East Midlands Creative Industries Report

East Midlands Urban and Regional
Creative Industries Data Study
Final Report
March 2008

Contents
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................1
2 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................3
2.1 Methodology...................................................................................................................................4
2.2 Creative Industries Domains ..........................................................................................................6
3 LARGE URBAN DISTRICTS..........................................................................................7
4 OTHER URBAN DISTRICTS..........................................................................................9
5 LARGEST SECTORS BY EXPERIAN YP CATEGORIES...........................................10
5.1 Large Urban districts ....................................................................................................................11
5.2 Other Urban districts ....................................................................................................................12
6 PRODUCTION CHAIN FUNCTIONS............................................................................14
7 COMPANY SIZE...........................................................................................................16
7.1 Sole traders..................................................................................................................................18
8 CREATIVE INDUSTRIES GVA – URBAN DISTRICTS ...............................................20
8.1 Methodology.................................................................................................................................20
9 CREATIVE INDUSTRIES IN THE EAST MIDLANDS..................................................22
9.1 Summary......................................................................................................................................22
9.2 Local Authority Districts by Urban/Rural Class ............................................................................22
9.3 Regional Creative Industries Employment and Businesses ........................................................24
9.4 Domains .......................................................................................................................................26
9.5 Growth Rates ...............................................................................................................................30
9.6 Regional Creative Industries GVA ...............................................................................................33
10 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF CREATIVE INDUSTRIES ..............................34
11 FINAL OBSERVATIONS..............................................................................................37
APPENDIX 1: SUB-REGIONAL CREATIVE INDUSTRIES.......................................................39
APPENDIX 2: REGIONAL CREATIVE INDUSTRIES EMPLOYMENT, 2000 AND 2004 .........42
APPENDIX 3: DEFINITIONS......................................................................................................44
APPENDIX 4: WEIGHTINGS FOR URBAN DISTRICTS...........................................................45
East Midlands Urban Creative Industries Data Study i
BOP Consulting 2008

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East Midlands Urban Creative Industries Data Study 1
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ooks & Press sub-sector provided the largest number of creative industries
jobs.
ses in Other Urban districts increased from
industries employment increased from 15,500 to 16,700 during the same
again the largest creative industries sub-sector in terms of
Books & Press again provided the largest number of creative industries jobs.
1 Executive Summary
In 2005, there were 5,500 creative industries businesses in the urban districts of the East
Midlands. These businesses employed 33,900 people. (Urban districts are those local
authorities defined as ‘Large Urban’ or ‘Other Urban’ by DEFRA1
.)
The creative industries in urban districts of the East Midlands had mixed fortunes
between 2001 and 2005. There was a small increase in the number of creative industry
companies in Large Urban districts, but a decline in the overall level of employment. In
Other Urban districts, there was an increase in both jobs and businesses.
The main findings of this study are that:
Large Urban Districts
The number of creative industries businesses in Large Urban districts rose from
2,900 to 3,200 between 2001 and 2005.
Creative Industries employment fell from 18,400 to 17,200 during the same period.
Visual Arts & Design was the largest creative industries sub-sector in terms of
numbers of companies.
The B
Other Urban Districts
The number of creative industries busines
2,000 to 2,400 between 2001 and 2005.
Creative
period.
Visual Arts & Design was
numbers of businesses.
1
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Local Authority Districts And Unitary
Authorities in England, 2005

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Creativ I
idlands
s increased by
gion
ts a marginal increase in
ere more creative industries
The Visual Arts & Design sub-sector accounted for the most creative industries
businesses in the region in 2005 (6,300), followed by the Audio-visual sector (4,100),
the Books & Press sector (2,300) and the Performance sector (700).
Between 2001 and 2005, Visual Arts & Design grew by a greater degree than any
other sub-sector, in terms of both jobs and businesses. The Audio-visual sector also
grew across the region as a whole, but the Performance sector remained static, and
there was a small decline in the Books & Press sector.
e ndustries in the East Midlands
Collating the findings of this study of urban districts and those from the East M
Rural Creative Industries Study (completed in 2007) provides creative industries
statistics for the whole of the East Midlands region:
In 2005, 62,500 people were employed in creative industries throughout the East
Midlands
In 2005, there were 13,400 creative industries businesses in the region.
Between 2001 and 2005, creative industries jobs in the East Midland
8.1%.
Over the same period, the number of creative industries businesses in the re
grew by 19.0%.
In 2005, the creative industries accounted for around 3.4% of all employment in the
region, and around 8.3% of all businesses. (This represen
the creative industries’ share of the regional economy since 2001.)
In absolute terms, the numbers of creative industries jobs was higher in urban
districts2
than rural districts3
. However, there w
businesses in rural districts than in urban districts.
Overall, creative industries jobs and businesses grew by a greater degree in rural
districts than in urban districts, between 2001 and 2005.
Across the region, the Books & Press sub-sector provided the most jobs (23,500 in
2005), followed by the Audio-visual sector (20,300), the Visual Arts & Design sector
(16,400) and the Performance sector (2,300).
2
‘Large Urban’ and ‘Other Urban’ local authority districts
3
‘Significant Rural’, ‘Rural 50’ and ‘Rural 80’ local authority districts

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2 Introduction
The East Midlands Cultural Observatory, in partnership with EM Media and EMDA, has
commissioned BOP Consulting to conduct a mapping exercise of creative industries in
urban districts of the East Midlands. This work is designed to complement the study of
creative industries in rural districts in the region, undertaken by BOP for Culture East
Midlands in 2007.
This study has followed the classifications used by the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to distinguish between urban and rural local authority
districts4
. This places all local authorities in England into one of six groups based on the
patterns of settlement that characterise each district. The earlier report by BOP – East
Midlands Rural Creative Industries Study: Regional Report – looked at the 26 authorities
in the region which were classed in the ‘Significant Rural’, ‘Rural 50’ and ‘Rural 80’
categories. This study complements that report by adding statistics for the remaining 14
districts, all of which fall under two urban headings: ‘Large Urban’ and ‘Other Urban’.
The Large Urban districts are: Blaby, Broxtowe, Erewash, Gedling, Leicester City,
Nottingham, Oadby and Wigston.
The Other Urban districts are: Ashfield, Chesterfield, Corby, Derby City, Lincoln,
Mansfield and Northampton
These are indicated on Map 1 overleaf.
4
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (2005), Classification of Local Authority
Districts And Unitary Authorities in England, 2005.

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Map 1 – Large urban and other urban districts in the East Midlands
Source: BOP Consulting/Caliper Corporation/Collins Bartholomew
In this report, we first provide an analysis of creative industries employment and
businesses in Large Urban and Other Urban areas of the East Midlands. Drawing on our
earlier study of rural creative industries for Culture East Midlands, we then compare the
region’s urban and rural districts, and provide creative industries statistics for the region
as a whole.
2.1 Methodology
This study of urban districts of the East Midlands was carried out using a variation of the
DCMS Evidence Toolkit (DET). The DET was used to assess employment and business
numbers in creative industries, based on Annual Business Inquiry workplace analysis
data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), obtained from Nomis5
. The DET
defines the creative industries in terms of 43 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
codes (at 4-digit level). The problem is that some of these SIC codes (19 of them)
measure a combination of creative industries and non-creative industries activities. In
5
www.nomisweb.co.uk

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order to accurately calculate the size of the creative industries, it is necessary to devise
weightings to apply to these 19 codes.
To calculate the necessary weightings, we used a second data source – Experian’s
National Business Database (NBD). The NBD is a commercially licensed database
containing 4.2m records from a range of sources including Yellow Pages, Thomson and
Companies House. Business records are classified according to SIC codes, but also by
other classification frameworks that allow a more detailed, ‘finer-grained’ analysis. By
cross referring between these different classifications, it is possible to calculate the
proportion of creative and non-creative businesses represented by each SIC code in a
particular geographic area.
The NBD also includes employment data for each company listed, so that different
weightings can be calculated for a range of employment size bands. This also provides
an indication of the number of sole traders in each sector – information that cannot be
obtained from ABI.
Unlike the DET, we do not include Software Publishing (72.21) and Other Software
Consultancy and Supply (72.22) in full. The Experian NBD database divides these codes
into a number of sub-categories, and we did not include all of them when calculating
weightings to apply to ABI. For example, ‘Internet Web Design’ is included in our
weightings, and ‘Computer Software Sales’ is not. We also retain ‘Computer Software
Development’, on the grounds that this includes games, interactive leisure software and
educational software products (e.g. for schools). However, the category does also
include other forms of software development, such as the production of business
software packages, and so these are also included in our final data for the Audio Visual
sector. This was the approach used in our study of creative industries in rural districts of
the East Midlands, and we have used the same method here for consistency.
In summary, the data analysis for this study was carried out as follows:
1. Analysis of NBD data & calculation of Weightings
NBD data was obtained for all of the creative industries SIC codes specified in
the DET. Weightings for relevant SIC codes were calculated by comparing YP
classes for creative industries and non creative industries (BOP Consulting has
developed its own framework for carrying out this process). Different weightings
were generated for business numbers and for employment. NBD data was also
used to analyse sole traders in the workforce, and to generate maps of
employment and numbers of businesses.
2. Analysis of ONS ABI data (data units and employment)
ONS ABI workplace analysis data for all creative industries SIC codes was
obtained from Nomis for 2001 and 2005. Weightings were applied to relevant SIC
codes for businesses and employment, and the results aggregated into four
domains (see below). Results were produced for Large Urban districts and Other
Urban districts.
3. Analysis of GVA
Finally, we carried out an analysis of GVA figures for creative industries SIC
codes, obtained from the ABI team at ONS. However, this stage was more

