Minister pledges support for film studios plan

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the government was fully behind the Crown Works scheme

A senior government minister has promised his personal support in finding new backers for Sunderland's Crown Works film studio vision.

Wearside-born Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has promised to do "anything" in his power to help put the flagship development back on track.

It follows a commitment from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer earlier this month to transform a site on the banks of the Wear into a film and TV production hub.

Earlier this summer it emerged that financiers Cain International, the main private investor behind the £450m project, had pulled out.

It had been claimed the development would create more than 8,000 jobs.

Global entertainment company Fulwell Entertainment, which had partnered with Cain on the venture, said it remained committed to the vision and working with Sunderland City Council to find new funding.

'Scale and ambition'

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service on a visit to Gateshead on Friday, Labour's Reynolds called Crown Works a "hugely ambitious and exciting programme".

The business secretary, who is from Houghton-le-Spring, said: "I obviously know Leo [Pearlman] and the guys at Fulwell73 really well. I loved to see that scale of ambition. I think it got everyone's attention because of it.

"There has been a significant amount of government money pledged, so we are not just there with verbal support. We have put money in to do it.

"Obviously the majority of funding for the project will come from the private sector.

"But anything that we can do, or I can do personally or the government can do to support that process, we are committed to doing it.

"I want to see, not just in my hometown but across the UK, that scale of ambition."

The government has put £25m into the scheme via a devolution deal which established the role of North East mayor last year, while the area's local authorities have committed to a total public investment of up to £120m.