UK factual superindie Zinc Media Group plc has attracted £3.5m of new investment funding to help accelerate its growth.  The funds were raised in a recently-completed fundraising round in the City. 

Mark Browning, CEO of Zinc Media, says: “Our investors have seen how much we have grown recently, and are keen to back our future expansion.  It means we can further invest in creative talent; invest in our nations and regions operations; and invest in technology to help fuel Zinc’s overall growth.”

Zinc Media is home to six factual TV production brands (Blakeway, Blakeway North, Brook Lapping, Films of Record, Reef, and Tern Television). 

“We experienced a huge uplift in demand for our out-of-London TV work last year, up 32% year on year, a demand we expect to grow even further,” adds Mark Browning. “We are one of the UK’s very few multi-nation companies, so are a perfect partner for commissioners looking for high-quality Nations and Regions content.

“As well as strengthening our TV footprint in the UK, we are also securing more US commissions, so need to invest further behind this growth. We have a fantastic senior creative team and this additional funding will help us extend that team even further.  There is no better time for us to be investing in our creative growth.”
 
Zinc Media operates in Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester and London, with an emerging Bristol base. With overall revenues increasing by 14% last year, the group spans the full range of factual content – from high-quality returning daytime and primetime series, to landmark features and one-offs.  Recent programmes include: Brook Lapping’s Inside Europe: Ten Years of Turmoil (3 x 60 min for BBC Two) and Why Are Our Politicians So Crap? with Jeremy Paxman (1 x 60 min for Channel 5); Blakeway’s Lost Cities with Albert Lin (Nat Geo, 6 x 60 min for National Geographic) and Fighter Pilots: The Real Top Gun (3 x 60 min for ITV); Films of Record’s The Trans Women Athlete Dispute with Martina Navratilova (1 x 60 min for BBC One) and The Sound of Movie Musicals (3 x 60 min for BBC Four); Reef’s Critical Incident (10 x 30 mins for BBC One); and Tern Television’s Emergency Helicopter Medics (10 x 60 mins for More 4) (pictured) and The Bone Detectives: Britain’s Buried Secrets (8 x 60 mins for Channel 4).

Zinc’s new investment will introduce new post production technology across its sites. In future, all Zinc’s nations and regions offices will hang off the same technology and post-production system, allowing the group to further grow its nations and regions commissions.

Zinc also operates Zinc Communicate, a marketing communications agency working across publishing and content.  Part of the new investment will be spent expanding Zinc Communicate, allowing it to build a client base in digital marketing, video communication, and brand-led content alongside its existing digital publishing, CSR and digital education business. 

The £3.5m of new investment funding was raised through a new share issue, which won support from existing shareholders and a number of new institutional investors.
 
“It’s fantastic to have such a vote of confidence from our investors,” continues Mark Browning. “There’s a huge amount of interest in the content market at the moment and it complements our belief that there is huge growth potential for Zinc across the whole of the UK and also internationally.  We are proud to be growing, attracting investment, and expanding our talent base.  It’s a very exciting time for us.”

Staff Reporter

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