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problematic, and the results are less reliable than those for employment and
number of businesses. See Section 8 for further details.
This approach was adopted on the grounds that it provides one of the most accurate
methods of mapping the creative industries that is currently available. It can also be
repeated as new ABI data is released each year, using the weightings calculated in step
1.
However, there is no perfect method of measuring creative industries, and it is necessary
to highlight some ‘health warnings’ about the data presented in the report.
First, the Experian NBD dataset is not a complete record of all relevant businesses in an
area. Some business records are suppressed if the companies have requested to be
removed from the NBD, as is their right under data protection laws (the data is more
commonly used for marketing). Levels of suppression are generally even across all
creative sub-sectors, and so there is little risk of distortion in weightings. Note also that
the Experian data used to calculate the weightings was issued in autumn 2007, but that
these weightings were used to calculate data for 2001 and 2005.
Second, the use of ONS ABI data means that sole traders and micro businesses are
under-represented in the analysis, although these comprise a large proportion of the
creative industries sector. The ABI is based on a survey of businesses which are
registered for PAYE or VAT. This excludes the smallest companies, with low revenues.
Third, ABI data is extrapolated from a national survey, and the margin of potential error
increases as the area of focus becomes narrower (e.g. in terms of geography or
industrial sub-sectors). It is most accurate at national and regional level, but becomes
less so when examining smaller geographic areas. We have tried to mitigate these
issues by aggregating the results of this urban study with those of the earlier rural study
in the second part of this report, to provide regional statistics.
For similar reasons, the DET does not measure the 13 sub-sectors identified in the
DCMS Creative Industries Mapping Documents, but divides the creative industries into
four broad ‘domains’ (see below).
2.2 Creative Industries Domains
The DET organises the creative industries into four broad sub-sectors, or ‘domains’:
Audio-visual, Books & Press, Performance and Visual Arts & Design. Many creative
industries sub-sectors are so small, that analysing data from individual 4-digit SIC codes
could be unreliable and inaccurate. Aggregating data into the domains allows us greater
confidence in our results.

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Each domain contains the following sectors:
Audio-visual (AV) Books & Press (BP)
TV & radio
Film & video
Photography
Advertising
Music
Interactive digital media
(games, web, mobile etc)
Computer software
Publishing (books,
magazines, newspapers)
Literature
Printing
Performance (P) Visual Art & Design (VA)
Theatre
Dance
Circus
Carnival
Puppetry
Design
Architecture
Fine arts
Crafts
Art & Antiques
Designer fashion
3 Large Urban Districts
This section provides an analysis of the numbers of creative industries businesses, and
employment levels, in Large Urban districts of the East Midlands. The Large Urban
districts are: Blaby, Broxtowe, Erewash, Gedling, Leicester City, Nottingham, Oadby and
Wigston.
Creative Industries Businesses
In 2005, there were 3,200 creative industries companies in the Large Urban districts of
the East Midlands. These represented around 8.7% of all business units in these
districts.
The number of creative industries businesses in Large Urban districts increased from
2,900 to 3,2006
between 2001 and 2005 – an increase of 10%. However, as Figure 1
below shows, this rise was driven by one domain: Visual Arts & Design. A 42% increase
in the number of Visual Arts & Design companies more than offset small declines in the
other three domains.
The number of businesses in the Audio-visual domain fell by 2%, in Books & Press by
6% and in Performance by 7%.
Visual Arts & Design firms are now the most numerous, having overtaken Audio-visual
businesses. In 2005, Visual Arts & Design firms accounted for 39% of creative industries
business units in Large Urban districts, Audiovisual businesses for 35%, Books & Press
businesses for 21%, and Performance businesses for 5%.
6
Figures are rounded to the nearest 100

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Figure 1
Creative industries businesses - Large Urban
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
AV BP P VA
No.ofdataunits
2001
2005
Source: BOP Consulting/ONS ABI
Creative Industries Employment
In 2005, there were 17,200 people employed in the creative industries in Large Urban
districts of the East Midlands. This represented 3.3% of all jobs in these districts.
The Books & Press sector was the largest employer, accounting for 43% of all creative
industries jobs. The Audio-visual sector provided 33% of creative industries jobs, Visual
Arts & Design 21% and Performance 3%.
Between 2001 and 2005, the number of people employed in the creative industries in
Large Urban districts declined by 7% – from 18,400 to 17,200. The largest decline took
place in the Books & Press sector, in which jobs fell by 14%. Jobs in the Audio-visual
sector also fell, by 9%, and in the Performance sector by 11%. The only sector to buck
the trend was Visual Arts & Design, in which jobs grew by 17%.
Figure 2
Creative industries employment - Large Urban
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
AV BP P VA
Employment
2001
2005

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4 Other Urban Districts
This section provides an analysis of the numbers of creative industries businesses, and
employment levels, in ‘Other Urban’ districts of the East Midlands. The Other Urban
districts are: Ashfield, Chesterfield, Corby, Derby City, Lincoln, Mansfield and
Northampton.
Creative Industries Businesses
In 2005, there were 2,400 creative industries businesses in the ‘Other Urban’ districts of
the East Midlands. This represented 7.9% of all business units in these districts.
Visual Arts & Design was the largest domain in 2005. It accounted for 45% of all creative
industries business units. 31% of creative industries businesses were in the Audio-visual
sector, 19% in the Books & Press sector and 5% in the Performance sector.
Overall, the number of creative industries businesses in Other Urban areas grew by 19%
between 2001 and 2005 – from 2,000 to 2,400. During this period, the number of Visual
Arts & Design firms increased by 53%, and the sector replaced Audio-visual as the
domain with the most business units. The Audio-visual sector also grew – by a more
modest 3% – but the number of businesses in the Books & Press and Performance
sectors declined slightly, by 4% and 1% respectively.
Figure 3
Creative Industries businesses - Other Urban
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
AV BP P VA
No.ofdataunits
2001
2005
Creative Industries Employment
In 2005, 16,700 people were employed in the creative industries in Other Urban districts
of the East Midlands, representing 3.7% of all jobs.

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Books & Press was the largest sector in terms of employment, providing 45% of creative
industries jobs. The Audio-visual sector accounted for 31% of jobs, Visual Arts & Design
for 20% and Performance for 4%.
Overall, creative industries employment grew by 8% between 2001 and 2005 in Other
Urban districts – from 15,500 to 16,700. But growth was not uniform across all sectors.
The number of Visual Arts & Design jobs increased significantly – by 44% – and Audio-
visual jobs increased by 8%. However, Books & Press jobs declined by 2%, and
Performance jobs by 7%.
Figure 4
Creative Industries Employment - Other Urban
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
AV BP P VA
Employment
2001
2005
5 Largest Sectors by Experian YP Categories
In this study, we have used the Experian National Business Database (NBD) principally
in order to calculate weightings to apply to our primary analysis of Annual Business
Inquiry (ABI) data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, the Experian
data can also be used in its own right to carry out a secondary analysis of the largest
creative industries sectors.
In addition to defining companies by SIC code, the NBD also uses a number of other
classification systems, including Yellow Pages (YP) categories. This is what allows us to
analyse the proportion of creative industries companies to non-creative companies under
each SIC code, and thus develop weightings to apply to ONS data. But the NBD data
also allows us to calculate the total employment in each YP category, and therefore
produced a more detailed breakdown of the types of creative companies that employ the
most people in Large Urban and Other Urban districts.

