The economic impact of filming on location in Bristol and at The Bottle Yard Studios remained strong at £28.6 million 2025-26, according to the latest Bristol Film Office annual figures.
29 major productions – including Rivals, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Boarders, Gone and The Crow Girl – were assisted by Bristol Film Office and The Bottle Yard Studios during the 2025–26 financial year, generating an overall estimated economic impact of £28,640,188.
Clockwise from top left: Gone (ITV), A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series 2 (BBC/Netflix), The Crow Girl series 2 (Paramount+), Rivals season 2 (Disney+)
While this represents a reduction from the exceptional £46.6m impact reported in 2024–25, the latest annual figure is broadly in line with 2023–24, when production activity generated an estimated £30m. This suggests that 2024–25 was an unusually high-performing year, shaped by a particularly strong slate of major productions and extended filming activity, rather than a level that could be expected to repeat annually.
The £28.6 million figure represents a significant contribution to the city’s economy in 2025–26, and reflects continued demand for Bristol as a filming destination and production base. Looking back across the last five years, Bristol’s filming economy has shown clear growth compared with the early part of the period. Estimated economic impact stood at £20,857,000 in 2021–22 and £20,134,750 in 2022–23, before rising to £30,038,739 in 2023–24. It then reached an exceptional high of £46,645,000 in 2024–25, before easing back to £28,640,188 in 2025–26.
Adela Straughan, Bristol Film Office Manager, says: “Looking at this data, we can see that although the 2025–26 figure is lower than the previous year’s peak, it remains approximately 37% higher than 2021–22 and 42% higher than 2022–23. This indicates that Bristol has moved onto a stronger overall footing than earlier in the five-year period, even while year-on-year performance continues to be influenced by wider market conditions, production cycles, commissioning patterns and studio availability.
“The figures demonstrate the continued importance of film and television production to Bristol’s economy. Productions filming in the city and at The Bottle Yard Studios generate spend across a wide range of local sectors, including accommodation, catering, transport, construction, security, facilities, specialist crew, equipment hire and other production services. This activity supports local jobs, businesses and freelance opportunities, while also strengthening Bristol’s reputation as one of the UK’s leading regional centres for scripted production.
“Bristol Film Office continues to play a key role in enabling filming across the city by supporting productions with permissions, logistical advice, liaison with council services, and access to a wide range of city locations. The Bottle Yard Studios remains central to Bristol’s production offer, providing dedicated studio infrastructure that attracts major film and television projects and supports longer-term production activity in the region.”
Leader of Bristol City Council, Councillor Tony Dyer, said: “The package of services provided by these two industry ‘pillars’ [Bristol Film Office and The Bottle Yard Studios] continues to prove popular with productions and highly effective in attracting filming… These figures indicate that this part of Bristol’s film industry has entered a new chapter; one where it can generate substantially higher levels of economic activity, laying foundations for further long-term growth. Together we are generating investment, creating opportunities and supporting a thriving screen sector ecosystem.”
Productions filmed both at The Bottle Yard Studios and on location in Bristol with Film Office support, included: Disney+ Jilly Cooper drama Rivals, series two of BBC young adult drama A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder starring Emma Myers, the third and final series of BBC comedy drama Boarders, ITV crime drama Gone starring Eve Myles and David Morrissey, series two of Paramount+ thriller The Crow Girl starring Eve Myles and Katherine Kelly, and the upcoming second series of 5/Masterpiece period drama The Forsytes.
Visiting titles filming on location only in the city with support from Bristol Film Office included BBC drama The Other Bennett Sister, series four of BBC/HBO banking drama Industry, ITV drama Winter and upcoming feature film A Colt is My Passport directed by Gareth Evans.
| How are the figures calculated? The estimated economic impact figures are calculated using the Average Local Production Spend Rate Card launched by Creative England’s Filming in England team in 2023. The Rate Card forms part of the Local Economic Impact Toolkit, designed to help local authorities in England calculate and report the average local economic impact of filming activity in their area. The methodology applies average daily local spend estimates to different types of production activity, taking into account the scale and budget range of productions and the classification of the filming location. It reflects the fact that productions generate spend across a wide range of categories, including screen-production-specific expenditure such as crew wages and specialist suppliers, as well as wider local spend on hospitality, catering, transport, construction, business support, digital services, fashion and beauty, and local labour. This provides a consistent framework for estimating the value of filming activity supported by Bristol Film Office and The Bottle Yard Studios each year. Benefiting Bristol Beyond immediate production spend, filming delivers wider benefits for the city. Productions create opportunities for Bristol-based crew, suppliers, venues, businesses and community spaces. They also help showcase the city on screen, supporting Bristol’s profile as a creative, distinctive and film-friendly destination. Locations featured in film and television can also contribute to longer-term screen tourism benefits, encouraging audiences to visit places they have seen on screen – as seen in Visit West’s Starring Bristol campaign launched this Summer. As more venues, charities, community spaces and businesses work with Bristol Film Office to host filming, there are continued opportunities for local organisations to generate new income streams and benefit from Bristol’s growing reputation as a screen production hub. |
For information about the economic impact of filming in Bristol in past years, click here.