AA comment on Nicky Morgan’s appointment as Secretary of State at DCMS

Following the appointment of Rt Hon. Nicky Morgan MP as Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Advertising Association Chief Executive Stephen Woodford has issued the following statement.

“We welcome Nicky Morgan to her new role as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and look forward to working closely with her and the team at DCMS to advance the position of advertising as a jewel in the crown of the UK’s £100bn creative industries sector. We would also like to thank the outgoing ministerial team for their dedicated service on behalf of our country’s cultural and creative sector.

“Advertising is a hugely successful engine of our economy. Every £1 spent on advertising sees a return of £6 in GDP, totalling over £132bn in 2018. We are also a powerhouse for growth in exports as well, with an increase of 18% in the last figures to over £6.9bn – the largest trade surplus in advertising services in Europe. However, these impressive figures, and our status as the global hub for advertising, are dependent on a number of factors. These include ongoing access to the best talent from around the world, protecting the flow of personal data between the UK and EU, developing coherent digital policies to cement the UK’s position as Europe’s biggest digital advertising marketplace and protecting our self-regulatory system which allows advertisers to market their products in a responsible way to consumers. These qualities have made the UK a global force in advertising and they must be protected as we manage the next phase of our relationship with the EU and minimise any disruption.”