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5.1 Large Urban districts
Table 1 below shows the creative industries YP categories in which 300 or more people
in total are employed in Large Urban districts7
. It shows that companies in the printing
and publishing sector account for the highest levels of employment, and in particular
those involved in general printing and lithography, and in newspaper and magazine
publishing. This reflects our analysis of ABI (see section 3 above), in which the Books &
Press domain was the largest employer.
Companies in the audiovisual sector are also responsible for a large number of jobs,
again mirroring our analysis of ABI, in which this domain was the second largest
employer. However, the Experian data shows us that the YP categories that account for
the highest levels of employment in this sector are computer software development and
computer consultancy. While these activities are regarded as creative industries by the
DCMS, they are not generally regarded as ‘creative’ in the same way that TV of film
production would be.
Firms that the DET would place in the Visual Arts & Design domain account for
significantly fewer jobs than printing, publishing or audiovisual companies. This is likely
to be a reflection of the smaller average size of these types of firms. Nevertheless,
design consultants and architects still employ more than 1,100 people in Large Urban
areas.
Only one YP category in the performance sector accounts for more than 300 jobs, and
that relates to venues: theatres and concert halls.
7
Please note that this does not represent the full Experian dataset, only those YP categories
which employ 300 people or more. The results in Table 1 are rounded to the nearest 10.

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Table 1
Source:
Experian
NBD, Nov 07
Yellow Pages Category
Overall number
of employees
Printers & Lithographers 3740
Newspapers & Magazines 2010
Computer Software Development 1600
Computer Consultancy 1030
Broadcasting Services 630
Design Consultants 570
Booksellers 570
Label Printers 560
Architects 550
Publishers & Publications 550
Photographic Goods Retailers 510
Designers-Advertising & Graphic 430
Cinemas 390
Internet Web Design 390
Designers-Textile 380
Marketing & Advertising Consultants 370
Screen Printers 360
Print Finishers 350
Theatres & Concert Halls 320
TV, Film & Video Production Services 310
Advertising Agencies 300
5.2 Other Urban districts
A similar analysis of Experian YP categories for Other Urban districts also shows that
printing and publishing accounts for the highest levels of employment. Again, this reflects
the findings of our analysis of ABI (see Section 4).
As in Large Urban districts, the YP categories responsible for the most jobs in the
audiovisual domain were computer software development and computer consultancy.
However, marketing and advertising consultants also accounted for nearly 1,000 jobs –
more than in Large Urban districts.
There were fewer architecture and design jobs than in Large Urban districts, but more
people were employed in theatres and concert halls (which was again the only YP
category in the performance domain to provide more than 300 jobs).

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Table 2
Yellow Pages Category
Overall
number of
employees
Printers & Lithographers 3400
Newspapers & Magazines 1830
Computer Software Development 1300
Computer Consultancy 1060
Marketing & Advertising Consultants 960
Publishers & Publications 640
Cinemas 490
Booksellers 470
Theatres & Concert Halls 410
Architects 390
Internet Web Design 370
Designers-Advertising & Graphic 340
Source: Experian NBD, Nov 07
Analysing Experian’s YP categories in this way is informative, as it provides a more
detailed picture of the types of companies found in each creative industries domain. It
also provides a means of double-checking the main findings of the ABI analysis in
Sections 3 and 4 (although since weightings for the ABI analysis were derived from
Experian data, we would expect the findings to correspond).
However, the statistics presented above only provide an indication of the number of
people employed in each category. Experian’s NBD generally includes most creative
businesses in a given area, and can be regarded as an accurate reflection of the relative
sizes of different sectors. However, it does not contain every business. The NBD is a
commercially available database, which is often used for marketing. Consequently, some
business request that their details are removed for reasons of confidentiality. Other
creative practitioners (e.g. individual visual artists) are under-represented on the
database, because they are not listed in business directories. Furthermore, the
categorisation of companies is not always consistent across different geographical areas.

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6 Production Chain Functions
An analysis by ‘function’ within the production chain suggests that the majority of creative
firms (75%) in urban areas of the East Midlands are involved in the ‘Creation’ and
‘Making’ stages of production. This is based on the DCMS DET methodology, which
assigns a production function to each of the SIC classifications included in its definition of
creative industries: Creation, Making, Dissemination, Exhibition/Reception,
Education/Understanding and Archiving/Preservation. Inevitably this is an approximate
measure, as individual businesses may undertake several functions within the production
chain. Our analysis of functions uses the DET definitions, but is based on Experian data.
The distinction between Making and Creation is a fine one, and there is a degree of
overlap between the two. ‘Making’ covers two types of business:
those responsible for the tools or the means of reproduction which aid an act of
creation, such as printers or bookbinders’ suppliers;
those involved in realising a creative product without necessarily initiating it – many
radio and TV activities, for instance.
‘Creation’ has a narrower definition, encompassing those firms which initiate creative
products or generate intellectual property in the course of their activity. It includes
obvious groups such as artists, musicians and authors, but also embraces categories like
internet consultancy and art and antiques valuers.
Dissemination largely covers the retail of creative industries goods, while exhibition
refers to venues, including cinemas, which show creative works. Education includes
specialist establishments such as private dance or drama schools, but not teachers of
creative subjects in the state education sector.
Figure 5 below shows the proportion of creative businesses that are primarily involved in
each function. The largest proportion are involved in ‘Creation’ – 42%. ‘Making’ accounts
for 33%, ‘Dissemination’ for 15%, ‘Exhibition’ for 6% and Education for 4%. (In rural
districts, this pattern was broadly similar, with 44% of businesses mainly involved in
‘Creation’, and 29% in ‘Making’.)
In terms of employment (rather than businesses), the positions of Creation and Making
are reversed, with Making accounting for 53% and Creation for 30% of creative jobs.

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Figure 5 – Creative industries businesses by function – Large Urban and Other Urban
districts, East Midlands
Creation, 42%
Making, 33%
Dissemination, 15%
Exhibition, 6%
Education, 4%
Creation
Making
Dissemination
Exhibition
Education
Source: BOP/Experian
It is worth noting that in many creative sectors, it is in the dissemination/distribution and
exhibition stages of the production chain that the greatest value is often realised. In the
computer games sector, for example, it is the companies that own the publishing rights
that are the most powerful and profitable, rather than the production studios that create
the games. A similar dynamic is at play in the film and music industries.
It is also true that, in a sector as fragmented and complex as the creative industries, it is
not always possible to identify a clear, linear production chain. In any such analysis,
questions must always be asked about where ‘creative’ activities end and more generic
functions begin. The DET method used above represents just one attempt to understand
how the sector is structured, but a number of alternative models have also been
proposed. For example, BOP Consulting (with Pembridge Partners LLP) have developed
a model that positions each of the creative sectors in relation to one of four market
segments, based on business models and the types of products offered: ‘creative
services’, ‘creative content’, ‘creative experiences’ and ‘creative originals’8
. More
recently, Frontier Economics has developed a supply-chain model based on 5 layers,
with core creation and functions to support this activity at the centre, and the indirectly
8
See NESTA (2006), Creating Growth: How the UK Can Develop World-Class Creative
Industries, p55

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esses in Large Urban and Other Urban areas
employed 200 people or more
r Urban
areas that employed more than 50 people than in Large Urban areas.
f
s
in
.
e
and sole trading, much of which is not visible in the data analysed here
related – but least creative – activities on the periphery, such as the manufacture and
retail of games consoles and DVD players9
.
7 Company Size
The majority of creative industry businesses in urban districts are small. As Figure 6
below illustrates:
around 90% of creative businesses in Large Urban and Other Urban areas employed
between 1 and 10 people in 2005
around 8% of creative businesses in Large Urban and Other Urban areas employed
between 11 and 49 people
less than 2% of creative businesses in Large Urban and Other Urban areas
employed between 50 and 199 people
less than 0.5% of creative busin
there was a marginally higher proportion of creative businesses in Othe
It should be noted that this pattern of small and large companies – with a large number o
very small companies and a small number of very large companies – is not exclusive to
creative industries. Many other industrial sectors also exhibit similar profiles, particularly
in largely service-based industries. (For example, more than 75% of catering businesse
in the East Midlands in 2005 employed 10 people or fewer, while only 0.1% employed
200 or more10
.) However, the degree to which small companies predominate is high in
the creative industries, even when compared to other industrial sectors. This becomes
particularly apparent when you consider that of the 43 four-digit SIC codes included
the DET definition of creative industries, only three SIC codes included companies
employing 200 or more people in Large Urban areas of the East Midlands in 2005
(These were: 22.12 – Publishing of newspapers; 22.22 – Printing not elsewhere
classified; and 72.22 – Other software consultancy and supply.) In the majority of
creative industries SIC categories, there are no companies that employ 50 or mor
people. Furthermore, ‘core’ creative activities are characterised by high levels of
freelance working
(see 7.1 below).
9
DCMS (2007), The Creative Economy Programme, A Summary of Projects Commissioned in
2006/07: Evidence and Analysis Unit
10
Based on ABI workplace analysis for 3-digit SIC codes: 553 (Restaurants), 554 (Bars) & 555
(Canteens & Catering)

