The Datum Report

Occupation 1255 · Managers, directors and senior officials

Managers and directors in the creative industries

Half of full-time managers and directors in the creative industries in the UK earn more than £54,772 a year, and half earn less.

Managers and directors in creative industries plan, organise, direct and co-ordinate the activities and resources of organisations in sectors such as arts, publishing, music, media, design and architecture.

How people enter it

Entry requirements vary according to the specific sector. Most post holders will have relevant experience and while some fields do not require candidates to have academic qualifications others require a degree or equivalent qualification. Off and on-the-job training may be provided, and vocational qualifications are available in many of these sectors.

What the work involves

• plans, organises, directs and co-ordinates the activities and resources of organisations in the creative industries, such as publishing firms, art galleries and television companies
• liaises with clients, generates new business and promotes their organisation by attending and organising conferences, exhibits and other events
• helps set the creative direction of their organisation and finds new talent, such as artists, writers and musicians, as well as pieces such as artworks, scripts and music
• keeps up to date with new releases, publications and trends in relevant fields
• establishes client's requirements and oversees the conception and development of multiple projects
• reviews and revises creative teams' work across multiple projects
• determines staffing, material, financial, and other short- and long-term needs

Also called

Art gallery owner · Artist manager · Director (architectural service) · Graphic design manager · Gallery Manager · Production manager (entertainment) · Publisher · Radio station manager

What it pays

How pay has changed

Median gross annual pay for managers and directors in the creative industries, full-time employees, 2023 to 2025. Each point is that year's ASHE April snapshot as published — revisions are not backfilled into earlier years, and a year ONS withheld is a gap rather than a joined line.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Year-on-year change

The change from each year to the next, in per cent, computed from the figures in the chart above — so the two cannot disagree.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Pay by region

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ranked, against the UK figure. 4 of 11 regions are published: ONS withholds a cell where the survey sample cannot support it, and those are shown as gaps rather than dropped — an absent region is not a region without the work in it.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Period 2025. Table

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Common questions

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