House of Lords launches investigation into the UK ad industry post Brexit

The House of Lords is launching an enquiry into the state of the UK ad industry post Brexit, calling for evidence on a range of issues including access to talent and training, the growth of the digital ad market and whether the Government should be doing more to support business clusters.

The investigation raises the ad industry’s “pre-eminent” status and aims to consider how it can retain that. There have been concerns that after the UK leaves the EU, access to creative talent could be curtailed; the Advertising Association estimates that one in five people employed in the industry are from the EU.

The ad industry has strongly voiced its concerns about access to talent after Brexit, stating that access to a global talent pool has been critical to the industry’s success. Advertising and creative services contributed £13.3bn to the economy in 2014 and supports 1 billion job and the AA wants a “flexible” immigration system post Brexit, as well as better training for homegrown talent.

AA CEO Stephen Woodford says: “UK advertising is a world leader in part thanks to the wealth of talent we attract from all four corners of the globe. A continued flow of highly skilled people is necessary for us to maintain our edge as the world’s leading exporter of advertising.”

The Select Committee on Communications is looking for written evidence to be submitted by 20 October, with oral evidence from invited witnesses taking place between now and December 2017. The findings will be reported in early 2018.