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Newcastle University research highlights how small UK publishing businesses are booming overseas
The impact of small creative businesses in the UK in international markets is outstripping the rest of the economy said a new report from Newcastle University, with publishing exports rising in particular.
Will the Creative Exporters Please Stand Up? explores the impact of arts businesses overseas, showing the strength of publishing in particular. The report was compiled by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC) at Newcastle University.
In the research, from Newcastle University Business School, exporting firms are also shown to be more profitable and therefore policy interventions that grow the share of UK creative industries exporters could be an important way for the government to achieve its growth ambitions.
The number of UK publishing firms that export rose from 31% in 2018-20 to 40% in 2022-24. Publishing is considered one of the main creative industries sub sectors for exporting, the report said. The research also showed that the majority of publishing’s £2.9bn services exports are directed to the EU (41%), while North America accounts for 39%.
The study found that creative industries firms are more likely to be exporters compared to those across the wider economy, suggesting prioritising the creative industries also supports regional regeneration. The study – based on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), those with fewer than 250 employees – suggested “the UK could be a global hub for creative industries trade, if policy levers at local and national level are optimised to grow and expand the pool of creative exporters”.
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Additionally publishing’ is the top-performing sub-sector among all creative industries exporting to Central Asia, with both publishing services and publishing goods outperforming all other creative exports.
The report also makes recommendations around how targeted support from government can help the creative industries export more effectively.
Nik Gunn, policy adviser at Creative PEC, suggested the findings “present a huge opportunity in the context of devolution and Local Government Reorganisation for place-based targeted support, to help existing exporters grow and expand the pool of those companies doing so”.
Ameesha Green, founder and CEO of editorial agency The Book Shelf, said: “To date, we’ve exported to 25 different countries and generate around 50% of our income from exports. We strive to be innovative within our fairly traditional publishing industry. We’ve exported since the early days of business as it felt like the natural thing to do. But legislation and regulation can make this more challenging, especially around understanding international sanctions.”
The full report can be read here.
