Birmingham in the numbers: a big, young city that spends
The Office for National Statistics puts Birmingham's population at 1,176,960 in mid-2025 (UK estimates, published on 1 October 2026), the largest of the UK's 361 local authorities by a wide margin: Leeds, next, has 840,550. The city's median age is 34.1, against 40.9 for the UK. Add Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton and the West Midlands metropolitan county reaches 3,027,190; the whole West Midlands region, 6,205,854 (mid-2025 bulletin).
On the fan side, OnlyFans publishes no city figures. OnlyGuider, a search site for OnlyFans profiles, estimates spending from Fenix's accounts and Google search data, and publishes the results under a CC BY 4.0 licence:
- OnlyGuider's 2026 edition (Wrapped 2026, covering December 2025 to November 2026; page dated 31 August 2026, data note 2 September 2026) forecasts $10.05 million for Birmingham, 49th of 98 cities and 17th in Europe, up 14.3%. Of the six British cities it measures, only London ($60.07 million) is ahead, with Manchester next on $6.80 million. Per 10,000 adults, Birmingham's estimate ($111,742) is higher than London's ($81,619).
- The 2025 edition (Wrapped 2025), which OnlyGuider now calls superseded by its newer method, had Birmingham on $11.73 million, 50th of 100 cities and 17th in Europe.
Both estimate where fans spend, not how many creators live here or what any account will earn; we quote them because they show the local market is anything but small.
Keeping your page away from people who know you
In a city of more than a million, there's always a chance that a neighbour, a colleague or someone from your course subscribes. What helps:
- Blocking works by country. There is no setting for Birmingham, the West Midlands or even England: the narrowest block covers the whole United Kingdom, and every paying fan there with it, and a VPN gets round it. We choose the settings with you, in your own dashboard.
- Backgrounds that place you. The Selfridges discs at the Bullring, the rings of the Library of Birmingham, a West Midlands Metro tram, a bus route number, a towpath sign or a B postcode on an envelope can put you on a map. Check every frame before it goes out, on your social media too.
- What the chat never gives away. Chatters are barred by contract from disclosing or hinting at who you really are, where you live, your daily routine or your family, from arranging to meet fans and from taking money off the platform.
- The code stays on your phone. Two-step verification codes go to your phone; when OnlyFans asks for one, you pass it to the team, so the security of your login stays in your hands.
Threats, takedowns and deepfake requests: the law in England and Wales
General information from the legislation published on legislation.gov.uk, read on 17 October 2026. It isn't legal advice: for your own case, talk to a solicitor.
- A threat is an offence in itself. Under section 66B(4) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, threatening to share a photo or film showing another person in an intimate state is a crime when the threat is meant to make that person, or someone who knows them, fear it will be carried out, or when whoever makes it is reckless about that. Subsection (7) adds that the prosecution doesn't have to prove the image exists. That covers the "pay me or your family sees this" message some creators receive.
- 48 hours to take it down. Since 29 June 2026 (Crime and Policing Act 2026, section 100), sites and apps regulated as user-to-user services under the Online Safety Act 2023 must let the person shown, or someone acting for her, easily file an "intimate image content report" (section 20A), then remove that content, plus copies that are the same or substantially the same, as soon as reasonably practicable and within 48 hours at most (section 10(3A)). Related complaints get an expedited procedure (section 21(2A)). A provider may refuse if it decides the content isn't intimate image content or the report isn't from the person shown or someone acting for her.
- A priority offence for platforms. Section 66B is one of the priority offences in Schedule 7 of the Act, so regulated services must take proportionate steps to stop people encountering it at all, not just react to complaints. Ofcom has been able to enforce these illegal content duties since 17 March 2025, says the government's Online Safety Act explainer.
- Asking for a deepfake is a crime too. Since 6 February 2026, section 66F has made it an offence to ask for a fake intimate image of an adult to be made when she hasn't consented, whether or not it's ever created and wherever the person asked happens to be. A fan who "just wants an AI version" is asking for something illegal; on our side, no AI likeness of you, face or voice, is made unless you've signed to allow it.
