PATRON FOCUS
Sky signs up to become Chamber Patron It’s an exciting time for media giant Sky, which is investing in a new 27.5 acre, state-of-the-art TV and film studio at Elstree. When it opens in 2022, the facility will house 13 sound stages, create 2,000 jobs in the local area and has ambitions to be the world’s most sustainable TV and film studio. Sky Studios Elstree is also one of the latest companies to become a Patron of Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce. Chief Operating Officer Caroline Cooper explains why and gives an insight into the company’s ambitious investment plans for the future…
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When did Sky Studios Elstree become a Chamber Patron?
How do you add value to other businesses in the area?
We recently became a Herts Chamber Patron as we recognised the great opportunities of working with local businesses to help deliver Sky Studios Elstree, which is set to open early next year.
Sky Studios Elstree wants to help fuel the local economy of Hertfordshire. We’ll do this through job creation and by building a world-class, sustainable studio that will help attract more investment to the area.
We’re building Sky Studios Elstree because our customers love Sky Originals. This innovative new studio will help us tell stories like never before and Elstree and Borehamwood were the perfect locations for us due to the area’s rich heritage in TV and film.
What benefits do you get from having Patron status?
Our partner, BAM – which is actually constructing the site – has also hosted open days with more than 100 local businesses that wish to become a local supplier of Sky Studios Elstree throughout the construction phase of the site. Later in the year, we’ll be hosting an event with the Chamber to meet more local suppliers who we can work with when the site is operational.
Working with the Chamber as a Patron will allow us to build valuable relationships with businesses in the area. We have big plans for Sky Studios Elstree – it will allow us to double our investment in Sky Originals by 2024 and our ambition is that it will be the world’s most sustainable film and TV studio. The support and knowledge of other businesses in the area will help us strive towards our ambitious targets whilst also boosting Elstree and Borehamwood’s reputation as the new British Hollywood; an exciting place to live, work and do business.
We’re also committed to using Sky Studios Elstree to train and develop the next generation of on and off-screen talent. That work has already begun with our partnership with Elstree Screen Arts Academy – a nine-month documentary partnership where students will receive masterclasses and workshops from teams at Sky Studios, and ultimately create four, ten-minute documentaries on the studios, the heritage of the area, sustainability and diversity. By upskilling this new generation of the workforce, we hope to help bolster the industry in the local area.
INSPIRE
What is it like to work with Herts Chamber? Working with the Herts Chamber, you can see there’s a clear passion for the local area and businesses. We love the ‘Let’s Keep the Heart in Hertfordshire’ campaign that the Herts Chamber recently championed. That’s exactly what we want to do – we’re building on an incredible legacy of TV and film within Elstree and Borehamwood. We want to make sure we’re contributing to that rich heritage. Whether that’s supporting job creation or training and developing talent, we also want to keep the heart in Hertfordshire.
What value do you get from being based in Hertfordshire? We’re already benefiting from the highly skilled workforce in the area. We’re really pleased that we’ve been able to hire dozens of people locally already – working with Job Centre Plus – and a large number of these were unemployed before working on Sky Studios Elstree. The new studio will create 2,000 jobs along the way, so we’re excited to further tap into the Hertfordshire talent pool and will be opening operational roles for the studios soon.
Working with the Herts Chamber, you can see there’s a clear passion for the local area and businesses. We love the ‘Let’s Keep the Heart in Hertfordshire’ campaign that the Herts Chamber recently championed.
