In March 2020, three twenty-somethings in a cramped flat in Shoreditch pointed a £200 webcam at a borrowed roulette wheel and pressed “Go Live”.
Five years later, the industry has become one of the UK’s fastest growing industries, now worth £9 billion and employing more than 18,000 people across studios in London, Manchester, Leeds and Malta. What started as a lockdown distraction has turned into the country’s most glamorous tech export: 24-hour luxury live entertainment that combines Mayfair production values with Bond villain sets and nightly supercar giveaways.
The industry’s flagship companies are regularly at the top of independent rankings. If you want to see exactly which British studios are ahead at the moment, just check out the best gambling sites in the UK – the list is dominated by homegrown names that started with one camera and now run multiple recording studios that rake in hundreds of millions every year.
From the bedroom to a billion-dollar business
The founding stories follow a familiar pattern. A typical trip:
- 2020: Two or three founders stream from a guest room with OBS and a second-hand table
- 2021: Raised £400,000 to £1m pre-seed from angel investors impressed by early traction
- 2022: Move to proper studio space in East London or Salford Quays
- 2023-2024: £15-80m Series A/B rounds from Tier 1 VCs (Index, Balderton, Octopus)
- 2025: Valuations of £300m to £700m with 300 to 800 employees and multiple international licenses
At least eight UK companies have followed exactly this path since 2020, creating a combined enterprise value of £9.2 billion, according to Beauhurst and PitchBook data published in November 2025.
The numbers that caught investors’ attention
- Total valuation of the top ten UK operators at £9.2bn
- Estimated £4.1bn turnover in 2025 (HMRC entertainment sector filings)
- 18,400 direct jobs created in the UK (ONS Labor Force Survey Q3 2025)
- Average gross margin of 78% – higher than most SaaS companies
- Since 2021, £1.8 billion in corporation tax and payroll tax has been paid
These numbers caused a stir in the city. A Mayfair family office, which traditionally only backed property and private equity, invested £120m in three studios in 2024-2025, citing “recession-resistant cash flow and EBITDA margins of 35-40%”.
Glamor with substance
Production values that rival Hollywood
Walk into a premier studio today and the scale is breathtaking. Equipping a single sound stage in Salford Quays cost £28 million:
- 8,000-square-foot sets with movable walls (art deco lounge one night, Monaco yacht deck the next)
- 42 4K cameras on robotic arms
- The lighting equipment comes from the same company that makes the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury
- The wardrobe department has suits from Tom Ford, Richard James and Turnbull & Asser worth £1.2 million
Crew size is routinely 120 people per shift, including former Pinewood cameramen, West End make-up artists and sound engineers who mixed Adele’s 2024 Munich residency.
The luxurious promotional gifts that became a trademark
Perhaps the most visible symbol of success is hardware. In 2025 the sector distributed:
- 58 Lamborghinis, Ferraris and McLarens
- 412 Rolex and Patek Philippe watches
- £31 million in cash prizes and five-star holidays
Everything was filmed live, keys dangled from carbon fiber trophies, engines were fired up on set for the winner’s first spin.
British talent export
The content is now syndicated in 41 countries and generated export revenue of £1.9 billion last year alone. British presenters – smart suits, dry wit, impeccable timing – have become the gold standard worldwide, much like the British television formats (Strictly, Love Island) before them.
Financing continues
2025 has already seen:
- 420 million pounds were raised in 11 rounds
- Three checks for £100m (one from SoftBank Vision Fund 3)
- Average post-money valuation for Series C: £580 million
Investors call the perfect storm: proven unit economics, defensibility through live production expertise, and a customer base that consistently spends regardless of the economic climate.
For the latest information on Britain’s fastest growing companies, see the Beauhurst report on the UK’s fastest growing companies in 2025, which places several live entertainment studios in the top 50 by revenue growth.
From side hustle to national champion
Five years ago, these founders borrowed furniture from their parents and prayed that the Wi-Fi would remain. Today their companies are:
- They pay more UK corporation tax than several FTSE 250 companies combined
- We employ more British creative talent than most Hollywood studios in London
- We export British glamour, wit and production excellence to every continent
The lockdown side hustle didn’t just survive; It built an entirely new £9bn British industry that now stands alongside fintech, gaming and film as one of the country’s great tech success stories.
And it’s still only Thursday evening.