Where it stops helping: "intimate image content" is tied to the offences in section 66B(1) to (3) (section 59(10A)), and section 66C(3) carves out images that had already been made public with the consent of the person shown. Whether a leaked paid post falls inside or outside that is a question for a solicitor; our London page looks at that exemption more closely. For leaked paid content, our tool is still copyright, through DMCA notices written by hand.
Birmingham is policed by West Midlands Police. GOV.UK's Contact the police page sets out the routes: 999 if a crime is happening or someone is in immediate danger, 101 for anything else, or an online report to the police in England and Wales. The force's own records show this abuse growing well before the current law: a freedom of information disclosure (ref. 873A/21) lists 60 reports in 2015 and 317 in 2020 of the older offence of disclosing private sexual photographs and films, adding that later figures couldn't be retrieved after a change of recording system in April 2021.
Filming in Birmingham: streets, parks and 35 miles of canal
Film Birmingham, the city's film office since 2006, has handed its work to Production Central WM, a production services agency for the West Midlands: the council's Film Birmingham page (last updated 14 July 2026) now sends all new enquiries and permit applications there. Production Central WM, run by the West Midlands Growth Company, covers the seven councils of the West Midlands Combined Authority area: Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton. What it publishes, in short:
- Where permission comes in. It says all requests to film in its area "require the relevant permissions", and its list of locations includes streets, squares, parks and green spaces, council land and buildings, car parks, cemeteries, libraries and galleries. We found no separate rule for a creator filming alone on a phone, so ask before you shoot (hello@productioncentralwm.com).
- Paperwork first. Applications need public liability insurance of at least £5 million (its Code of Practice allows a lower level to be discussed for very small shoots with minimal impact) and a risk assessment, and permits are issued once paid for. The Code asks for 5 working days' notice for small-scale productions and 14 days for letters to nearby residents and businesses.
- What it costs in Birmingham. The 2026–27 fee sheet charges £84 for a street filming permit for a crew of up to 10, non-refundable, plus £182 if you apply within 2 business days of filming. Fees exclude VAT, and park permits are priced on request.
- The canals have their own rules. Birmingham City Council puts the city's canals at 35 miles, "said to be more than Venice". Filming on a Canal & River Trust waterway needs the Trust's own permission: an application through its FilmApp, £5 million of public liability insurance and five working days' notice (filming and photography). Its 2026–27 location fees list social media content at £196 an hour for a crew of up to 15, plus VAT.
A permit covers logistics, not content. Explicit material belongs indoors, somewhere private where the owner has agreed. Empire runs no shoots in Birmingham; the only ones we organise take place in Mexico City.
HMRC and payments on account (information, not advice)
Tax on what you earn in Birmingham is a matter between you and HM Revenue & Customs. One detail tends to catch people out in their first years of Self Assessment, and GOV.UK explains it on its payments on account page:
- Two advance payments. Payments on account go towards your next tax bill, including Class 4 National Insurance if you're self-employed. Each is usually half of the previous year's tax, due by midnight on 31 January and 31 July.
- The first-year jump. If you made no payments on account the year before, for example because it's your first return, the January bill is the full amount for the year plus the first payment on account. In GOV.UK's example, a £3,000 bill means £4,500 by 31 January and £1,500 more on 31 July.
- When they don't apply. You don't have to make them if last year's tax was under £1,000, or if more than 80% of it was paid outside Self Assessment, for example through your tax code. You can ask HMRC to reduce them if you expect to owe less.
Empire doesn't prepare tax returns, talk to HMRC on your behalf or advise on tax. Check all of this with an accountant, for instance how a commission paid to a company in Mexico should be recorded; no accountant yet? We can introduce you to one. Our Mexican tax ID (RFC PMG2608209C5) is public and verifiable with Mexico's tax authority, SAT.