It’s official. The UK’s creative sector is thriving after £1.1 billion in support from the Government in the form of tax reliefs.
Award-winning, water-cooler-moment TV series Killing Eve is just one such to benefit from them, and since they were introduced 2,955 films, 485 TV productions and 1,075 videogames have also benefitted. Meanwhile museums and galleries have benefitted from an exhibitions tax relief that has allowed them to host 300 exhibitions across the country.
Just to give an idea of how big this is, in 2016, the so-called screen sector contributed nearly £8 billion to the UK economy, and films alone accounted for £1.71 billion of UK exports. And it’s not showing any sign of slowing down.
Liverpool, for example, has opened its own Film Office in recent years to deal with the high demand for the city as a filming location, while the Littlewoods Complex on the outskirts of the city is being transformed into a world class, full-service film studio. And that’s just one UK city.
Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Jesse Norman made this statement: “The arts and creative industries make a vital contribution to the UK economy. These tax reliefs have helped support some astonishing and exciting work again this year, celebrating the very best of British culture.
“Creative Sector Tax Reliefs were introduced to help UK businesses in these highly skilled and innovative sectors thrive at home and abroad. The reliefs support jobs and economic activity in all parts of the UK.”
How does this benefit contractors?
Of course, the creative sector is a natural home for many contractors and freelancers. The flexible, project-based nature of the work makes salaried roles less common, and so a booming creative sector can only mean positive news for creative contractors and freelancers.
In short, more productions and projects means more contractor roles to be filled and therefore more opportunities.
However, being a creative contractor is not without its difficulties. Depending on your role, you often need expensive equipment, availability for long hours and the potential to travel here, there and everywhere. If you rely on your camera for filming or your laptop editing suite, you need to ensure you’re fully insured to protect yourself financially.
At Kingsbridge, we offer a dedicated media insurance package that protects you and your equipment. It includes:
- Professional indemnity
- Public and products liability
- Employers’ liability
- Directors’ and officers’ liability
- Occupational personal accident cover
- Insurance for high value equipment necessary for your work
Our insurance is also a key IR35 indicator, which will be essential when the private sector reforms come into effect next April.
If your insurance requirements are very specific to your niche, give us a call on 01242 808740 and speak to one of our resident friendly experts who’ll be able to ensure you have the right cover for the needs of your industry.
You can also get a quote online through our website. And remember, we’re so confident that we’re the best value out there, if you find equivalent cover for less, we’ll price match.
