Four years after the idea was first floated in public, and nine years after its creator began the quest, a Peaky Blinders studio complex is to be built in Birmingham.
But in a nod to the popular TV series that provides the theme, the development comes with a plot twist.
The plan is low key compared to £500M pre-pandemic plans for a 30- to 40-acre Mercian Studios complex, with speculation that Netflix and the BBC might co-operate.
This week's 80K SF plan is among a growing body of evidence that the post-pandemic rush to create new UK regional soundstage and studio floorspace cannot continue indefinitely.
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is behind the plan for Digbeth Loc Studios, Fazeley Street. Construction work has begun on the conversion of a Victorian block, and is due to complete this summer ready for first location filming in October, Midlands Business Insider reported.
The project is backed by funding from landowner Homes England, Birmingham City Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority.
The apparent scaling-down of regional plans in Birmingham comes as Manchester City Council revealed it would offload its long leasehold interest in the 200K SF Space Studios, Gorton.
Selling the property would “displace the financial risk associated with the studios’ operation, secure the commercial and operational input of a large-scale credible operator, and ensure the future viability of the studio”, said an official report quoted by Place North West.
The sale would mitigate the risk of an increasingly competitive market for studio floorspace, and the risks that the studios stand empty as production deals wax and wane.
The sale will offer the new owner the chance to build a 70K SF extension, something the city council prefers not to do.
The two regional moves highlight one of the conclusions of research into the TV and film production floorspace market by Knight Frank: While the consultancy suggested there is demand for 6M SF of new floorspace in the UK by 2026, it also pointed out that 60% of existing provision is in London and the South East suggesting that this is where demand concentrates.
