What this page covers: What to expect when working with animation studios in Northern Ireland, including sectors served, pricing, and how the process works with a Belfast-based studio.
Who this is for: Business owners, marketing managers, and L&D professionals in Northern Ireland looking to commission professional 2D animation for the first time or comparing local options.
Key takeaway: Educational Voice is based in Northern Ireland, so businesses here get genuine in-person access alongside the full production process, at Belfast rates rather than London or Dublin pricing.
Expert insight: “Being based in Belfast gives us a unique perspective on what Northern Ireland businesses need from their animation. We understand the market, the culture, and the practical realities of working with organisations who need quality without enterprise-level budgets.” Michelle Connolly, Founder and Director, Educational Voice
Quick facts:
- The studio is headquartered at the McSweeney Centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
- Northern Ireland’s screen sector generates over £300 million annually, with animation forming a growing part of that output.
- The team has produced over 3,300 educational animations for LearningMole.
Educational Voice is one of animation studios Northern Ireland based in Belfast, working with businesses across healthcare, financial services, education, and corporate training. Because it’s based here, Northern Ireland clients get something most animation providers can’t offer outside their home region: straightforward in-person access alongside the full production process. This page covers who the studio works with, what sectors it serves, what animation costs, and how to start a project with a Northern Ireland provider rather than one based further afield.
Working with Northern Ireland Businesses
Educational Voice works with organisations across Northern Ireland on 2D animation projects, from single explainer videos to multi-part training series. Being based in Belfast means understanding the local market directly: the businesses operating here, the sectors that matter most, and the budgets most Northern Ireland organisations are actually working with, rather than assuming London-scale spend applies everywhere.
That local grounding shapes the brief from the first conversation. A Northern Ireland business doesn’t need to explain regional context that a studio based in Manchester or London might ask about; the team already works within it day to day. Projects for Northern Ireland clients run out of our Belfast HQ, and the studio has produced animation for councils, SMEs, and educational institutions across the region, alongside its long-running production work for LearningMole, which has grown into one of the studio’s most substantial ongoing projects.
Northern Ireland’s screen sector has expanded considerably over the past decade, generating over £300 million annually, and animation makes up a growing share of that output. Much of the growth sits in broadcast and entertainment work, but the business side, explainer videos, training content, and educational animation, has grown alongside it, supported by Northern Ireland Screen’s investment in skills and infrastructure.
Working locally also shortens the practical side of a project. Contracts, invoicing, and site visits, where they’re needed, don’t involve time zones, courier delays for physical materials, or the coordination overhead that comes with working across a longer distance. For a first-time buyer of animation services, that can make the whole process feel considerably less daunting.
Sectors We Serve in Northern Ireland
The studio works across several sectors that make up a significant share of Northern Ireland’s commissioned animation work, each with slightly different priorities and constraints.
Education and training providers commission the largest share of the studio’s Northern Ireland work. This reflects Michelle Connolly’s background as a former primary school teacher and the studio’s ongoing production for LearningMole, which has shaped how the team approaches breaking down complex material for learners of different ages and levels.
Healthcare organisations use animation for patient information, staff training, and compliance content, where accuracy and clarity carry particular weight. A misjudged simplification in a patient-facing explainer can cause real confusion, so the review process for this sector tends to involve more sign-off stages than a typical marketing project.
Financial services firms commission explainer content and internal training animation that needs to meet compliance requirements without losing clarity for the end audience. Regulatory language is often the starting point, and part of the job is turning that into something a non-specialist audience can actually follow.
Corporate and SME clients across Northern Ireland use animation for onboarding, product explainers, and marketing content, often as a first step into professional video production before expanding into a wider content strategy. Public sector and non-profit organisations make up a smaller but steady share of the studio’s Northern Ireland work too, typically commissioning explainer content around service changes or community initiatives.
How the Process Works for Northern Ireland Clients
Because the studio is based in Belfast, the process for Northern Ireland clients runs a little differently to how it works for businesses further afield. In-person meetings are genuinely straightforward here, and many Northern Ireland clients choose to meet at the McSweeney Centre studio for the brief, a script review, or final sign-off, rather than working entirely through calls and email.
That doesn’t mean every stage needs a meeting. Most Northern Ireland clients still handle day-to-day feedback online, using the same structured review rounds as any other project: brief, script, storyboard, animation, voiceover, review, delivery. The difference is that face-to-face contact is available at any stage a client wants it, without the travel time or scheduling friction a business elsewhere in the UK would typically face.
For organisations working on sensitive or regulated content, that access matters in practice, not just in principle. Sitting down in person to review a storyboard for a compliance training animation tends to catch issues faster than a written comment thread, particularly when several stakeholders need to agree on the same point before production moves forward. Northern Ireland clients also tend to have shorter lead times between stages, simply because scheduling a follow-up call or a quick site visit doesn’t need to be planned as far in advance.
The stages themselves don’t change regardless of location. Discovery and brief come first, followed by script, then storyboard, then the animation stage itself, voiceover and audio, and finally structured review and delivery. What being local adds is flexibility in how those stages happen: a Northern Ireland client might handle the brief in person, review the storyboard over video call, then come back in for a final sign-off session before delivery. A client based in London or Dublin would run the same sequence entirely online.
