The Bottle Yard Studios opened in 2010 and underwent significant expansion in 2022

The sale of Bristol’s Bottle Yard Studios has fallen through as parties failed to reach an agreement.

The Bottle Yard Studios had been marketed for new ownership since autumn last year, when members of Bristol City Council strategy and resources committee considered a report from officers regarding the options for the facility’s future, including identifying a potential buyer for the leasehold.

A preferred bidder was pinpointed in the spring of this year, and the council entered a three-month exclusivity period to allow for detailed negotiations and the drawing up of fuller proposals for the potential sale.

Due diligence was subsequently carried out, but an agreement could not be reached in this timeframe; a detailed investigation of the potential options for the studios’ future ownership will now resume.

Councillor Tony Dyer, chair of the strategy and resources committee at Bristol City Council, said: “I’m grateful to officers who have engaged with and undertaken the detailed process of taking the studios to market and negotiating on a potential sale with bidders.

“This has been a necessarily lengthy process to ensure all possible factors are considered and that an extensive level of due diligence is carried out throughout. In the absence of an agreement being reached I have asked that officers conduct a further appraisal of the options for maximising the value and benefits of the studios before returning to our committee with further recommendations.

“We entered into this process with the objective of securing a sustainable future for the studios and the opportunity to grow into its huge potential. Those aims remain the same as does our determination to ensure that one of our city’s most successful regeneration projects continues an upward trajectory to deliver more jobs and more investment for Bristol.”

Established in 2010, and expanded in 2022, The Bottle Yard Studios is a crucial factor in the UK’s film and TV infrastructure, supporting Bristol as it became one of the most-filmed cities in the UK.

Latest figures from Bristol Film Office show that film and high-end TV production at The Bottle Yard Studios and on location in Bristol was worth more than £46m per year to Bristol’s economy last year. This marks a 55% increase in the positive economic impact compared to the previous 12 months.

For more on UK studios around the nations and regions, take a look at our latest edition of World of Studios here. To book your spot in the next issue, which goes to press in early autumn, please email sarah.keegan@mbi.london or alex.curry@theknowledgeonline.com.