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Finito World
What once seemed like a hobby has quietly become a serious economic engine. YouTube creators added £2.2 billion to the UK economy in 2024, supporting 45,000 jobs, according to a new report from Oxford Economics – and this week saw the formal recognition of that shift with the creation of an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) to represent the country’s digital creators.
That this has taken so long is striking, especially given the scale of the industry. Some of the world’s biggest content creators – including DanTDM, Stampy, and the Sidemen – are British. They don’t just entertain; they run companies, employ staff, build brand empires, and influence consumer behaviour on a level most traditional media can only dream of. And yet, until now, Westminster barely noticed.
Labour MP Feryal Clark, who is co-chairing the new APPG, put it plainly: these creators are “trailblazers of a new creative revolution,” undervalued for too long. The group aims to tackle exactly the sort of structural challenges that prevent creators from scaling up – things like inconsistent filming permits, limited access to funding, lack of training, and the absence of designated creative spaces.
For creators like Lilly Sabri – whose six-and-a-half million YouTube followers tune in for health and fitness content – this marks a long-overdue turning point. “People used to question if this was a real job,” she told the BBC. Now, she runs two businesses, employs staff, and leverages her physiotherapy degree to offer expert-led content to a global audience. Without platforms like YouTube, she says, none of it would have been possible.
This is a generation of entrepreneurs who built careers in their bedrooms – often before finishing university – and are now turning those careers into global brands. And yet they still find themselves caught in a system built for a different era. As Brandon Baum (Brandon B), whose videos reach over 16 million subscribers, put it: “We need a government stamp of approval and infrastructure around us.”
He’s not just talking about validation – he means access to capital, regulation that reflects the industry’s pace, and the creation of a framework that recognises these creators as serious players in the innovation economy. Right now, many still struggle with basic barriers, like getting a filming permit or securing loans to grow their businesses, despite audience numbers that dwarf traditional broadcasters.
There’s also a deeper employability story here. In an era where AI and automation threaten traditional roles, the creator economy represents a rare and growing source of independent, flexible employment. It’s a sector that encourages entrepreneurial thinking, tech fluency, self-discipline, and the ability to build and maintain communities – all transferable skills for the modern workplace.
And it’s popular with Gen Z for a reason. It aligns with a desire for autonomy, creative expression, and purpose. A 2024 Pearson survey found that over 60% of UK teenagers now see content creation as a “viable career path,” and more than 70% say they’d consider freelancing or self-employment after school or university. That’s a profound shift in how young people are approaching the future of work.
The government, it seems, is beginning to catch up. Earlier this summer, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hosted nearly 100 influencers at Downing Street – a clear signal that digital talent is now part of the political conversation. But it’s one thing to invite creators to the table; it’s another to redesign policy and infrastructure to support their unique needs.
That will be the next test: how seriously policymakers take the opportunity to build a modern economy around the industries where growth is happening. Whether in skills policy, digital infrastructure, or taxation, there’s a case to be made for treating this sector not as an outlier but as a model for the future of work.
What began as late-night vlogs and Minecraft gameplay has grown into a full-fledged industry -one that could shape Britain’s next chapter of economic and cultural influence. The real question now is not whether this is a “real job,” but whether the country is ready to build a real strategy around it.
