The Writers' Guild of Great Britain

What The Writers' Guild of Great Britain does

The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) is a UK trade union founded in 1959 (with awards heritage dating to 1961) representing more than 3,000 professional writers across TV, film, theatre, radio, books, comedy, poetry, animation, and videogames. The union is headquartered at 1st Floor, 134 Tooley Street, London SE1 2TU, operates with a 15-person staff, and is governed by an elected Executive Council under member ownership. Its functional purpose is collective bargaining, contract vetting, and casework support for writers, supplemented by training events, industry advocacy, and an annual awards programme.

WGGB's core 'products' are membership services rather than software: negotiated minimum rates and rights across media verticals, free contract vetting, legal casework, the Find A Writer directory, free events and workshops, and the Writers' Guild Awards, Tinniswood Award (run jointly with BAFTA), and Olwen Wymark Theatre Encouragement Awards. The technology stack supporting delivery is essentially a website (writersguild.org.uk) with online join/renew, a member login area, and event/video resources — there is no proprietary platform, model, or technical IP disclosed.

The business model is a recurring annual subscription segmented by income band: Full Members earning under £18,000 from writing pay £218/year; Full Members earning £18,000+ pay on a banding schedule up to £2,200; Student Members pay £30/year; Candidate Members pay £9/month or £108/year. Payment is via Direct Debit, card, PayPal, or cheque. GTM is community-led, relying on member referrals ('Recruit a fellow writer'), events open to non-members, content/social media campaigns, and active policy campaigns (BBC Save Our Stories, Writers and AI, censorship, Save River City). The union is affiliated to the TUC, BEAU, the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds, the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe, the British Copyright Council, the Creators' Rights Alliance, the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and the Creative Rights in AI Coalition.

Name

The Writers' Guild of Great Britain

Legal name

Writers' Guild of Great Britain

Website

https://writersguild.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1961

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Writers' Guild of Great Britain is a UK trade union representing 3,000+ professional writers across TV, film, theatre, radio, books, comedy, animation, and videogames, delivering collective bargaining, contract vetting, casework, training events, and the annual Writers' Guild Awards from its London headquarters.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: WGGB generates revenue through annual membership subscriptions. Full Members whose annual earnings from writing were less than £18,000 shall pay a subscription of £218. Full Members whose annual earnings from writing were £18,000 or more shall pay a subscription determined by a writing income banding system up to a maximum of £2,200. Student Members pay £30 per year, and Candidate Members pay £9 per month or £108 per year.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) is the UK trade union for professional writers in TV, film, theatre, audio, books, poetry, comedy, animation and videogames. Its core offering is paid annual membership (Full, Student, Candidate tiers) that delivers collectively negotiated minimum rates and rights, free contract vetting and casework support, advocacy campaigns, training events, awards programs, and an online Find A Writer directory to connect members with commissioning opportunities.

Product overview

The Writers' Guild of Great Britain is a trade union offering membership services, not a technology product company. Its services include: Find A Writer directory (connecting industry with writer members), contract vetting and casework support, rates and rights negotiation across TV, film, theatre, radio, books, comedy, animation and videogames, and awards programs (Writers' Guild Awards, Tinniswood Award, Olwen Wymark Awards). Additional offerings include the Writers and AI campaign addressing AI copyright concerns, events and workshops for professional development, and the New Play Commission Scheme providing grants to playwrights. These are membership services and advocacy programs, not software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• WGGB Membership Subscription

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BEAU (Broadcasting, Entertainment and Arts Unions)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWGGB is a member of BEAU alongside Equity, the NUJ, Musicians' Union and Bectu, working together on common interests in the broadcasting, entertainment and arts sectors.
• Filmmakers' AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWGGB is a member of the Filmmakers' Alliance alongside Directors UK and Pact, collaborating on film industry matters.
• Trades Union Congress (TUC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWGGB is affiliated to the TUC, participating in the broader trade union movement in the UK.
• International Affiliation of Writers GuildscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWGGB is affiliated to the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds, connecting with writers' guilds globally.
• Federation of Screenwriters in EuropeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWGGB is affiliated to the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe.
• British Copyright CouncilminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWGGB is affiliated to the British Copyright Council, working on copyright protection issues.
• Creators' Rights AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWGGB is affiliated to the Creators' Rights Alliance.
• Campaign for Press and Broadcasting FreedomminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWGGB is affiliated to the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom.
• Creative Rights in AI CoalitionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWGGB is part of the Creative Rights in AI Coalition, working on protecting creators' rights in the age of AI.

Scale indicators1 record

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Directors UK: UK trade association for film and television directors that negotiates collective agreements, collects and distributes royalties, and provides rights advocacy. A co-member with WGGB in the Filmmakers' Alliance, with a parallel fee-collection and rights-negotiation operating model.
• PEN International: Global writers' organisation promoting literature and defending freedom of expression across more than 100 PEN centres. PEN shares WGGB's mission of advocating for writers' rights, with a broader international remit but overlapping membership base of professional writers.
• Writers Guild of America (WGA): The US counterpart trade union representing writers in film, television, streaming, news and digital media. WGA is the closest direct peer to WGGB, operating the same trade-union model, negotiating minimum agreements with major producers, and running high-profile campaigns (notably the 2023 writers' strike).
• Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE): European federation of national screenwriter guilds including WGGB. Represents screenwriters across Europe on policy, copyright and AI issues, providing a supranational peer forum directly relevant to WGGB's screenwriting and AI-policy work.
• Society of Authors: UK-based membership organisation representing authors, writers, illustrators and translators, particularly in books, poetry and journalism. Closely comparable to WGGB in offering collective representation, contract advice, and campaigning on author rights within the same UK writer ecosystem.

Others

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA): UK arts charity that supports and celebrates film, television and games, awarding prizes and running learning programmes. BAFTA co-runs the Tinniswood Award with WGGB and operates in the same writer-celebration ecosystem, though it is not a union or membership representative body.

Broad incumbents

• National Union of Journalists (NUJ): UK and Ireland trade union for journalists and media workers. NUJ is a fellow BEAU member alongside WGGB and shares the same union structure, providing collective bargaining, casework and campaigning on media-sector worker rights.
• Musicians' Union: UK trade union representing musicians and music creators across performing, composing, teaching and recording. Operates the same collective-representation model as WGGB and is a fellow BEAU affiliate, addressing analogous rights and rate-negotiation challenges in the creative industries.
• Equity (British Actors' Equity Association): UK trade union for performing arts workers including actors, stage management and choreographers. Equity is a co-member of BEAU with WGGB, operates the same UK collective-bargaining model for creatives, and overlaps membership in theatre, TV and film production.

Regional players

• Irish Writers' Union: Representative body for professional writers in Ireland, offering analogous contract advice, campaigning and community functions to WGGB but serving writers in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland rather than Great Britain. A regional peer operating in a closely adjacent writer market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheWritersGuild
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/wggb
• Facebookfacebook.com/writersguild
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-writers-guild-of-great-britain

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Writers' Guild of Great Britain