Who's sitting on what
Dear APA
The Advertising Producers Association is the trade association for UK commercials production companies. It says it provides members with "recommended terms for engaging crew".
Those terms, the APA Crew Terms (September 2026), say a member will pay crew a day rate "not less than the minimum" for their grade (clause 1), and list those rates in Appendix 1. A DIT's is £527. A gaffer's is £585. A director of photography's starts at £935.
Crew are still asked to work below them. Recommended terms that members can discount on request aren't much of a standard. If an APA member asks you for a discount, show them clause 1. Then show them this page.
The small print, which matters
Every figure comes from the company's most recent accounts filed at Companies House, with a link to the filing so you can check it yourself. Where accounts are filed in machine-readable form we read the tagged figures directly. Where they're scanned paper, we read the printed statement and show you the page.
Most production companies are "small" under the Companies Act 2006, which lets them leave the profit and loss account off the copy they file (section 444). When that happens we say so and show cash and net assets instead. The government has said small companies will have to file a profit and loss account from April 2028.
APA recommended rates are from Appendix 1 of the APA Crew Terms (September 2026), which cover commercials. They are recommended terms, not a legal minimum wage. Music videos fall under the Music Video Producers Association, which is run from the APA's website.
"Brands that sell cool" is our own selection of fashion, streetwear and culture brands. Big brands often trade in the UK through a subsidiary, so the figure shown is for the named UK company, not the worldwide group. A company appearing here doesn't mean it has asked anyone for a discount. It means its accounts are public, and you're entitled to read them before you decide what your time is worth.
What the numbers mean. Turnover is all the money the company took in. Profit is what's left after its costs, before or after tax as labelled. Cash is what it had in the bank on its year-end date. Net assets is what it owns minus what it owes.