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Figure 6 – Businesses and employment by size band: share of all creative industries
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
100.0%
Businesses (LU) Employment
(LU)
Businesses
(OU)
Employment
(OU)
1-10 employees
11-49 employees
50-199 employees
200+ employees
Source: BOP/ONS ABI
Size Band
LU = Large Urban
OU = Other Urban
Although few in number, larger companies do account for a significant share of all
creative industries jobs:
In Large Urban areas, companies in the ‘50-199’ size band accounted for 20% of
creative industries jobs in 2005, and companies in the ‘200+’ size band accounted
for 12% of creative jobs
In Other Urban areas, companies in the ‘50-199’ size band accounted for 22% of
creative industries jobs, and companies in the ‘200+’ size band also accounted for
22% of creative jobs
In Large Urban areas, companies in the ‘1-10’ size band accounted for 38% of
creative industries jobs, and companies in the ‘11-49’ size band accounted for 30%
of creative jobs
In Other Urban areas, companies in the ‘1-10’ size band accounted for 30% of
creative industries jobs, and companies in the ‘11-49’ size band accounted for 27%
of creative jobs
r
anies favour central
locations – although this cannot be proven by this data analysis.
Larger companies are therefore responsible for a higher share of creative industries
employment in Other Urban areas than in Large Urban areas. (Conversely, smaller
companies provide a higher proportion of creative jobs in Large Urban areas than in
Other Urban areas.) It is possible that larger firms which require larger premises – e.g.
printing companies – are more likely to be located in non-city-centre locations, with lowe
costs and better transport links, while smaller (often service) comp

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to realise that the creative industries are structured in such a way that only a
e
l
s, in which relatively large
ed in roles that support the core creative activity, such
and services companies, which are defined as
BBC.
the East Midlands, most large employers are in the printing, publishing and computer
software & services sectors.
Compa
ority of companies are micro businesses, while less than 1%
employ more than 200 people. However, there was a greater proportion of larger
grea
ut in
only 4.5% of companies had more than 10 employees.
In urban districts, 37% of creative jobs were in companies with 50 or more
employees, while in rural districts only 27% of creative jobs were in such large
companies.
7.1
reative industries
traders
It is also clear that a small number of companies in a limited number of SIC categories
account for a disproportionately high share of creative industries employment. It is
important
limited number of types of company that are likely to become large employers. Thes
inc ude:
Large printing companies, which are involved in more industrial manufacturing
activity than most creative companies.
Publishing, particularly of newspapers and magazine
numbers of people are employ
as advertising sales, distribution and subscriptions.
Computer games companies.
Other types of computer software
creative industries by the DCMS.
Broadcasters, such as the
In
rison with Rural Areas
Patterns of company size are broadly similar in urban and rural districts of the East
Midlands: the vast maj
companies in urban districts than in rural districts in 2005, and these accounted for a
ter share of jobs.
In urban districts, the average number of people employed by creative companies in
2005 was 6, while in rural districts the average number of employees was less than
4.
In urban districts, 10% of creative businesses employed more than 10 people, b
rural districts
Sole traders
Sole traders and freelancers make up a significant proportion of the c
sector. However, measuring the number of people in this group is not straightforward,
and the data sources used for this study do not adequately measure such workers. ABI
data excludes most sole traders (those that are not VAT-registered)
Experian data can give us some insights into the number of sole traders in the creative
industries in urban districts of the East Midlands. According to Experian, sole

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s in
make up 29% of creative businesses in Large Urban districts and 33% of those in Other
Urban districts. However, sole traders account for just 3% of creative industries job
Large Urban districts and 4% in Other Urban districts. (See Figure 7 below.)
Figure 7: Sole traders as share of all creative industries businesses and employment
0.0%
Large Urban Other Urban
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
Share of businesses
Share of employment
Source: BOP/Experian
However, while Experian data does include sole traders, there are several reasons why it
may not capture all freelance workers in creative sectors. Experian’s data is taken from
business directories such as Yellow Pages and Thomson, and many creative workers
are not listed in such directories – either because creative work is not their main source
of income, or because they tend to find work through industry networks and specialist
directories, rather than general business listings. For example, film production relies on
rge number of freelance workers, from actors to technicians, but most are not listed in
the Yellow Pages. The actual number of freelance workers and sole traders is therefore
likely to be higher than the Experian data suggests.
la

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8 Creative Industries GVA – Urban Districts
Gross value added (GVA) represents the amount that individual businesses, industries or
sectors contribute to the economy. Broadly, this is measured by the income generated by
the business, industry or sector less their intermediate consumption of goods and
services used up in order to produce their output. GVA consists of labour costs (e.g.
wages and salaries) and an operating surplus (or loss). The latter is a good
approximation to profits. The cost of capital investment, financial charges and dividends
to shareholders are met from the operating surplus.
Calculating GVA for the creative industries is more problematic than calculating the
number of employees or businesses. Consequently, the statistics in this section are less
robust than the other data presented in this report, and should be regarded as indicative
only.
Bearing this in mind, we estimate that the average GVA per employee in the creative
industries in Large Urban and Other Urban districts of the East Midlands was £39,700 in
2004. Analysis of the four creative domains shows that Books & Press had the highest
GVA, followed by Audio-visual, Visual Arts & Design and Performance.
Average GVA per employee was higher in Large Urban districts in 2004 (at £41,400)
than in Other Urban districts (where GVA was £38,000).
The creative industries GVA figures for 2004 appear to compare well with the regional
GVA per workforce job across all industries, which was £33,100 in the same year11
, and
GVA per workforce job in the Services sector, which was £31,900. However, this is not a
direct comparision. The regional GVA per workforce job statistics have been calculated
using standard methods, which are more sophisticated than the method of estimating
creative industries GVA from ONS ABI data used in this study. Data collected and
published through the ONS ABI are used to produce an approximate estimate of GVA at
basic prices. This measure is approximate because it does not allow fully for certain
types of National Accounts concepts/issues such as taxes, subsidies or income earned-
in-kind, which are taken into account in the regional GVA figures calculated using
standard methods.
See Section 9.6 for a comparison of urban and rural creative industries GVA.
8.1 Methodology
We based our calculations on custom data ordered from the ABI team at the ONS, who
supplied GVA figures for the creative industries SIC codes for Large Urban districts
(combined as one dataset) and Other Urban districts (combined as one dataset). Data
was requested for 2004 rather than 2005, to allow comparison with the East Midlands
11
DTI/National Statistics (2007), Regional Competitiveness and the State of the Regions.

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Rural Creative Industries study12
. However, GVA data is commercially sensitive, and
ONS suppresses GVA statistics for selected SIC codes if there is any chance of
identifying the performance of individual companies from the data. There were therefore
some gaps in the dataset, and these were not consistent for the Large Urban and Other
Urban classes of district.
The second challenge was that it is not possible to generate a specific set of weightings
for GVA derived from Experian NBD data, as it is for employment and businesses.
Consequently, it was necessary to use the weightings for employment to produce an
estimate of GVA. Furthermore, the GVA data was not separated into company size
bands (unlike ABI data for employment and businesses) in order to minimise the level of
data suppression. It was therefore necessary to generate a simplified set of employment
weightings, with no size bands.
Total GVA figures were calculated for the creative industries sector in Other Urban and
Large Urban districts. Total creative industries employment figures were then calculated
for 2004. The GVA figures were divided by total employment to produce an estimate of
GVA per employee.
Note that we have not provided an estimate of the % change in creative industries GVA
between 2000 and 2004, as it was not possible to adjust our figures for inflation.
12
Note that 2004 GVA data was analysed rather than 2005 to enable comparisons with the East
Midlands Rural Creative Industries study. When the rural study was carried out, 2005 GVA data
was not available.

