New report shows UK tax reliefs help fuel boom in UK Screen industries

The report reveals that an estimated ¬£632 million in tax relief seeded ¬£3.16 billion in direct production spend in 2016, a 17% increase on 2015. UK-made productions generated ¬£7.9 billion as the screen sector’s overall economic contribution (GVA), including ¬£2 billion in tax revenues. Production spend which would not have taken place without the tax reliefs, known as additionality, was worth ¬£4.1 billion in 2016. Other statistics from the study include:

£1.72 billion generated from film production, a new record, 47% up from £1.16 billion in 2013
£896.7 million from high-end television production, more than double from £414.9 million in 2013
£389.9 million from video games development supported by tax relief, 70% up from £228.8 million in 2015
£97.1 million from animation television programme production, 27% up from £76.2 million in 2013
¬£61.0 million from children’s television programmes, the first year of tax relief
Over 137,000 full-time equivalent jobs (FTEs) generated by tax-relief supported screen production in 2016

Growth of screen industries outstripping wider economy; 71% increase in FTEs in film, high-end television and animation television production between 2013 and 2016; higher levels of labour productivity than the UK average

Rapid growth of screen sectors generates over £850 million in capital investment in new production facilities right across the UK

UK screen talent and technicians creating commercially and critically successful productions enjoyed by audiences worldwide

Screen Business: How tax incentives help power economic growth across the UK is a comprehensive analysis of the economic contribution of the tax reliefs for film, high-end television and, for the first time, analyses the new tax reliefs for video games, TV animation programmes and children’s TV programmes. The report uses the latest complete dataset available from 2016.

The report has been produced by analysts Olsberg SPI with Nordicity, and commissioned by the BFI, working with industry partners including the British Film Commission (BFC), Pact, Pinewood Group, UK Interactive (Ukie), the UK Screen Alliance and Animation UK.

Andrew Smith, Corporate Affairs Director, Pinewood Group says: ‘The UK’s consistent success in delivering world-class films, television and video games is testament to our creativity, highly skilled workforce, state of the art facilities and fiscal incentives. This report from the BFI provides the evidence needed by business to attract continued private investment in the screen industries and generate further growth.  Pinewood’s confidence in the UK as a leading player in this global industry and the opportunities we have for growth underpin our own increased investment in new and expanded production facilities.’

The full report is available at www.bfi.org.uk/screenbusiness