Creative and Digital Tech Dashboard
Dorset has creativity and innovation at its heart. It is where back in the 1890s the father of the wireless communication Guglielmo Marconi set up his wireless station and in the 1970’s the founder of the internet Sir Tim Berners-Lee started his career as an engineer for Plessey Telecom in Poole (which later amalgamated into Siemens Communications). Today Dorset is among the best destinations for innovators and a potential world-leader in tech, having ranked first in the UK for tech start-ups, representing 28% of the businesses created locally.
Explore the interactive dashboard below to reveal job opportinities, salary, automation and occupation trends. Download a copy of the Creative and Digital Dashboard.
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Sectors Overview
The creative and digital business creation activity in Dorset has grown at an exponential rate, seeing both the number of foundations and active companies tripling over the past decade, reaching close to 9,200 active businesses in 2022 and turning over £1.7 billion, contributing a sizable £972 million to the local economy.
Areas of expertise include digital products and app creation, visual effects and post-production, gaming, animation, digital agencies, internet of things and big data. Businesses based in the area include Amuzo Games, The Emerge Group, Bright Blue Day, tech for good champions 3 Sided Cube and some recent successes in the sector include:
Kortext – founded in 2013, Kortext is now the UK’s leading personal learning platform and supplier of digital textbooks, working with 4,700+ publishers, and supplying over 2 million digital books to students in 80 countries.
OnBuy – an online marketplace launched in 2016 – now the fastest-growing marketplace in the world listing around 11,000 brands and retailers, ranging from Lego to Samsung, it is one of Europe’s fastest growing companies.
Outpost VFX creates stunning visual effects for the broadcasting, film and advertising industries. Headquartered in Bournemouth, the company now has branches in London, Montreal, Los Angeles and Mumbai and has been involved in an impressive list of high profile Hollywood, Netflix and HBO productions.
Talewind is a new professional UK studio, developing online games and storylines for the metaverse, and specialising in the use of the Roblox platform.
Career Prospects
The sector provides high skilled – high paid jobs across Dorset, employing over 20,000 people (6% of all employed) with wages that exceed the average by a third (33%). The sector has seen growth in employment over the past 5 years and its workforce is predominantly highly skilled with almost three quarters of those employed engaged in management, professional or associate professional jobs.
Demand for talent
After some softening of demand for talent in 2020, the recruitment in the sector increased dramatically in 2021. The close to 2,000 jobs advertised in Dorset marked a 95% increase on the previous year and were 36% up from 2019. Demand in the sector is highest for:
- IT (Software and Web Developers, Graphic Designers)
- Sales (Account Managers)
- Business Management (Project, IT, Operations Managers)
- Marketing & Public Relations (Marketing, Product Managers, Researchers)
- Design, Media and Writing professionals (Graphic Designers, Photographers, Copywriters, Illustrators)
Skills & Experience
Newly emerging skills areas such as 3D/CGI animation, storyboard art, gaming development, virtual production, computer graphics, as well as AR/VR are now being used beyond the world of entertainment in a range of areas – from redefining high streets to healthcare simulation, making these skills highly sought after.
A third of the jobs advertised required less than 2 years of experience, and there is high demand for early-to-mid-career professionals in the sector in Dorset.
How to start your creative and digital career in Dorset?
- Bournemouth University is home of the world leading National Centre for Computer Animation, The Centre for Digital Entertainment and the International VFX Hub, producing industry-ready graduates who have gone on to work at some of the biggest studios in the world, including ILM, Framestore, Double Negative and Pixar. BU also offers a wide range of Media, Film, TV & Music Production studies, industry-standard facilities and exciting work placement opportunities and the University’s Computing & Informatics courses are accredited by the British Computer Society and offer students the opportunity to gain Chartered IT Professional status.
- Arts University Bournemouth is a leading specialist arts, design, media and performance institution with circa 4000 students, preparing graduates for career entry in the creative industries and is delivering a range of projects that embed industry experience within the curriculum. AUB also has the largest film school outside of London and has made major investments in latest technology, equipment and facilities to support research and innovation projects.
Browse apprenticeship opportunities near you.
You can also develop your skills with Adult Community Education in Dorset.