Unitbase.co.uk exclusive agents for the former Merton Studios

A newly formed studio management company led by Piers Read and backed by investor Panther Securities PLC, the listed company on London’s Stock Exchange has purchased Merton Studios from FremantleMedia with the intention of reinventing it into the UK’s elite studio. The deal was concluded earlier this week following months of negotiations between the consortium and Fremantle Media, with a £5m deal rumoured to have secured the freehold & all of its contents. Panther Securities PLC is owned by majority shareholder and Chairman Andrew Perloff, who is well known in the financial sector.

The studio has been the home of ‘The Bill’, produced by Talkback Thames, since 1983. Since ITV decommissioned the production in May this year, operations at the 220,000 square foot studio have gradually been closed down. This is the first time the studio complex can be commercially exploited – until now The Bill being shot onsite has drastically restricted availability to independent Producers to utilise the outstanding facilities on site. This is no longer the case, with the studio now immediately available for hire. This includes two sound stages, that can be utilised as either set build or television entertainment shows. The studio is currently installing state of the art, 3D galleries to provide the industry with a cutting edge facility that can also broadcast live content. The studio gallery will also cater to HD & SD productions.

In addition it has over 50 purpose built sets including some of the hardest to find locations. These include a Prison Police Station, Court Room, Pub, Hospital and exterior street sets, which makes the studio totally unique compared to any other in the UK. There is also an industrial kitchen on site and over 100 production offices available for hire that the studio also plans to undertake leases at with media orientated companies. Also included within the purchase price is HD shooting kit & HD post production facilities as well as over 45,000 costume pieces. It is expected that the studio will attract both the event and photographic industries too.

The new studio management company not yet named and currently in the process of being branded, will be run by Managing Director Piers Read & fellow Director John Brennan. Both men bring highly relevant experience to benefit the studios operation. Piers Read is a former location manager who owns Unitbase.co.uk, one of the industry’s leading location agencies, that since 2003 has successfully ran several production bases in London as alternatives to conventional studio based productions. Unitbase’s clients include Hackney Empire, Westfield London, British Waterways, National Car Parks and Land Securities PLC for the purposes of commercial filming.

Piers has also enjoyed a successful freelance career working as a Line Producer at some of the leading independent production companies, whose credits include Peep Show and The Inbetweeners, working most recently with So Television.

John has been Managing Director of leading hire company Procam Television since 1998 and is a major shareholder. Since its formation in 1991, Procam Television has become one of the leading film & television hire facilities in the UK, working with most major broadcasters, production companies and corporate blue-chip clients both in this country and worldwide. The company moved to a new purpose-built 12,000 sq. ft. facility in London’s Battersea in April 2009 and also has a UK associate company in Manchester. John was instrumental in opening further associated companies in Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. John will drive the technical expertise behind the permanent High Definition 3D TV studio gallery set ups in Stages 1 & 2.

In a statement today Piers Read said “Our mission is to unlock the outstanding commercial potential of the studio, and deliver a world class service to the independent production sector and in doing so create a genuine media hub for industry people to enjoy working within a friendly, professional environment with an array of superb facilities on tap."


“We are thrilled we can offer the industry this truly unique facility. Everyone is welcome to come to the studio and tell us how we can make it work best for them. We can cater to all aspects of production from pre production, to the shoot and through to post production – everything is here and ready to be used. We are excited about to announce certain things over the coming weeks that we know will make the studio even better”

The studio is already undertaking bookings, being handled by Unitbase.co.uk on 020 7239 8906 or info@unitbase.co.uk

Our (Indian) Summer Locations

2010 has been a great year for Summer Blockbusters such as Inception, from British born Director Christopher Nolan. So, to celebrate this years summer blockbusters we thought it would be quite cool to show you some of the locations that have been sourced from the Unitbase.co.uk database and then used in some great Summer Blockbusters (well almost summer)!

RocknRolla - South Dock
Want a gangster film set in London? Queue Guy Richie and RocknRolla! He wanted his bad guy to be holed up on a huge lavish yacht but with an urban backdrop. Where better then than South Dock, providing simply some of the best views of Londons financial district, Canary Wharf.

In The Loop - Swakeleys Park (Vyners House)
Swakeleys Park is a huge estate, within which is a stunning Jacobean manor house. The main house was used for some interior Downing Street locations, however it was the modern office building on site - Vyners House, that proved to be a great success for the production, becoming a perfect location for the MPs offices. Click here to see the location as it is right now...

4321 - Westfield London
Noel Clarke, loved this location and loved that he was able to use such a high profile property in such fantastic ways. Not only did the production get some great action scenes along the Southern Terrace, but they were also able to put together some of the title sequence by using the Atrium as well as the North West entrance. All in all a good three days spent...Click here to see more images of the centre.

Harry Brown - Regents Canal
The Micheal Caine movie Harry Brown, needed that sinister and slightly edgy location to go with this raw UK film all about revenge. UK born, Caine, takes it on himself to go after the gangs that have taken up residence in his neighbourhood. The production used a stretch of the Regents Canal to provide the location with the atmosphere that they needed. It was a great success!

LOG ON TO THE NEWS PAGES AT WWW.UNITBASE.CO.UK TO SEE THESE GREAT LOCATIONS AND LOADS MORE!

Bring Unitbase.co.uk some more Blockbusters!
We really do have some of the best locations in the industry, so if you are working on the next Blockbuster, (or feature film, TV Drama or commercial) we will have something for you! Our range of locations never stops growing so log on to unitbase.co.uk and have a look through the huge list of properties, OR if you are in a rush and need something new then click on our NEWS PAGES button to see what is hot off the press!

