TikTok's UK Business Empire: How a Chinese App Became Britain's Most Powerful Media Force
TikTok has overtaken ITV in advertising revenue and changed the career trajectories of thousands of British creators
TikTok generated an estimated £1.8 billion in UK advertising revenue in 2025 — a figure that, for the first time, exceeds the advertising revenues of ITV. The milestone, revealed by industry research firm WARC, marks a definitive shift in British media economics that has been building for five years and has now reached a point of no return.
The Speed of the Shift
The pace of TikTok's UK growth has been extraordinary. The platform launched in Britain in 2018 with a user base drawn predominantly from teenagers consuming short-form entertainment. By 2022, it had expanded dramatically into older age groups and new content verticals. By 2025, it had become the primary discovery platform for British consumers seeking information about products, services, food, travel, and current events.
The Creator Economy
TikTok's dominance in Britain has created an entirely new economic ecosystem. The platform's Creator Marketplace connects brands with an estimated 15,000 British creators who have built audiences significant enough to command commercial partnerships. At the top of the market, the most followed British TikTokers earn seven-figure annual incomes from brand deals, TikTok's own creator fund, and the merchandise businesses they build on top of their followings.
The Regulatory Tension
TikTok's success has not insulated it from political scrutiny. Its Chinese ownership structure — ByteDance is headquartered in Beijing — has generated persistent concerns about data security and the potential for content manipulation. The UK government has banned TikTok from government devices and is currently reviewing the broader national security implications of the platform's domestic market position.
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Culture & Creator Economy Reporter
Jermaine Phillips covers the creator economy, sports business, and the cultural dimensions of wealth for The Great British News. With a background in music industry journalism and digital media, Jermaine is one of the few journalists in Britain who genuinely understands how YouTube, boxing, and brand deals are reshaping the face of British entrepreneurship. He studied Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London.
