesses.
- Set a City Innovation Strategy: Use the power of London’s public sector to accelerate innovation through procurement, data and testing. The plan for this is in backing our businesses.
Learn more about the growth sectors
Frontier innovation
Discover London’s next superpower in life sciences, AI, green innovation and more.
Financial, professional and business
Learn how we will drive growth across finance, law, consulting, built environment, IT, cyber and more.
Experience economy
Uncover the importance of culture, hospitality, events and attractions to make London a brilliant place to visit, study and live.
International education
Explore how London’s international students feed our talent pipeline and why it’s a productive export sector for London.
Sources:
62. The creative industries contain a diverse range of sub-sectors with significant impact on London as a city. See full list at National Statistics on the Creative Industries – Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre.
63. Greater London Authority (2023), London’s Creative Industries – Sector deep dive.