The Year UK Post Production Broke – And Why Indies Will Build It Back

The Year UK Post Production Broke – And Why Indies Will Build It Back

If 2025 exposed the fragility of the UK’s post-production ecosystem, it also clarified where its future might lie. As agencies and brands accelerated their in-housing post efforts, generative AI matured from small experiments to become a normal expectation on jobs, with some of the industry’s largest players unable to sustain their scale. Tim Wetherall, partner and head of production at WASH, says the shake-up was less of a singular collapse and more a convergence of pressures that had been building for years. Now, as the industry edges further into 2026, Tim sees opportunity emerge out of this disruption. He reflects on why heavyweight post houses bore the brunt of last year’s instability, how AI is settling into a more pragmatic role, and why independent, creatively agile companies are best placed to thrive in a landscape that demands speed, flexibility, and above all, story.