Marketing and research leaders are calling on the new government to recognise their sectors as engines of UK economic growth, ahead of an autumn budget that will define ministerial priorities for the coming years.

Writing in Marketing Week, Jane Frost CBE, chief executive of the Market Research Society (MRS), argues that if the prime minister is serious about delivering "good growth in every postcode", the marketing and research sectors have a vital role to play.

Parliament has returned from recess, and the chancellor has less than two months until he delivers his autumn budget. Speculation has already begun around potential tax rises and spending priorities. More fundamentally, the government will need to decide which sectors it backs as the real engines of growth over the next few years.

The numbers behind the case

The UK's creative services sectors punch well above their weight internationally, according to Frost. Spending on UK marketing and advertising is expected to top £50bn for the first time by the end of this year. That figure is the largest in Europe by a wide margin and, internationally, third only behind the US and China.

In 2024, the sectors added £109bn to the economy, accounting for over 4% of UK gross value added. The research sector contributes significantly too: MRS's recent Business of Evidence report estimates the British research and evidence sector delivers £18.7bn in gross value added each year.

Globally recognised creative, advertising, digital and research agencies based in the UK employ thousands of people and deliver considerable tax revenues to the exchequer, Frost notes. But the sectors also act as catalysts for growth across the wider economy. Research and insights teams enable companies to identify trends and engage consumers, while marketers help businesses take their message to audiences and generate profits. Clients span financial services, retail, engineering and manufacturing.

Jobs and regional growth

This year's Marketing Week Careers & Salary survey highlighted that marketing skews towards young people. While Frost acknowledges challenges around retention, progression and representation, she argues the government should recognise the vast opportunities the creative industries provide for people starting and building careers.

The context is pressing. Over 16% of young people are currently out of work, the highest rate since the aftermath of the financial crisis.

The sector is also showing signs of breaking free from its traditionally London-centric reputation. Centres of excellence already exist across the home nations, and Frost points to flourishing creative services hubs in Leeds, Bristol and Manchester as potential showcases for the government's devolution drive.

A warning on research spend

Frost argues that delivering "good growth in every postcode" requires understanding the people living in those postcodes. That means government making decisions based on evidence, not instincts or vibes.

Policy designed around assumptions can create unintended consequences, particularly for communities already facing barriers to opportunity. In debates around zero-hours contracts, for example, well-intentioned proposals could inadvertently make it harder for some underrepresented groups to access the flexible work they need to stay in employment, she warns.

"Research and insight have a vital role to play here in helping government understand how people in different communities live, work and spend," Frost writes. "Without that understanding, policies designed to support communities risk missing the very people they are meant to help and damaging industries and the economy in the process."

The industry itself, however, needs to practise what it preaches. Consecutive IPA Bellwether reports have shown marketing teams spending less on research, even as other parts of business lean more heavily on evidence to guide decisions.

That trend should ring alarm bells, Frost says. If marketing wants to keep its strategic influence, it cannot afford to treat insight as a discretionary cost.

Keeping the sector on the agenda

The government's industrial strategy includes both the creative sectors and professional services, but early ministerial focus has centred on reindustrialisation to boost regional economies and provide opportunities for young people. While technical roles may have a bigger part to play, Frost argues ministers must not overlook marketing and its associated sectors as powerful drivers of economic prosperity.

"We must keep banging the drum – loudly, publicly and backed by evidence – for our sectors' place as engines of growth across the country," she concludes.

Source: Marketing Week (https://www.marketingweek.com/prime-minister-growth-engine/)