Pinewood gets ready for action
LIGHTS, camera, action! Shares of Pinewood-Shepperton, the production home of Star Wars: Episode VII and the James Bond franchise, climbed 55p to 467.5p after the studio operator received Government approval for its long-delayed expansion plans worth £200m.
Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, granted planning permission to Pinewood for its Pinewood Studios Development Framework proposal. It had been blocked by local objections several times since initial proposals were put forward in 2012.
The Government’s green light is game changing news for Shepperton, which was having to reject lucrative film and TV work because of work constraints.
TV dramas such as The Tudors and a news series of 24 would have been filmed at Pinewood but for lack of space.
Broker N+1 Singer says the approval provides the platform from which Pinewood can drive incremental growth, having been capacity constrained. The studio, just outside London, wants to build another ten stages and create 3,100 new jobs. The plan includes doubling the existing Pinewood Studios capacity by roughly 100,000 square metres, including news studios, workshops and production offices.
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