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nal increase in
more creative industries
ural districts
00), the Visual Arts & Design sector
l sector (4,100),
r in
io-visual sector also grew across the
region as a whole, but the Performance sector remained static, and there was a
small decline in the Books & Press sector.
9.2
rding
lasses are
9 Creative Industries in the East Midlands
9.1 Summary
Collating the findings of this study of urban districts and those of the East Midlands Rural
Creative Industries Study (completed in 2007) provides creative industries statistics for
the whole of the East Midlands region. In summary:
In 2005, 62,500 people were employed in creative industries throughout the East
Midlands
In 2005, there were 13,400 creative industries businesses in the region.
Between 2001 and 2005, creative industries jobs in the East Midlands increased by
8.1%.
Over the same period, the number of creative industries businesses in the region
grew by 19.0%.
In 2005, the creative industries accounted for around 3.4% of all employment in the
region, and around 8.3% of all businesses. (This represents a margi
the creative industries’ share of the regional economy since 2001.)
In absolute terms, the numbers of creative industries jobs was higher in urban
districts13
than rural districts14
. However, there were
businesses in rural districts than in urban districts.
Overall, creative industries jobs and businesses grew at a faster rate in r
than in urban districts, between 2001 and 2005.
Across the region, the Books & Press sub-sector provided the most jobs (23,500 in
2005), followed by the Audio-visual sector (20,3
(16,400) and the Performance sector (2,300).
The Visual Arts & Design sub-sector accounted for the most creative industries
businesses in the region in 2005 (6,300), followed by the Audio-visua
the Books & Press sector (2,300) and the Performance sector (700).
Between 2001 and 2005, Visual Arts & Design was the fastest growing sub-secto
terms of both jobs and businesses. The Aud
Local Authority Districts by Urban/Rural Class
Figure 9 below shows local authority districts in the East Midlands categorised acco
to DEFRA’s Local Authority Districts And Unitary Authorities in England (2005), which
provides an urban/rural classification for analysis at district level. Five c
13
‘Large Urban’ and ‘Other Urban’ local authority districts
14
‘Significant Rural’, ‘Rural 50’ and ‘Rural 80’ local authority districts

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uralpresent in the region: Large Urban, Other Urban, Significant Rural, Rural 50 and R
80. (A sixth class – Major Urban – is not found in the East Midlands.)
Figure 9: Local authority districts in the East Midlands by DEFRA Urban/Rural class
on of
a di pes of settlement:
Source: BOP Consulting/Caliper Corporation/Collins Bartholomew
The urban/rural classes are defined according to population density and the proporti
strict’s population living in different ty
Large Urban. A minimum of 50,000 people, or 50% of the district’s population,
resident within a major urban area.

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of
idered to be ‘larger market towns’.)
Rural 80. At least 80% of the district’s population in rural settlements and larger
market towns.
9.3 Regional Creative Industries Employment and
esses
Emplo
Combining the findings of this study with those of the East Midlands Rural Creative
the 14 urban districts of the region.
Together, the Large Urban and Other Urban districts accounted for 54% of regional
workforce is largest in Other Urban districts, and smallest in Rural 80 districts
– but the degree of variation between each class is relatively small. In the East Midlands
as a whole, creative industries accounted for 3.2% of all employment (see Table 3
below).
Other Urban. Fewer than 37,000 people or less than 26% of the district’s population
in rural settlements or larger market towns.
Significant Rural. More than 37,000 people, or more than 26% but less than 50%
the district’s population, in rural settlements or larger market towns.
Rural 50. At least 50% but less than 80% of the district’s population in rural
settlements or larger market towns. (Urban areas with population between 10,000
and 30,000 cons
Busin
yment
Industries Study completed in 2007 reveals that 62,500 people were employed in the
creative industries in the East Midlands in 2005.
The majority of creative industries jobs were based in
creative industries employment. Indeed, the more urban the class of district, the larger
the creative industries workforce in absolute terms.
This is partly related to the size of the overall workforce in each class of district. As a
share of all employment in each class of district, the relative size of the creative
industries

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Figure 10: Creative industries employment in the East Midlands, by urban/rural
district class, 2005
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
20,000
Large urban Other urban Significant rural Rural 50 Rural 80
Source: BOP Consulting/ONS ABI (2005)
Table 3: Creative Industries Employment in the East Midlands (2005)
Creative industries
employment
Share of all employment in
class of district
Share of regional
creative industries
employment
Large Urban 17,200 3.3% 27.5%
Other Urban 16,700 3.7% 26.8%
Significant Rural 10,400 3.1% 16.6%
Rural 50 9,800 2.9% 15.7%
Rural 80 8,400 2.6% 13.4%
Total East Midlands 62,500 3.2%
Source: ABI (2005)
Businesses
In 2005, there were 13,400 creative industries businesses in the East Midlands.
The majority of creative industries businesses were based in the rural districts of the
region – 59% of the total stock of creative businesses were in the Significant Rural, Rural
50 and Rural 80 districts. However, the average size of each business was larger in the
urban districts. Creative businesses in Large Urban and Other Urban areas employed 6
people, on average, while those in Significant Rural, Rural 50 and Rural 80 districts
employed less than 4. (This explains why more than half of the creative workforce was
based in the most urban areas, even though these contained only 41% of the
businesses.)

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As a share of all firms in each class of district, the relative size of the stock of creative
industries businesses was largest in Large Urban and Rural 50 districts – but again the
degree of variation between each class of district was small (less than 1%).
Figure 11: Creative Industries businesses in the East Midlands, by urban/rural
district class (2005)
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
Large urban Other urban Significant rural Rural 50 Rural 80
Table 4: Creative Industries Businesses in the East Midlands (2005)
Creative Industries
Businesses
Share of all Businesses in
class of district
Share of regional
stock of creative
industries businesses
Large Urban 3,200 8.7% 23.6%
Other Urban 2,400 7.9% 17.8%
Significant Rural 2,300 8.2% 16.8%
Rural 50 2,800 8.6% 20.9%
Rural 80 2,800 8.2% 20.9%
Total East Midlands 13,400 8.3%
Source: ABI (2005)
9.4 Domains
Employment
In terms of employment, the largest creative industries domain in the East Midlands in
2005 was the Books & Press sector. This provided 23,500 jobs across the region, or
33% of all creative industries employment. By definition, Books & Press includes a high
proportion of the kinds of companies that tend to have larger workforces (such as printing

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companies and newspaper offices), and this helps to explain the sector’s relatively large
size. However, the number of jobs in this sector is declining, reflecting national trends.
20,300 people were employed in the Audio-visual sector in the East Midlands in 2005 – a
third of the total creative industries workforce. (A large proportion of whom were
employed in the computer software and consultancy sector.)
The third-largest domain, Visual Arts & Design, employed 16,400 people – around a
quarter of regional creative industries jobs.
2,300 people were employed in the Performance domain – by far the smallest sector,
with around 4% of creative industries jobs15. (Because of the way the DET defines the
creative industries domains, Performance is much smaller than the other domains in all
regions.)
Figure 12: Creative industries employment in the East Midlands by domain, 2005
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
Audio-visual Books & Press Performance Visual Arts & Design
Businesses
In terms of the number of businesses, the largest creative industries domain in the East
Midlands was Visual Arts & Design. There were 6,300 businesses in this sector in 2005 –
almost half (47%) of the total stock of creative businesses in the region. A particularly
high proportion of businesses in this sector are very small, which explains the abundance
of firms relative to employment.
15
This domain is small in all regions, as by definition it only includes a small number of relatively
small industrial sectors – and excludes the music industry, which is instead counted as part of the
Audio-visual domain.

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In contrast, the Books & Press domain accounts for only 17% of creative industries
companies (2,300 business units), despite providing a third of the jobs, because the
average size of each company is larger.
There were also 4,100 companies in the Audio-visual domain (30% of the regional stock
of creative businesses) and 700 companies in the Performance sector (5% of
businesses).
Figure 13: Creative industries businesses in the East Midlands by domain, 2005
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
Audio-visual Books & Press Performance Visual Arts & Design
Creative Industries Domains by Urban/Rural District Class
The relative size of each domain was not consistent for every urban/rural district class,
particularly in terms of employment. Figure 14 below shows the employment breakdown
by domain for each of the five classes of district in the East Midlands. It shows us that
there were more jobs in all domains in Large Urban and Other Urban districts, and also
that the Books & Press sector was responsible for a larger share of employment in urban
than in rural districts.

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Figure 14: Creative industries employment by domain and urban/rural district class (2005)
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
Large Urban Other Urban Significant
Rural
Rural 50 Rural 80
Audio-visual
Books & Press
Performance
Visual Arts & Design
Looking now at the number of businesses, Figure 15 below shows that the domains are
ranked in the same order in each class of district – with the largest number of businesses
in Visual Arts & Design, followed by Audio-visual, then Books & Press and finally
Performance. However, the number of Visual Arts & Design businesses was significantly
higher in Rural 50 and Rural 80 districts – both in absolute terms and relative to the other
domains.