Our New and Rediscovered Locations

This week we are promoting some of the New and Rediscovered locations that are on the Untibase.co.uk database. All of the locations are available for filming and photography. The three that are on show here is a real mix, but all have a sense of history. A hospital and London wharf building and a Castle. All with have seen many stories and now they lie waiting to play host to the production of new stories...

Royal Hospital Haslar
This hospital is screaming out for a large production to take the opportunity to use a massive and wide ranging location. Full of hospital and institutional style buildings, great for period productions. These are juxtaposed with modern areas, great for drama or feature films. Industrial buildings, town houses and office space are also on site, which outlines the scope that is on offer at this location.

Fantastic Riverside Location
Here is one of Unitbase.co.uk's other Rediscovered locations; this fantastic wharf building on the river Thames. Loads of our regulars will know this location well as it has been popular for the last two years, however, it still could be a great Dragons Den type location. Great views of the river along with traditional wooden beams and exposed brick provide bundles of character.

Castle in Bury St Edmunds
This castle in Bury St Edmunds is completely empty and an amazing and historic property. Surrounded by acres of grounds, plus some beautiful ornate gardens, this property has an amazing amount of possibilities for filming, photography or even bespoke events. The castle has a chapel, wood panelled rooms, large dining halls and an internal courtyard. All in all, it is a stunning location

Top Gear in a Spin at Westfield London

Unitbase.co.uk undertook a pretty big challenge last week, by getting the biggest car show on TV together with London's biggest indoor shopping Centre. When Top Gear called Unitbase.co.uk, instead of being worried about what Clarkson, May and Hammond would get up to, London’s leading location agency, revelled in the challenge. The BBC show needed a huge underground car park and Unitbase.co.uk needed not to look any further than there exclusive location; Westfield London.

Top Gear spent a full day at Westfield London filming stunt driving on the bottom floor of their huge underground parking facility! However instead of letting the three presenters behind the wheels of the old style Mini Coopers that were being featured, a group of stunt drivers took over the driving and performed power slides and hand brake skids! It was quite a spectacle and will look fantastic on screen when the popular car show returns to BBC2 later this year.

Westfield London have employed Untibase.co.uk for over a year as their exclusive filming and photographic agents and in that time there has been a multitude of fantastic productions have taken place at the centre! This production has to take the prize for most elaborate and was only made easier because of the great team people at Westfield London, as well as BBC’s Top Gear and Unitbase.co.uk. It all went off without a hitch!!

Unitbase.co.uk – We are looking for London’s underground secrets.

Finding hidden gems is always an exhilarating experience for any film location manager, scout or agent. Being led underneath London’s streets to un-earth tunnels, passageways and secret places is so exciting as the possibilities for new and interesting locations for films and T.V become apparent.

We have got some great underground locations already, but we want to find some more. This is a call for all of our regular readers to get in contact to tell us about the great underground locations that you all know about or have explored yourself. Now think of these in the next American Blockbuster or BBC drama, pretty cool, right?

Not only can these amazingly interesting places be used for filming, but if the location is right, then they can be used for live events and ‘experiences’ as well. Think about the next big brand looking for that something ‘extra’ when presenting to its customers and clients.

So, if you know of these underground secrets, or even if you have only heard rumours about these crazy underground places then get in touch. Just drop a line on our facebook or Twitter pages by searching for ‘unitbase’. We want to hear about the deepest darkest secrets of London, big, small, funny, scary....the lot!

Looking forward to hearing about some of these great locations...

The New Sherlock Holmes hits UK TV’s

Again the BBC have surpassed themselves and produced another great crime drama, based on the old tale of Sherlock Holmes. Hartswood Films for BBC Wales cast Benedict Cumberbatch as a modern day Sherlock, along with Martin Freeman of ‘The Office’ fame as Dr. Watson, in this great drama that premiered last night (25.07.10)

Unitbase.co.uk was once again involved in this fantastic new TV drama, by providing a great location for a major scene in the series. The scene reaches its climax at one of Unitbase.co.uk’s train depots, where the main action unfolds! This location has been supplied now, under the very careful management of Unitbase.co.uk, for a number of productions now. All providing a great ‘look’ on screen, but at the same time providing a safe and usable location.

Unitbase.co.uk has a number of ‘transport’ themed locations and trains have been an area in which the agency has managed for some time with exclusive contracts with Heathrow Express, Southern Railway and South Eastern Trains. The nature of any filming on or around trains takes a great deal of specialism and care. That is why with a history of successful shooting with the clients named above; Unitbase.co.uk has become renowned for providing these hazardous locations to the film and television industries, in a safe way.

Congratulations to Hertswood films for a cracking TV show, Unitbase.co.uk are already looking forward to next week’s episode!

Unitbase.co.uk - We have the best unit bases in London

As the name suggests, we will always have the best unit bases...


For just over five years Unitbase.co.uk has prided itself on making film parking easier in the capital. This was by standardising unit base parking in London and making it easier for owners and location managers alike. As the company has grown so has our location library with it, but so has the unit base library!


We don’t want our customers to forget that we will always have the best unit base library available and so whenever you need to find an easy, affordable and suitable unit base, then there really is only one company to call.

UNITBASE.CO.UK on 0207 839 8906

Log on to WWW.UNITBASE.CO.UK to see the entire selection of unit base's that we have by using the simple map searching tool! It really is the fastest and easiest way to find your perfect unit base!