Work has started on the £12m redevelopment and expansion of Bristol’s highly successful film and TV studio The Bottle Yard as it aims to attract more productions to the city.
The work, which will add three new sound stages and is being funded by the West of England Combined Authority, will take over part of the nearby Hawkfield Business Park in Hengrove. 
The existing buildings on the Bottle Yard’s main site will also be upgraded with £1.6m funding from site owners Bristol City Council under a 10-year business plan.
Both schemes are expected to create 135 jobs during the refurbishment, with a further 863 new posts over the next 10 years through an accompanying workforce development programme focused on high-end TV skills and targeting new talent development in South Bristol.
More than 25 businesses are based on the studio site ranging from visual effects specialists to costume providers and equipment hire firms. This week they were joined by new tenant Eco Shoots, a Bristol-based business specialising in supplying a wide range of sustainable hire equipment and sale items to the film, TV and multimedia industry.
Productions recently filmed at the Bottle Yard, the largest studio of its kind in the region, include BBC/Amazon psychological thriller Chloe – which premiered last Sunday – series one and two of Stephen Merchant’s BBC/Amazon series The Outlaws and BBC One legal drama Showtrial. 
Eco Shoots worked with the production teams of all three.
Global construction specialists ISG has been contracted by the city council to convert the industrial property at Hawkfield Business Park – less than half a mile from the main Bottle Yard site – into three new sound stages.
Measuring 20,000 sq ft, 16,000 sq ft and 7,000 sq ft, the spaces will be accompanied by ancillary spaces including production offices, prop stores, costume/makeup areas and break out areas, amounting to around 82,000 sq ft of converted floor space in total.
Metro Mayor Dan Norris, who leads the West of England Combined Authority, said: “I’m incredibly proud of the investment that the authority I lead is making here.
“It’s a fantastic space and the progress in getting it ready is remarkable. The expansion of The Bottle Yard studios sends a strong message that our amazing creative sector here in the West of England is thriving.
“So many talented people are helping put our region on the national and international map as a go-to location for the film and TV industry. 
“This vote of confidence in the West of England will create a thousand high skilled jobs and should help us to attract even more production companies.”
Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees added: “It is great to see the expansion work starting at The Bottle Yard Studios.
“Our £1.6m investment in the current site, coupled with the additional capacity at the Hawkfield site, once developed, will bring confidence to the city’s film and TV production sector and harness growth as the demand for on-screen content grows worldwide.
“The expansion will also create jobs, skills and training opportunities, support the local supply chain and be a major boost to our wider regeneration plans for south Bristol, bringing growth and opportunity into the area.”
Laura Aviles, senior film manager for Bristol City Council, who is responsible for The Bottle Yard Studios & Bristol Film Office, said the expansion was big news for Bristol’s film and TV sector.
“Upping The Bottle Yard’s stage count from eight to 11 at a time when space for filming is at a premium, means we can welcome more of the productions we know are keen to film in Bristol, a city that saw a 225% increase in filming in the first quarter of the current financial year,” she said.
“We’re making sure Bristol seizes the opportunities presented by the UK production boom with both hands, so that local crew, companies and new generations of talent can reap the benefits in employment, business and skills development.”
Pictured below, from left: Laura Aviles, senior film manager, Bristol City Council, Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees, West of England Mayor Dan Norris and Richard Skomer, ISG regional director
