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London Gateway

London, the global city within the Thames Gateway, has a reputation as being a leading international centre of creativity which accounts for £21 billion or 16% of London’s Gross Value Added (GVA) annually. This industry is the second largest after the business services sector and ranges from music, video games to design and fashion.

The creative industries sector within the Thames Gateway offers London's second biggest source of job growth, contributing roughly one in every five new jobs.  From graphic design to IT and computer services, advertising to architecture, the creative sector is broad and diverse and enjoys close economic relationships with other areas of business such as tourism, hospitality, heritage and sport.

The Thames Gateway London lies at the centre of this sector and accounts for a third of all the UK's creative industries employment.  The area is a melting pot of innovative industries and businesses, and arguably has the highest concentration of creative firms of any region in the world.

Thames Gateway London has become an increasingly popular choice for businesses working in creative industries, offering a low cost, well-connected location where firms can thrive. The region now accounts for 21 per cent of creative workforce jobs in London and 24 per cent of creative businesses, and is a growing contributor to the city's creative sector as well as bringing in significant inward investment from overseas businesses.  

Thames Gateway London’s creative heartland is home to Last FM, perhaps the best example of a 21st Century creative business that has been attracted to the region.  Last FM, is a social music website and internet radio station, set up in 2002 and now has over 21 million active users every month and is popular in over 200 countries.