Decision details

To seek approval for the development of the film and television studio facilities at The Bottle Yard Studios at Hawkfield Business Park.

Cabinet

1. Approved option 4 of the ten-year Bottle Yard Studios business plan of developing three new studios at the Hawkfield Business Park site alongside maintaining eight studios at the existing Bottle Yard Studios site at a cost of £11.86m for the purchase and development of Hawkfield Business Park and £1.6m for essential renewal and improvement works at the Bottle Yard Studios site.
2. Noted the approval of the Outline Business Case for the purchase and development of the Hawkfield Business Park site by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) Joint Committee of 29th January 2021.
3. Approved the submission of a Full Business Case to WECA for the £11.86m of external funding.
4. Authorised, on successful grant award, the Executive Director, Growth & Regeneration in consultation with the Council’s s.151 Officer and Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Finance, Governance and Performance, to enter into a grant agreement and procure and award contracts for expenditure of the WECA grant funding for the development of the Hawkfield Business Park site.
5. Authorised the Executive Director, Growth & Regeneration in consultation with the Council’s s.151 Officer and Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Finance, Governance and Performance to bid for and, if successful, to enter into up to £3m of external grant agreements and procure and award contracts for additional decarbonisation measures at Hawkfield Business Park and The Bottle Yard Studios, as grant funding opportunities become available.
6. Approved the investment of capital funding of £1.6m on the Capital Programme for essential renewal and improvements at the Bottle Yard Studio site to allow continued operation of existing studios over the term of the ten-year business plan.
7. Authorised the Executive Director, Growth & Regeneration in consultation with the Council’s s.151 Officer and Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Finance, Governance and Performance to procure and award contracts of up to £1.6m for essential renewal and improvements.