It’s time YouTubers get more respect and financial support, one of the UK’s true crime favourites on the platform has said.
Eleanor Neale, whose Outlore channel focuses on deep dives with a focus on the victims, said it should be easier to make a career of content creation.
She launched her channel in in 2017, when it was initially focused on make-up. After pivoting to crime, it now has 2.7 million followers.
Eleanor told Metro that starting a YouTube channel is a viable business, but too many dismiss it as a hobby.
‘For a long time, YouTubers have been seen as quite valuable, but just not quite on a level pegging with other industries,’ she said.
‘It’s been so difficult for people to take the first steps, because there’s no funding, there are no business loans, there’s no help to learn your skills.
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‘If I want to be a YouTuber, they don’t give you a bank loan to be a YouTuber. But I think that’s how we’re going to get so many incredible content creators.’
She thinks there should be support for creators at early stages so people can get their channels off the ground, without having to rely on family who may not be in a position to help.
‘It wasn’t a bank loan that I had, but my grandma loaned me a couple of grand to get my first camera, and look where I am now,’ she said.
Other creators, including Amelia Dimoldenberg, have also called for YouTubers to be taken seriously and recognised as doing a legitimate profession. The Chicken Shop Date star wants more government support and resources, such as making it easier to get a mortgage.
MPs are also getting in on this, and last week formed the first official parliamentary group to look at how to help creators, such as making it easier to film without a permit in public if you only have basic equipment.
YouTubers contributed over £2.2 billion to the UK’s GDP in 2024, supporting 45,000 full time jobs, according to research from Oxford Economics.
But many sneer if kids proclaim their dreams of becoming a YouTuber.
It’s not just about recognition in the mainstream, but the practicalities:there is also little in the way of formal training, for example, and HMRC has no clear tax code for ‘creators’.
Labour MP Feryel Clark is leading an all-party parliamentary group to represent creators and influencers, an informal forum in parliament that can nevertheless be highly influential.
Addressing an audience of YouTubers last week as part of the platform’s twentieth birthday celebrations, Ms Clark said: ‘Until 2024, you could count the number of MPs who understood the world of digital creators.
‘For far too long, Westminster has lagged behind your brilliance, but we are trying to change that.’
Describing the digital creative economy as a ‘powerhouse’, she said creators were not just building channels, but businesses.
‘Over 80% of watch time from UK creators comes from overseas,’ she added. ‘That’s British culture exported at scale, influencing ideas, and income flowing back in.’
The sector is ‘overlooked’, she said, saying any other industry contributing so much would have vast influence with policy designed around their needs.
‘We will be changing that, she said. ‘We will change how the sector is seen and make sure policies are designed and delivered that are beneficial to you.’
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