‘I ADVISED MINISTER TO QUIT PINEWOOD’
ONE of Wales’ most successful businessmen has told AMs he advised a former Economy Minister to pull out of a deal with Pinewood Film Studios.
Ron Jones, founder of the independent TV group Tinopolis, said he had told Edwina Hart the Welsh Government should “walk away” from its relationship with the company.
Last week a report from the Wales Audit revealed how less than a third of the £13.8m invested in new film projects by the Welsh Government has been recouped.
In February 2014 the Welsh Government bought the former Energy Centre site at Wentloog, between Cardiff and Newport, for £6.3m which it redeveloped at a cost of £3.1m into a new TV and film studio.
It then entered into a collaboration agreement with Pinewood which involved leasing the studio to the company, rebranded as Pinewood Studio Wales; creating a £30m media investment budget to support TV and film production in Wales; and sponsoring Pinewood to promote both the studio – at an annual cost of £525,600 over the five-year term – and the media investment budget.
Mr Jones chairs the Welsh Government’s creative industries sector panel and is a member of its media investment panel.
He told the Assembly’s Culture, Welsh Language and Communications committee: “My advice to Mrs Hart was to walk away from the relationship with Pinewood completely.
“But then we had a whole series of things: her decision to retire, we had purdah [a pre-election or referendum period which prevents new initiatives], the appointment of a new minister. It is fair to say we lost a lot of time during that period for understandable reasons.”
Mr Jones said he was involved in further discussions to renegotiate the deal with Pinewood, and said he “took a fairly stern line with the chief executive of Pinewood at that stage”.
But despite a new deal, Mr Jones said: “My advice, and the advice of the creative industries panel, was still to walk away from the relationship with Pinewood. But I stress that these aren’t always binary issues.”
He praised Pinewood’s contribution, saying: “It helped create a presence for Wales around the world, we were involved with Pinewood and were now playing in a different league. Their marketing of us around the world has been valuable.
“I think some officials and the minister later concluded that it was a better deal to keep them involved. I disagreed, but I give advice and other people decide, so that is perfectly understandable.”
When he was asked why he thought the Government didn’t listen to his advice, Mr Jones said: “In Edwina’s famous phrase to me, ‘You give me advice and I decide what works for me politically.’ And I respect that.“
In October 2017 Ken Skates, who succeeded Mrs Hart, accepted his officials’ advice to terminate the Wentloog lease and the collaboration agreement, and to place the media investment budget on hold.
Further negotiations with Pinewood resulted in a new three-year “management service agreement” which began on November 1, 2017. The estimated net cost of this to the Welsh Government is £392,000 per year plus an additional annual management fee payable to Pinewood.
Mr Skates told the committee he believed he was correct to agree a new deal with Pinewood.
He said: “We would have lost a very strong brand associated with the creative industries, and in terms of reputational damage I think that would have had a negative impact on what is a fast growing and thriving sector in the Welsh economy.
“This is sometimes forgotten amid all the questions about the detail of the agreements.”