Amazon Touts $5.4B Spend in U.K. Creative Industries Since 2010

Alex Ritman
·2 min read

Amazon has said that it invested in excess of 4.2 billion pounds ($5.4 billion) in the U.K. creative industries since 2010, spending that it claims has contributed some 4.8 billion pounds ($6.1 billion) of gross value — alongside supporting more than 16,000 jobs — to the U.K. economy.

The figures come from new data by independent macroeconomic consultancy Capital Economics and cover the breadth of Amazon’s work across the sector, including Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon Publishing, Prime Video, Audible, Amazon Fashion, Amazon Music and Amazon Games.

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As part of its ongoing investment, the company has also announced support for more than 100 new apprenticeships in organizations across the creative industries and a doubling of its creative industries apprenticeship levy funding to 2 million pounds ($2.5 million). This funds apprenticeships across the sector, including the BRIT Trust and the Association for Independent Music and Women in CTRL, a Screen Skills flexible apprenticeship pilot to support both Amazon Original productions such as The Devil’s Hour and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, as well as funds apprentices on non-Amazon productions including Channel 4’s Derry Girls.

Prime Video has also announced the second phase of Prime Video Pathway, an initiative designed to open up access to jobs in TV and film, which will support 250 additional trainees over the coming years. Developed in collaboration with TV and film institutions, including the National Film & Television School (NFTS), the initiative will be providing opportunities for a further 25 craft trainees, increasing its reach outside London, providing 50 percent of placements across Scotland and for the first time, Wales.

As part of the unveiling of its investment spend, Amazon has also teamed up with the British Film Institute’s National Archive in a deal that will see its films and series shot in the U.K. — including the likes of Good Omens and Clarkson’s Farm — digitally preserved.

“Since the 1950s, one of our Royal Charter objectives has been to preserve television alongside film,” said BFI CEO Ben Roberts. “It’s really important that the nation’s film, television and the moving image heritage is fully representative of the work being created today, so that we can tell the story of our screen culture to audiences in the future. Given their continued investment in UK storytelling across film and television, we are absolutely thrilled to welcome Prime Video to the BFI National Archive and recognize their considerable economic and cultural impact.”

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