Leaders back search for new Crown Works investment

BUSINESS leaders in Sunderland have backed efforts to secure new funding for the Crown Works film and TV studio plan.

- CHRIS BINDING

It had been hoped that a £450m project would see up to 19 sound stages built in the Pallion area of the city, with entertainment company Fulwell 73 coming together with financiers Cain International to develop the project.

Cain has recently withdrawn from the project, leaving Sunderland City Council and the North East Combined Authority to start a search for new backers.

Enabling works on land next to the Northern Spire Bridge to make the site ready for development are under way, paid for through public money, but building work on the flagship studios development itself has not started. Key figures in the city say they still back the plans.

Sharon Appleby, chief executive of Sunderland’s Business Improvement District (BID), said she was “confident that this city won't stop until it has secured the investment needed”.

“Sunderland’s ambition and determination has helped it deliver regeneration on a scale not seen for decades against a backdrop of unprecedented economic turbulence,” she said.

“Private sector investment - whether on a small or significant scale - doesn’t just fall into our laps in this city. It takes time, energy and effort to secure, and - if the market conditions shift - it can well fall away.