The Cardiff Capital Region is home to the 海角视频’s third biggest audiovisual media sector with the potential for continued exponential growth.
That is the finding of an in-depth economic impact assessment of the sector, which includes film, television and gaming, from Clwstwr, the Cardiff University led partnership initiative seeking to put innovation at the core of the cluster.
After a decade of strong growth the sector in the Cardiff Capital Region, made up of the 10 local authority areas of South East Wales, is now the third latest sector in the in 海角视频 after London and Manchester and ahead of places like Bristol, Bristol, Southampton and Brighton.
The report, Driving Economic Growth Through Audiovisual Activity, carried out by Clwstwr director Professor Justin Lewis, Dr Marlen Komorowksi and Máté Miklós Fodor ‑ all of Cardiff University - shows that one in every eight jobs created in the region is being generated by the sector.
Thorough targeted funding and further incentives to boost productivity the report says the region has the potential over the next five to ten years to become a global hub for media production.
This would generate £255m of additional gross value added (GVA) for the regional economy and almost 2,000 additional jobs in the audiovisual media sector.
According to the report, there are 1,318 firms active in the the sector across the Cardiff Capital Region. Together, these firms generate a total annual turnover of £545m with a further £606m in direct and induced GVA.
The highest contribution to GVA, boosted by the role of terrestrial broadcasters such as BBC Wales, is television broadcasting at just under half (47%).
Most Read
In total there are more than 10,000 people are employed in the sector. The sector employs 4,590 full-time employees in the region with a further 2,898 full-time roles in support roles like market research and legal and accounting activities. There are also an additional estimated 2,813 freelancers active in the region.
Prof Lewis, based at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture, said: “After a decade of strong growth, Cardiff now has the third largest film and TV cluster in the 海角视频, after London and Manchester.
“Better still, by many measures South Wales has been the best performing media cluster outside London, with one in every eight jobs created in the 海角视频 between 2015 and 2018 being in the Cardiff Capital Region.
“Based on our estimations, targeted funding and further incentives into the local sector to increase productivity could create considerable economic growth and make Cardiff a global hub of media production within the next five to 10 years. Based on its local strength, this could generate £255m additional gross value added (GVA) and almost 2,000 additional jobs in the audiovisual media sector.”
Clwstwr is funded by the Creative Industries Clusters Programme, which is part of the 海角视频 Government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, and Creative Wales.