Video Production Companies in the UK

FOI Reference: FOI/2022/3948

You asked

I'm trying to find out the number of Video Production Companies in the UK (SIC Code: 59112 'Video production activities') and am struggling to find a correct figure – can you help, please?

The Annual Business Survey (2019) says there are around 3,600+ businesses with the 59112 SIC Code, but searching the Companies House directory shows more than 10,000+ active businesses with that SIC Code (the search results are capped at 10,000 results, and downloads are capped at 5,000 results).

Do you know how I can find out the exact number of video production companies in the UK currently?

It would be extremely helpful to have the historical data for this SIC Code too (i.e. how many Video Production companies there were each year in total so I can work out the growth rate over the past decade or so), along with any figures relating to turnover (£), employment, and GVA (or similar data to demonstrate value to economy).

We said

Thank you for your request.

The number of enterprises used in the Annual Business Survey (ABS) are taken from the ONS Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR).

The IDBR includes all businesses registered for VAT and/or PAYE. The current VAT threshold is £85,000. The very small businesses that fall below this threshold or do not employ anyone are not registered on the IDBR.

This concept of registration is separate from that of being incorporated as a company at Companies House (often referred to as being registered at Companies House), which is a process of establishing a business as a legally separate entity from its owners.

Some of the reasons for the differences in the IDBR data and Companies House data are:

• IDBR data includes figures for the self-employed - sole proprietors and partnerships. These are not included in Companies House data.
• The Companies House definition of activity is being "not in the process of liquidation or dissolution" rather than trading activity.
• The businesses on Companies House may or may not be registered for VAT and/or PAYE.
• The businesses on Companies House may be dormant, that is, not currently trading.

More information can be found in section 3 of the ABS technical report and in the latest Business Demography publication.

The latest detailed estimates from the ABS are provided in the attachment titled "Video Production Activities Data" . Section J provides data on "video production activities", 59.11/2. Data on turnover, approximate gross value added (aGVA) and employment costs are also provided back to 2008.

For more information about ABS and data from the IDBR please feel free to directly contact abaps@ons.gov.uk and idbrdas@ons.gov.uk