“Most businesses overthink animation. The ones that get results start with a single clear message and build everything around that.”Michelle Connolly, Founder and Director, Educational Voice
Pricing Expectations
Prices for 2D animation generally fall into three bands, depending on length and complexity.
Pricing carried forward unchanged from the live page. Flagging for Michelle’s continued sign-off before this goes live again.
Simple Explainer
From £1,500
A 60-second animation in a clean 2D style, with limited character animation. Suitable for a homepage or social media.
Standard Production
£3,000–£6,000
60 to 90 seconds, character animation, branded visuals, and voiceover. Suitable for marketing and training.
Complex or Series
£8,000–£15,000+
Multi-chapter training content with detailed character work and a full script and storyboard process.
For a full breakdown of what drives these figures, see this guide to what animation costs in the UK. Being based in Northern Ireland doesn’t change that pricing structure, but it does remove the premium that a London or Dublin agency would typically add to cover higher overheads. Northern Ireland clients pay Belfast rates for the same standard of production, and the discovery call process still applies regardless of where a client is based: a short conversation about goals, audience, and budget, followed by a proposal that names the price band and what’s included at that level.
Examples of Our Work
The Northern Ireland client work produced by the studio spans explainer videos, training series, and educational content, including a long-running production relationship with LearningMole that now spans over 3,300 individual educational animations. That volume of production has built a depth of experience in educational and training content specifically that’s harder to find at a smaller regional studio working across fewer projects.
Work for Northern Ireland clients has covered onboarding animations for growing SMEs, patient information content for healthcare providers, and compliance training series for financial services firms, alongside marketing-focused explainer videos for consumer-facing businesses. Full examples, including work produced for regional clients across different sectors, sit in our portfolio, which is worth reviewing before commissioning to see whether the existing style and approach fits your project.
Beyond Northern Ireland
While Northern Ireland is home, Educational Voice also produces animation for businesses across the rest of the UK and Ireland, working remotely from the same Belfast studio using the same production process described above. The pricing, the review structure, and the production stages don’t change for clients outside the region; what changes is simply whether in-person meetings are practical.
Clients considering a wider comparison can look at how the Northern Ireland service area is described more broadly, or review coverage across the UK and Ireland to see how the same team supports businesses outside the region using an entirely remote workflow.
That reach matters for Northern Ireland businesses too, even if they never use it directly. A studio that only ever works with local clients has a narrower base of experience to draw on. Producing animation for clients in London, Dublin, and elsewhere in the UK means the same team is regularly exposed to different sector requirements, different regulatory environments, and different audience expectations, all of which feeds back into the quality of work done for Northern Ireland clients as well.
How to Start a Northern Ireland Project with Us
Starting a project begins with a short conversation, either in person at the Belfast studio or over a call, covering your goals, audience, and rough budget. From there, the studio puts together a proposal setting out the price band, the timeline, and exactly what’s included at that level, so there’s no ambiguity before a contract is signed.
Once a brief is agreed, the project moves through script, storyboard, animation, voiceover, and structured review, with in-person sessions available at any stage a Northern Ireland client wants one. Our 2D animation services cover everything from that first conversation through to final delivery. If you’re comparing more than one studio before deciding, this guide to how to choose an animation company covers the questions worth asking and the trust signals worth checking, regardless of who you eventually choose to work with.
FAQs
Do You Have a Northern Ireland Office?
Yes. The studio is based at the McSweeney Centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and this is its only office. All production work is managed from here, whether the client is based locally or elsewhere in the UK, and there’s no satellite office or remote-only team involved.
What’s the Process Like for Northern Ireland Clients?
Northern Ireland clients get the same structured production process as any other client: brief, script, storyboard, animation, voiceover, and review, but with the option of in-person meetings at any stage. Many clients use a mix of both, running most feedback online and reserving face-to-face sessions for the brief or a final sign-off.
What Does Animation Cost for Northern Ireland Businesses?
Pricing follows the same bands as anywhere else: roughly £1,500 for a simple explainer, £3,000 to £6,000 for a standard production with character animation and voiceover, and £8,000 to £15,000 or more for complex, multi-chapter work. Being local doesn’t add a premium; if anything, Northern Ireland clients avoid the higher overheads that a London or Dublin studio would typically build into a quote.
Can We Meet in Person in Northern Ireland?
Yes. In-person meetings at the Belfast studio are genuinely straightforward for Northern Ireland clients, and many choose to meet for the initial brief, a storyboard review, or final sign-off. It’s entirely optional; plenty of clients prefer to run the whole project online, and either approach works.
What Sectors Do You Work With in Northern Ireland?
The studio works with education and training providers, healthcare organisations, financial services firms, and corporate and SME clients across Northern Ireland, along with a steady stream of public sector and non-profit work. Education-focused work makes up a significant share of that, reflecting the ongoing production relationship with LearningMole and Michelle Connolly’s background as a former primary school teacher.
Ready to Discuss Your Animation Project?
Educational Voice works with Northern Ireland businesses from its Belfast studio, with the option of in-person meetings and no premium for local access.
