New report exposes hidden £1.8 billion economic toll of workplace conflict in UK’s creative industries
Tuesday 10 June 2025, London, UK: A new report commissioned by the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) reveals that workplace conflict costs the UK’s creative industries a staggering £1.8 billion in lost productivity and growth each year. CIISA’s report – Growth Through Accountability – sets out new economic analysis on the cost of workplace conflict, drawing on insight from former UK Government specialists as well as expertise from across the UK’s cultural and creative industries.
This new modelling and insight lands at a pivotal moment, with imminent publication of the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy, which will prioritise the creative sector. The report’s new findings set out a stark picture,highlighting the significant existing negative economic impact of unsafe working environments across the UK’s creative sector on the British economy. Despite being one of the UK’s strongest and most celebrated economic sectors and a priority for the UK Government’s economic growth plans, this new research estimates nearly a third of the UK’s creative industries’ 2.4 million workers experience workplace conflict.
The report presents findings from new economic modelling that also quantifies the “growth gap” — the untapped potential in productivity and economic value that could be unlocked through cultural reform and accountability. While the UK’s creative industries already generate 5% of the UK’s overall economy, there is a clear opportunity to further enable the UK Government’s economic growth mission, with 1.4% additional creative industries GVA (a measure of the contribution an individual producer, industry, sector, or region makes to an economy), yet to be realised through greater proactive interventions.
Baroness Helena Kennedy KC LT, CIISA’s Chair, said, “This landmark research is important at a time when we know budgets are stretched, making the need for CIISA even more prominent. We’re not just talking about harm to individuals — for the first time, we can look deeper into how bullying and harassment, including behaviour of a discriminatory nature, translates into real, measurable economic loss validated by those who work in and across the UK’s creative industries. What has been uncovered is stark: the sector is bleeding both talent and productivity because of unresolved conflict and acting as a brake on growth.”
Key findings:
- Workplace conflict is a major drag on productivity and growth, with unrealised economic potential compromised due to previously hidden costs from resignations and disciplinary dismissals to presenteeism, attrition, and reduced innovation.
- Nearly one-third of people working in the UK’s creative industries are affected by workplace conflict, with freelancers and self-employed workers especially vulnerable, and often excluded from traditional HR support.
- With proactive intervention, significant economic gains can be realised, increasing the annual GVA of the creative industries for the British economy.
CIISA is stepping in to further drive positive change in the UK’s creative industries, following the launch of its Standards earlier this year. As an independent Standards body for the creative industries to tackle harmful behaviour such as bullying, harassment and behaviour of a discriminatory nature, it will provide focus on supporting organisations to embed Standards, alongside offering an independent, confidential reporting service for people working in the creative industries to report concerns.
CIISA will also provide sector-wide data collection and intelligence to help the creative industries – and the UK Government – get deeper insight into how cultural changes can boost growth in a key UK economic sector.
Jen Smith, CEO of CIISA, said, “This report illustrates that bullying and harassment, including behaviour of a discriminatory nature, are current and persistent problems within the creative industries, not only harming our talented workforce but creating a large economic burden for the sector, which could be significantly reduced through prevention and proactive measures, like the very practical support CIISA will offer to both employers and individuals.”