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Figure 15: Creative industries businesses by domain and urban/rural district class (2005)
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
Large Urban Other Urban Significant
Rural
Rural 50 Rural 80
Audio-visual
Books & Press
Performance
Visual Arts & Design
9.5 Growth Rates
Between 2001 and 2005, creative industries employment in the East Midlands region
grew by 8.1%, from 57,800 to 62,500. During the same period, the number of creative
industries businesses increased by 19%, from 11,200 to 13,400.
Creative industries grew at a higher rate than the economy as a whole in the region.
Between 2001 and 2005, overall employment in the region grew by 5.4% and the overall
number of business units grew by 8.7%16
.
The number of creative industries businesses grew at a higher rate than the number of
jobs – indicating that the average number of employees per creative business declined
(from 5.2 to 4.7 employees). This is a trend that we have observed in similar studies of
other regions. Further research would be required to explain this trend in detail, but in
broad terms it appears to indicate that growth is being driven by an increase in the
number of small companies (such as design studios) more than by significant
employment growth in existing firms. At the same time, certain types of larger company
(such as printing firms) are declining in size.
16
ABI workplace analysis (2001 and 2005)

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Growth by urban/rural class
Growth in the creative industries was uneven across the region. As Figure 16 below
illustrates, the number of creative industries businesses increased in every urban/rural
district class between 2001 and 2005 – but grew at a higher rate in Significant Rural and
Rural 50 districts.
Change in employment levels was even more uneven across the region. Although more
people were employed in the creative industries in Large Urban districts than in any other
type of district, the number of jobs declined between 2001 and 2005. By contrast,
creative jobs in Significant Rural and Rural 50 districts increased by around 25%. In
Rural 80 and Other Urban districts, the number of creative industries jobs increased at
around the same rate as for the region as a whole.
Figure 16: Creative industries growth by urban/rural district class, 2001-2005
-10%
-5%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Large urban Other urban Significant
rural
Rural 50 Rural 80 East
Midlands
Employment growth, 2001-2005 (%) Growth in businesses, 2001-2005 (%)
Growth by Domain
Creative industries growth in the region as a whole was also uneven across the domains
and sub-sectors. As Figure 17 below shows, Visual Arts & Design jobs grew at the
highest rate, increasing by 31% between 2001 and 2005. Audio-visual jobs also
increased by a healthy 11%, but the number of Performance jobs was static, and Books
& Press employment declined by 5% (but remained the largest employer in absolute
terms).
Growth in the number of businesses also varied across the domains. Visual Arts &
Design businesses again showed the highest growth, increasing by a very high 45%

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between 2001 and 2005 (see Figure 18 below). Over the same period the number of
Audio-visual firms increased modestly, by 4%, while the number of Books & Press and
Performance firms remained essentially static.
Figure 17: Creative industries employment by domain in the East Midlands, 2001-2005
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
Audio-visual Books & Press Performance Visual Arts &
Design
2001
2005
Figure 18: Creative industries businesses by domain in the East Midlands, 2001-2005
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
Audio-visual Books & Press Performance Visual Arts &
Design
2001
2005

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9.6 Regional Creative Industries GVA
As outlined in Section 8 above, calculating creative industries GVA is more problematic
than calculating the number of employees or businesses. The statistics in this section
should therefore be regarded as indicative only, as they are less robust than the other
findings presented in the report. They are also not comparable with regional GVA
statistics calculated using standard measures.
Taking these caveats into account, we estimate that, in 2004, the average GVA per
employee in the creative industries in the East Midlands was £33,800.
The domain with the highest regional GVA in 2004 was Books & Press, followed by the
Audio-visual sector, Visual Arts & Design and then Performance (with GVA per employee
of less than half the overall average for creative industries).
As Figure 20 below shows, GVA per employee was higher in the more urban districts
than in the rural districts in 2004. In Large Urban and Other Urban districts, the average
GVA per employee was £39,700, compared to £26,300 in the rural district classes17
.
These figures suggest that a greater proportion of the most productive, high-value
companies are based in larger towns and cities than in rural districts. However, the
relative growth of creative industries GVA per employee was higher in rural districts than
in urban districts between 2000 and 2004.
Figure 20: Average GVA per employee, East Midlands creative industries (2004)
£0
£5,000
£10,000
£15,000
£20,000
£25,000
£30,000
£35,000
£40,000
£45,000
Large Urban Other Urban Significant Rural Rural 50 Rural 80
AverageGVAperemployee(2004)
Source: BOP Consulting, based on ONS ABI data for GVA (2004)
Please note that the above GVA figures are not based on complete datasets, and as
such should be regarded as estimates. To ensure confidentiality, ONS suppresses
17
Note that this is a revised figure for rural GVA, which supersedes the estimate provided in the
East Midlands Rural Creative Industries report.

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selected GVA data if there is a possibility of identifying individual companies. The data
used to calculate GVA for rural districts was subject to a greater degree of suppression
than that used to calculate GVA in urban districts, and this may have exaggerated the
disparity between urban and rural districts. See Section 8 above for a description of the
methodology used to estimate GVA figures.
10 Geographical Distribution of Creative
Industries
Figure 21 below shows levels of creative industries employment in each district of the
East Midlands. It shows that the highest overall levels of creative industries employment
are found in the main cities and towns: Nottingham, Leicester, Derby and also
Northampton. While it may not be surprising that there are more creative industries jobs
in the main cities of the region, not all of these are the most ‘urban’ areas. Both Derby
and Northampton are classed as ‘Other Urban’ districts – while by comparison, Large
Urban districts such as Erewash, Broxtowe, Gedling, Blaby and Oadby and Wigston
have lower levels of creative industries employment. One reason for this is that there is
likely to be a higher concentration of all businesses in city centre locations than in more
residential suburbs. Many of the most commercial creative industries companies are
service businesses, which benefit from proximity to potential clients. However, as this
study has shown, creative industries employment is declining in Large Urban areas, as is
the number of businesses in three out of four creative industries domains.
At the same time, there are relatively high levels of creative industries employment in
some more rural districts – such as South Kesteven and Rushcliffe (both classed as
‘Rural 50’), or Wellingborough and Charnwood (both classed as ‘Significant Rural’). This
is partly related to the overall size of the working population in these districts, and the
buoyancy of local economies. But, as the East Midlands Rural Creative Industries study
and other recent research has suggested, are we also seeing signs of a partial shift in
the creative industries from city centres to more suburban, ‘out-of-town’ and rural
locations? BOP Consulting has observed signs of similar trends in recent studies of other
areas, including Westminster and Bristol & the West of England, and in Creative
Countryside, a multi-client study completed in 2007 (with Experian Business Strategies).

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Figure 21: Creative industries employment by district (2005)
BOP Consulting/Caliper Corporation/Collins Bartholomew
Figure 22 below indicates levels of creative industries employment as a share of all
employment in each district. The areas where creative industries account for the highest
proportion of all jobs in a district are shaded darker red; lighter areas have lower relative
levels of creative employment.
The map shows that the districts with the highest relative creative industries employment
are mainly located in the south of the region – in Northamptonshire, Rutland and
Harborough in Leicestershire. Relative creative industries employment is also high in
South Kesteven in Lincolnshire, Rushcliffe and Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, and
Bolsover in Derbyshire.
Note that as a share of all jobs, creative industries employment is lower in the districts
containing the largest towns and cities – Nottingham, Derby and Leicester – than in
many other districts. Thus in relative terms, creative industries may be more important as
providers of employment outside the region’s cities (although creative sectors contribute
more value to the economy in urban areas than in rural areas).

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The districts with the lowest relative levels of creative industries employment tend to be
located in the north and east of the region, particularly in Lincolnshire (with the exception
of South Kesteven), plus districts such as South Derbyshire and Bassetlaw in
Nottinghamshire.
Figure 22: Creative industries’ share of all employment by district (2005)
BOP Consulting/Caliper Corporation/Collins Bartholomew
LU = Large Urban
OU = Other Urban
SR = Significant Rural
R50 = Rural 50
R80 = Rural 80
Note that Figures 21 and 22 rely on the use of ABI workplace analysis data at local
authority level, which increases the potential margin of error in the creative industries
statistics. As such, they should be regarded as indicative.

