Amazon has said its investments have contributed £4.8 billion ($6.1 billion) of gross value — and 16,000 jobs — to the U.K. economy since 2010. This covers the gamut of the online retail giant’s various subsidiaries, including Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon Publishing, Prime Video, Audible, Amazon Fashion, Amazon Music and Amazon Games, among others.
Overall, the company — which revealed the figures on Wednesday — has invested more than £4.2 billion in U.K. creative industries since 2010, and has doubled its investment since 2018.
As Prime Video continues to embed in the U.K. creative sector, it can also count the British Film Institute as its next stop. A number of the streamer’s U.K.-shot originals, including “Good Omens” and “Clarkson’s Farm,” will be digitally preserved in the BFI National Archive as part of a new partnership. The Prime Video deal comes almost a year after Netflix reached a similar agreement to induct some of its own originals into the celebrated archive. That deal was struck in September, PvNew understands.
The BFI on Wednesday hosted a reception for Amazon at its Southbank headquarters in London. The streamer’s top U.K. brass, including originals boss Dan Grabiner, managing director for Prime Video U.K. Chris Bird and diversity chief Miranda Wayland, were in attendance. Speakers included Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee; Arike Oke, director of knowledge and collections at the BFI; and John Boumphrey, Amazon VP and U.K. country manager.
In addition to the BFI deal, Amazon also used the event to highlight its support for rising off-screen talent in the industry. Unlike streamers such as Netflix, Prime Video has been relatively quiet until now about its training and upskilling programs for below-the-line roles. All SVODs have been investing heavily in the U.K.’s talent pipeline in recent years following early criticism that they were snapping up skilled workers for their productions, but neglecting to nurture new entrants to the industry.
The digital giant revealed its support for more than 100 new apprenticeships across the creative industries. It’s also doubling its creative industries apprenticeship levy funding to £2 million ($2.6 million). This funds apprenticeships across the sector including the BRIT Trust and the Association for Independent Music and Women in CTRL (a Screen Skills apprenticeship pilot to support both Amazon Original productions such as “The Devil’s Hour” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” as well as funding apprentices on non-Amazon productions including Channel 4’s “Derry Girls.”)
Prime Video is also entering the second phase of its Pathway initiative, which is designed to open up access to jobs in TV and film. The program — developed in collaboration with leading TV and film institutions, including the National Film & Television School — will support 250 additional trainees over the coming years. The service will provide opportunities for a further 25 craft trainees, increasing its reach outside London, and providing 50% of placements across Scotland and, for the first time, Wales.
John Boumphrey, VP and U.K. country manager at Amazon, said: “The U.K. has long been a creative powerhouse, brimming with some of the world’s most talented authors, musicians, actors, designers, technicians and more. Amazon is unique in the breadth of creative industries we support, from TV and music, to fashion and publishing, and new data shows that our investments in these industries have contributed more than £4.8 billion to the U.K. economy since 2010. We are committed to supporting this vital sector, and we have more than doubled our investments in UK-based productions, skills programmes, production facilities, and more to power the UK’s creative sector today, and support the creators of tomorrow.”
Lucy Frazer, Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, added: “Amazon has embraced the huge depth of creativity and technical expertise in the UK. Its continued investment is testament to what we offer in film, music, fashion, tech and publishing. Many of its ambitions align closely with our own plans for the creative sectors and we are going to build on Britain’s status as a world-class creative nation and maximise their potential to unleash economic growth and create jobs.”
Ben Roberts, chief executive of the BFI, said: “Since the 1950s, one of our Royal Charter objectives has been to preserve television alongside film. It’s really important that the nation’s film, television and the moving image heritage is fully representative of the work being created today, so that we can tell the story of our screen culture to audiences in the future. Given their continued investment in U.K. storytelling across film and television, we are absolutely thrilled to welcome Prime Video to the BFI National Archive and recognise their considerable economic and cultural impact.”
