The post-Covid boom in production led to a massive development of UK studio space – and then the strikes hit the industry hard. But there’s a sense now that the studio business is getting back on an even keel with more than a sniff of optimism in the air. Pippa Considine reports
Cautious, but optimistic is how studios in the UK are viewing business, as we head through what is being seen as a solid 2026.
The headline figures look good. According to BFI statistics, film and high-end TV production spend in the UK was £6.8 billion in 2025, a 22% increase on 2024.
HETV accounted for £4 billion, over half of this. Feature film production contributed £2.8 billion, up 31% on 2024 and the highest annual spend on record.
While 85% of total spend is inward investment, and a big slice of this is spent on tentpole titles, the newly introduced indie film tax credit is helping to boost numbers of lower budget features.
“It’s been a very complex and mixed picture over the post-strike [2023] landscape,” says Adrian Wootton, ceo at the British Film Commission. He observes that the major studios have kept busy, including newcomers Eastbrook and Shadow Box Shinfield. While studios in the nations and regions he describes as “a curate’s egg.”
The UK is holding its own internationally. “We’re doing significantly better than pretty much every other country in the world in terms of inward investment,” says Wootton.
“The heady years of the streamer wars are long behind us, and growth in demand has now normalised into a long-term curve,” says David Conway, ceo of Pinewood Group, which has a long-term deal to host Disney and Netflix productions.
Shadow Box Shinfield, which officially opened in 2024, has bookings through to the summer and beyond. Business is “stabilising,” says vp, Global Studio Operations Dean Horne. “It’s a kind of new normal.”
Production budgets are squashed, while costs continue to go up. At Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, svp Emily Stillman says: “Budgets are tighter, decisions are maybe a little bit later than they used to be, and it feels like production is either in the massive tentpole world or very low budget. There are the mid budget films, TV shows and film productions, but that’s a little bit of a lighter area than previously.”
While development of new studio sites has slowed down, there’s still some expansion of existing studios on the books. The UK looks to be at roughly the right capacity; some believe it now has too much space.
Recent pressures have included a huge business rates hike in 2023, quadrupling charges for some studios. This has largely gone away, with re-evaluations and the Labour government confirmation in the last budget of 40% business rates relief, locked for ten years.
Work has been cranking up for many. West London’s Garden Studios saw a 21% increase in enquiries in the second half of 2025 vs the first half. And at nearby Ealing Studios, which relaunched with a complete overhaul last year, co-owner Barnaby Thompson says, “if you’re well located and can provide good facilities there’s plenty of business out there.”
Jon Creamer
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