UK creators launch alliance to push for greater industry recognition

Some of the UK's leading digital creators have formed an independent alliance aimed at giving the sector a stronger voice across Britain's creative industries.

Creator Voices, backed by YouTube UK, wants creators directly involved in the conversations and decisions that shape the wider sector, rather than treated as separate from it.

Announced at YouTube Festival on Tuesday, the alliance's founding members include Jack Kelly, Santiago Vasquez, Damien Jordan, Jade Beason, Jordan Schwarzenberger, Grace Andrews and Brandon Baum.

The launch comes as the UK creator sector's economic footprint continues to grow.

New research from Oxford Economics, commissioned by YouTube, estimates that YouTube's UK creator ecosystem contributed £2.8 billion ($3.7 billion) to GDP in 2025, up 25% year on year, and supported more than 60,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

Writing on LinkedIn, Schwarzenberger, co-founder of Arcade, said Creator Voices had been set up to give the industry a "proper seat at the table" alongside the rest of the creative world.

"This is going to get creators into the rooms where decisions about our industry are made, so we can speak from our own experience rather than watching things get decided behind boardroom doors," he wrote.

The alliance builds on a wider push to increase creator representation in the UK.

YouTube's 2025 UK Creator Consultation, which surveyed nearly 10,000 creators, found that 43% felt their contribution went unrecognised by the broader creative sector. 

The consultation helped lead to the formation of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Digital Creators two months later. That group has since brought creator perspectives into policy debates, including the government's consideration of further restrictions on children's social media use.

Creator Voices is separate from the APPG, with its focus on representation within the creative industries rather than parliamentary policy.