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11 Final observations
This study was commissioned in order to address a gap in the evidence base, and we
hope that we have been able to produce reliable statistics that will give a range of
stakeholders a better understanding of the size and scope of the creative industries in
the East Midlands. But research projects have a tendency to raise questions as well as
to answer them. The findings of this study suggest a number of issues that may benefit
from further investigation. Although it was not within the scope of this work to address
these in detail, we highlight a number of key points below.
The first is why creative industries employment is declining in large urban districts of the
region. Although (perhaps) surprising, this phenomenon is not unique to the region. BOP
Consulting has observed similar trends in a number studies of other areas, including
Bristol & the West of England and Westminster. One of the main drivers appears to be
the availability and affordability of appropriate workspace. The cost of commercial
premises has increased in recent years, and this may have motivated some creative
businesses to move away from city centres. Many creative companies are currently
facing challenging market pressures (for example, the disruptive effects of new
technologies on business models), and moving to cheaper locations is one response.
Another factor is likely to have been improvements in communications technologies
combined with the increasing digitisation of creative production. For many creative
producers, location is no longer as important as it once was, providing they have access
to a good broadband connection.
This may also help to explain why the strongest creative industries growth is occurring in
Significant Rural and Rural 50 districts. We cannot tell from our data analysis how much
of the growth in these districts is organic and how much due to in-migration, but it is
possible that there has been significant movement of businesses within the region from
urban to more rural locations. Creative Countryside, a multi-client study produced by
BOP and Experian Business Strategies in 2007, demonstrated that rural economies
increasingly resemble urban economies, and that rural areas have driven much of the
UK’s economic growth in the past decade. The districts that seem to have gained most
are those that offer a mix of urban and rural: good quality of life and lower overheads, but
relative proximity to larger urban centres, with good transport and communications links
(rather than the most isolated and peripheral rural areas). The Rural Creative Industries
Study of the East Midlands suggested that creative industries have been a significant
part of this process in some districts.
Why, then, the apparent disparity in GVA between urban and rural districts? Based on
our findings, creative industries employees in Large Urban and Other Urban districts are
about 50% more productive than those in rural districts, on average. Again, it is not
possible to draw firm conclusions from the data analysis alone (and there were
methodological difficulties with the GVA analysis), but it is likely that a high proportion of
the largest, most commercially focused creative companies are still based in city centres,
where they benefit from access to clients, services and infrastructure. The converse is
also likely to be true: that a high proportion of small-scale and less commercially focused
companies (including ‘lifestyle’ type businesses) are based in rural towns.
Another issue that would benefit from further analysis is the role of the Books & Press
sector. Publishing and printing are often over-looked in regional and local creative
industries strategies, perhaps because both sectors have historically seemed able to

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look after themselves. The Books & Press sector still provides significantly more jobs in
the East Midlands than any other creative domain, but employment is declining and both
the printing and publishing industries face significant challenges.
In the printing sector, employment has been declining throughout the UK for a number of
years. New and improved technologies, machinery and processes have made the
industry more productive, but have also led to reductions in the workforce. At the same
time, an increasing amount of large-run, non-time-sensitive print production is
outsourced overseas, and is no longer economic to carry out in the UK. These
developments will not be reversed, but what remains of the industry may need help to
adapt to new circumstances. Printing is not in terminal decline, but the industry is
changing, and many companies will need to adopt new technologies, develop new
market specialisms or diversify into other, higher value services in order to survive.
Publishing is well represented in the East Midlands, particularly the newspaper and
magazine industries. Like printing firms, publishing companies have traditionally been
among the largest employers in the creative industries. But this industry is also facing
challenges from new technologies, as readers and consumers migrate to online and
digital media, and circulations and advertising revenues decline. Publishers are
responding by moving into electronic publishing, and finding other ways of extracting
value from their media brands – from conferences to radio stations – with significant
implications for skills and workforce development.
The growth of the Visual Arts & Design domain in the East Midlands is also interesting. In
both urban and rural districts there appears to have been very high levels of growth in
this sector18
. Growth in the number of businesses exceeds the growth in employment
(although both are high), suggesting that the average size of firms in this sector is getting
smaller. What kinds of companies are these, and what do they do? Unfortunately,
analysis of ABI does not tell us as much as we would like. In fact, there are some doubts
as to the reliability of the DET definition for this domain: Visual Arts & Design is derived
from only four SIC codes, none of which measure visual arts or design activity
exclusively (two of the codes include specialist retail activity). The design sector is not
well-served by the SIC system, and is very difficult to isolate statistically.
However, there are possible explanations for the sector’s rapid growth. There is no doubt
that the design sector has become more prominent in recent years. Consumption of
design services is increasing, as more and more companies recognise the importance of
good design to successful products. Government policy promotes the role of design in
business. The number of applications for design has increased, as newer areas such as
web design have become established, and consumer markets for services such as
interior design and garden design have grown. There has also been a significant
increase in the number of people studying design in UK colleges and universities. In
addition, the Visual Arts & Design domain includes architecture and related services, and
this sector is likely to have benefited from buoyant property markets, and the growth in
investment in private and public sector building developments. If the number of
businesses in these fields is growing as rapidly as our data suggests, then further
research into the implications for the region – and other industrial sectors – may prove
instructive.
18
Again, we have also observed similar trends in this sector in other regions.

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Appendix 1: Sub-Regional Creative Industries
It was not the aim of this study to examine the East Midlands’ creative industries at the
sub-regional level. Instead, the focus was on urban districts, to complement the earlier
East Midlands Rural Creative Industries study, and produce creative industries statistics
for the whole region.
However, having produced data for the region, it is now possible to provide a snapshot of
creative industries employment, numbers of businesses and levels of growth between
2001 and 2005 for each of the sub-regions.
Table 5 and Figure 23 below show that both creative industries employment and the
numbers of businesses grew in every sub-region of the East Midlands between 2001 and
2005. However, levels of growth were uneven across the region. Creative industries
growth was greatest in Derbyshire, where both jobs and businesses increased at the
highest rate in the region. This appears to have been driven by very strong growth in the
Visual Arts & Design sectors. Northamptonshire also displayed healthy growth in both
jobs and businesses, and was the only sub-region in which jobs increased at a higher
rate than businesses, with strong growth in both Audio-visual and Visual Arts & Design.
Both Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire displayed strong growth in businesses, but only
modest growth in employment. In fact, both sub-regions recorded a greater absolute
increase in businesses than jobs – suggesting that there were job losses in existing
businesses between 2001 and 2005, despite the growth in companies. Leicestershire
had one of the biggest creative industries sectors in the region, but net growth was
modest between 2001 and 2005.
Table 5: Creative Industries in the East Midlands, 2001 - 2005
(DCMS Evidence Toolkit definition)
Employment Data Units (businesses)
Sub-Region 2001 2005 % change 2001 2005 % change
Derbyshire 11,100 13,100 17.5% 2,200 3,000 35.5%
Leicestershire & Rutland 13,900 14,400 3.3% 2,900 3,100 8.5%
Lincolnshire 6,600 6,800 2.7% 1,400 1,800 28.1%
Northamptonshire 11,300 13,100 15.5% 2,200 2,500 11.9%
Nottinghamshire 14,900 15,200 2.1% 2,600 3,000 17.9%
East Midlands 57,800 62,500 8.0% 11,200 13,400 19.0%
Source: ONS ABI Workplace Analysis/BOP Consulting 2008

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Figure 23: Sub-regional creative industries growth, 2001-2005
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
Derbyshire Leicestershire &
Rutland
Lincolnshire Northamptonshire Nottinghamshire
Employment 2001 Employment 2005 Businesses 2001 Businesses 2005
Sub-regional creative industries data by DET domains
The data tables below show creative industries data for the East Midlands sub-regions
by DET domain (Audio-visual, Books & Press, Performance, Visual Arts & Design). Note
that figures are rounded to the nearest 100, but that percentages apply to un-rounded
figures.
DERBYSHIRE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
employees data units ('businesses')
by DET Domain 2001 2005 %
change
change
Audio-visual 3,700 4,400 19.4% Audio-visual 700 800 13.7%
Books & Press 4,500 4,100 -8.1% Books & Press 400 400 -2.4%
Performance 500 400 -13.2% Performance 200 200 6.6%
Visual Arts &
Design
2,500 4,100 67.3% Visual Arts &
Design
900 1,600 77.1%
TOTAL 11,100 13,100 17.5% TOTAL 2,200 3,000 35.5%
LEICESTERSHIRE & RUTLAND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
change
change
Audio-visual 4,100 4,700 16.4% Audio-visual 1,000 1,000 -4.3%
Books & Press 6,000 5,000 -17.3% Books & Press 600 600 -2.4%
Performance 400 400 16.0% Performance 200 100 -6.9%
Visual Arts &
Design
3,400 4,200 22.6% Visual Arts &
Design
1,100 1,400 29.3%
TOTAL 13,900 14,400 3.3% TOTAL 2,900 3,100 8.5%

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LINCOLNSHIRE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
change
change
Audio-visual 1,400 1,500 7.0% Audio-visual 400 500 16.5%
Books & Press 3,300 3,200 -3.2% Books & Press 300 300 3.7%
Performance 300 400 52.8% Performance 100 100 15.9%
Visual Arts &
Design
1,600 1,600 1.8% Visual Arts &
Design
600 900 49.3%
TOTAL 6,600 6,800 2.7% TOTAL 1,400 1,800 28.1%
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
change
change
Audio-visual 3,500 4,300 22.2% Audio-visual 800 700 -1.6%
Books & Press 5,200 5,400 3.7% Books & Press 400 500 3.9%
Performance 500 500 -11.7% Performance 100 100 -2.8%
Visual Arts &
Design
2,100 2,900 40.7% Visual Arts &
Design
900 1,100 29.5%
TOTAL 11,300 13,100 15.5% TOTAL 2,200 2,500 11.9%
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
change
change
Audio-visual 5,600 5,400 -4.1% Audio-visual 1,000 1,000 5.5%
Books & Press 5,800 5,800 0.5% Books & Press 600 500 -3.5%
Performance 500 500 -9.5% Performance 200 200 -1.1%
Visual Arts &
Design
2,900 3,500 19.2% Visual Arts &
Design
900 1,300 46.7%
TOTAL 14,900 15,200 2.1% TOTAL 2,600 3,000 17.9%

