Bristol Workforce Development Strategy

Image Credit: The Bottle Yard Studios

Client: Bristol City Council and The Bottle Yard Studios

Location: Bristol, UK

In October 2022, SPI was commissioned by Bristol City Council (BCC) to undertake the development of a five-year Workforce Development Strategy for The Bottle Yard Studios (TBYS), who recently launched their £13.5m expansion facility - named TBY2 - at the neighbouring Hawkfield Business Park site.

The Bottle Yard Studios is located in South Bristol, a part of the city with significantly high levels of socio-economic deprivation. Its expansion, therefore, provides the ideal opportunity to encourage disadvantaged young people from the local area into the film and TV industry. TBYS currently partners with education provider boomsatsuma to host an OCR Cambridge Technicals Extended Diploma in Film & TV Production for 16-19 year olds, who study in an on-site classroom gaining hands on experience in off-screen roles. With greater demand for crew as production levels in the city rise, BCC, with funding from the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), has hired SPI to build on current initiatives to develop a new workforce strategy for the screen workforce in Bristol.

Bristol is the third largest media hub in the country and the city attracts national and international commissions across all genres, and secured UNESCO City of Film status in 2017. Film and TV productions made at The Bottle Yard Studios and filmed on location in the city with support from Bristol Film Office, generated £20.8m towards the city’s economy in 2021/22.

The workforce development strategy in Bristol will focus on the High-End TV (HETV) workforce, aligning with the 93% HETV spend increase across the UK over the last five years.

If you would like to hear more about this study, please email SPI Associate Mounira Almenoar on mounira@o-spi.com.

Further information on SPI’s strategic sector development work can be found here.