The Stage

Olympic bid demands sale of 3 Mills Studios

Published Tuesday 17 February 2004 at 15:15 by Joanna Taylor

London based 3 Mills Studios, which launched a string of top rated television shows including Footballers’ Wives, Bad Girls and Big Brother and has been the base for scores of backstage and post-production companies, is to be sacrificed for Britain’s attempt to host the 2012 Olympics.

The 20 acre site is being sold to the London Development Agency, which wants the space for a ‘media centre’ for thousands of visiting journalists if the bid is successful. However, no decision on the Olympics is expected until 2005 and London faces strong competition from front-runners New York and Paris, plus Madrid, Moscow and Istanbul.

Owner Workspace Group, which wanted to compete with studios such as Pinewood and Shepperton, recently invested £8 million in 3 Mills.

However, operations director of Workspace Group, Maddie Carragher, claimed the company gave in to pressure to sell 3 Mills, saying it might have been forced to relinquish the property by a Compulsory Purchase Order.

“The long and short of it is that we have agreed to discuss the sale with them because if we don’t it is likely to lead to a compulsory purchase buy and that would not be good for anyone.

“It is of great concern what they are going to do with it. Workspace has owned the site for ten years. We built it up from a derelict site and it is now 100% let. It is a thriving site with great prospects for the future and we don’t want to see that disappear,” she said.

Founded in 1987, 3 Mills’ inner city location and low rental costs added to its popularity. It attracted small businesses and young people who could not afford more expensive West End facilities and helped boost investment in the economically depressed area. The studios were home also to the first successful low-budget soap, Carlton’s London Bridge.

The LDA has refuted suggestions it would impose a compulsory purchase. It insisted that existing tenants will not be forced to relocate to make way for the new centre, which will include press and conference rooms, and the filming facilities will remain in use.

Showbusiness accountant Robert Breckman, whose clients include many small backstage companies, compared the government’s Olympics bid with the Dome debacle. He predicted that those currently housed at 3 Mills would suffer most.

Said Breckman: “The companies will be left in a state of limbo, not knowing if they will have to relocate or not. It could result in an unquantifiable loss. Although certain sections of the community feel that the Olympics in London would be to their advantage I have yet to be convinced.”

Among the 3 Mills tenants is The School of Physical Theatre. Its administrator Lin Grist said she is concerned about the lack of information she has received concerning the renewal of the companies lease, which expires in 2005.

“We are obviously concerned but mainly because of the lack of information. In terms of business planning, particularly if the business depends on its location, it is unsettling. It could cost up to £50,000 to relocate.”

The LDA must earmark 50% of the land for its proposed Olympic village before it can submit the final bid in November of this year, with the winning city announced in July 2005.

An LDA spokeswoman said: “We want to ensure the future of the site as a creative industries cluster and in terms of the Olympics that is where the media centre is going to be. After the Olympics this will be turned back into a hub for creative industries.”

Chairman of the Save London’s Theatres Campaign John Levitt said that it would be disastrous for the film and television industry if 3 Mills did not continue as a working studio for TV and film.

He added: “There aren’t that many spaces in London appropriate for the Olympics development and it sounds like this is an exercise of expediency and money. One is always suspicious of what the term “media centre” means. It could mean anything.”