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Appendix 2: Regional Creative Industries
Employment, 2000 and 2004
For this study, BOP Consulting was commissioned to produce creative industries
statistics for 2001 and 2005, as presented in this report. However, in order to produce
some of our statistics, such as creative industries GVA in 2004, it was also necessary to
calculate overall creative industries employment figures for 2000 and 2004.
Combining these figures with the findings for 2001 and 2005 allows us to produce a
simple time series diagram to compare the rates of creative industries employment
growth in each class of urban and rural district, albeit without data for 2002 and 2003.
Figure 24: Creative industries employment, East Midlands
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
20,000
2000 2001 2004 2005
creativeindustriesemployment
Large Urban
Other Urban
Significant Rural
Rural 50
Rural 80
Source: Bop Consulting
Table 6: Creative industries employment, East Midlands
% change
2000 2001 2004 2005 2000-2005
Large Urban 18,800 18,400 17,300 17,200 -8.9%
Other Urban 15,300 15,500 17,500 16,700 9.2%
Significant Rural 8,800 8,300 9,800 10,400 18.0%
Rural 50 8,800 7,900 9,300 9,800 11.4%
Rural 80 8,200 7,800 7,600 8,400 2.3%
60,000 57,800 61,400 62,500 4.2%
Source: ONS ABI
This shows us that creative industries growth has fluctuated to some extent in all types of
district between 2000 and 2005. Only in Large Urban districts has the direction of growth
been constant, as employment has declined each year. All rural districts experienced a
slight decline in creative industries employment between 2000 and 2001 (perhaps
related to the post-‘dotcom’ slump in 2000?), followed by an upturn in Significant Rural

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and Rural 50 districts (which may appear more pronounced than it actually was, due to
the absence of data for 2002 and 2003), while Rural 80 districts took longer to recover,
but did experience overall growth between 2000 and 2005. Other Urban districts grew
strongly between 2001 and 2004, but may have peaked at that point. (Although apparent
fluctuations may be partly due to statistical variations caused by the use of ABI at sub-
regional level.)

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Appendix 3: Definitions
Terms used in this report are defined as follows:
Businesses – The statistics presented in this report for numbers of businesses are
based on the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) workplace analysis from the Office for
National Statistics. Strictly speaking, this measures ‘data units’, which corresponds to
workplaces. It is possible that some companies have several premises within the region,
in which case each has been counted as a separate ‘business’ in the findings of the
study. The high proportion of micro businesses and sole traders within the creative
industries minimises distortion due to this.
All economy – Comparisons made to employment and numbers of businesses in the
whole economy of the region, or of urban/rural district classes, are based on the sum of
all broad industrial groups from ABI workplace analysis data.
Sole traders – For the purposes of this study, sole traders are defined as those
companies included in the Experian NBD dataset for which ‘number of employees at site’
= 1.
GVA per employee – For creative industries, GVA per employee was estimated based
on the sum of (weighted) GVA data from ABI divided by the number of people employed
in creative industries (from weighted ABI data). It was not possible to calculate
weightings for GVA, so weightings for employment were applied to GVA data.
Large Urban: Districts with either 50,000 people, or 50% of their population in one of 17
urban areas with a population between 250,000 and 750,000.
Other Urban: Districts with fewer than 37,000 people, or less than 26% of their
population in rural settlements and larger market towns.
Significant Rural: Districts with more than 37,000 people or more than 26 percent of
their population in rural settlements and larger market towns; there are 53 districts in this
group in England. (Note that ‘Significant Rural’ should be regarded as a mixed
urban/rural class.)
Rural 50: Districts with at least 50 percent but less than 80 percent of their population in
rural settlements and larger market towns; there are 52 districts in this group in England.
Rural 80: Districts with at least 80 percent of their population in rural settlements and
larger market towns; there are 73 districts in this group in England.

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Appendix 4: Weightings for Urban Districts
Table 7 below shows the weightings applied to creative industries SIC codes (as defined in the DET) in the current study. The
weightings are derived from analysis of Experian NBD data. SIC codes for which weightings are required are listed in bold type. For
relevant SIC codes, different weightings were calculated for each company size band (1-10 employees, 11-49 employees, 50-199
employees, 200 plus employees) for employment and for numbers of businesses. A single set of weightings was produced for Large
Urban and Other Urban districts in order to maximise the size of the sample in each SIC code class from which ratios were calculated.
Table 7: Creative Industries Weightings (SIC 2003) for Large Urban and Other Urban districts of the East Midlands
2003 Data Units (%) Employment (%)
SIC Code Description Domain 1-10 11-49 50-199 200+ 1-10 11-49 50-199 200+
22.11 2211 Publishing of books BP 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
22.12 2212 Publishing of newspapers BP 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
22.13 2213 Publishing of journals and periodicals BP 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
22.14 2214 Publishing of sound recordings AV 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
22.15 2215 Other publishing BP 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
22.21 2221 Printing of newspapers BP 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
22.22 2222 Printing not elsewhere classified BP 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
22.23 2223 Bookbinding BP 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
22.24 2224 Pre-press activities BP 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
22.25 2225 Ancillary activities related to printing BP 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
22.31 2231 Reproduction of sound recording AV 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
22.32 2232 Reproduction of video recording AV 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
22.33 2233 Reproduction of computer media AV 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
24.30 2430 Manufacturing of paints and varnishes (inc. printing
ink)
BP 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
24.64 2464 Manufacture of photographic chemical material AV 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
24.65 2465 Manufacture of prepared unrecorded media AV 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
32.10 3210 Manufacture of electronic valves and tubes (inc. TV
tubes)
AV 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
32.20 3220 Manufacture of television and radio transmitters etc AV 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
32.30 3230 Manufacture of TV & radio receivers, sound or video
recording or reproducing apparatus & associated goods
AV 89 100 100 0 85 100 100 0

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2003 Data Units (%) Employment (%)
SIC Code Description Domain 1-10 11-49 50-199 200+ 1-10 11-49 50-199 200+
33.40 3340 Manufacture of photographic equipment and optical
instruments
AV 29 33 0 0 19 38 0 0
36.30 3630 Manufacture of musical instruments AV 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
51.43 5143 Wholesale of records, tapes, CDs and videos, and of
the playback equipment, and lighting
AV 2 4 0 0 1 3 0 0
51.47 5147 Wholesale of photographic goods, musical instruments
and other household goods
AV 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
52.45 5245 Retail sale of electrical household appliances and radio
and television goods
AV 47 35 0 0 41 27 0 0
52.47 5247 Retail sale of books, newspapers and stationery BP 13 36 83 0 13 40 71 0
52.48 5248 Other retail sale in specialised stores (inc. commercial
art galleries)
VA 6 7 0 17 5 7 0 15
52.50 5250 Retail sale of second-hand goods in stores (inc. art &
antiques)
VA 70 67 100 0 64 71 100 0
71.40 7140 Renting of personal and household goods NEC (inc.
CDs, videos, TVs)
AV 46 56 0 0 58 41 0 0
72.21 7221 Software publishing AV 69 70 71 60 68 69 70 35
72.22 7222 Other software consultancy and supply AV 69 70 71 60 68 69 70 35
74.20 7420 Architectural and engineering activities and related
technical consultancy
VA 30 19 14 0 25 19 14 0
74.40 7440 Advertising AV 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
74.81 7481 Photographic activities AV 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
74.87 7487 Other business activities NEC (speciality design
activities)
VA 56 56 40 0 53 58 30 0
92.11 9211 Motion picture production AV 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
92.12 9212 Motion picture & video distribution AV 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
92.13 9213 Motion picture projection AV 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
92.20 9220 Radio & TV activities AV 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
92.31 9231 Other artistic and literary creation and interpretation* P, VA, BP 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
92.32 9232 Operation of arts facilities P 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
92.34 9234 Other entertainment activities NEC (e.g. dance halls, dance
instructors, circus and puppet shows etc.)
P 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
92.40 9240 News agency activities BP 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
92.72 9272 Other recreational activities NEC
(inc. theatrical casting/agents)
P 11 0 0 0 9 0 0 0

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