Tag Archives: The Bottle Yard Studios

JOINED UP GOVERNMENT: THE BOTTLE YARD

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Boyyleyard

Having spunked £1.2million in 2016 on a new roof and buying the freehold of the Bottle Yard Studios in Hengrove, the Reverend’s cabinet, urged on by finance chief Craig “Crapita” Cheney, has come up with an entirely NEW PLAN for their film studios in 2018.

They’ve now decided to spunk further MILLIONS moving the studios half a mile down the road to Hawkfield Business Park, which they intend to buy some time in the next month. The cost of this substantial piece of real estate is, currently, a closely guarded “commercially confidential” SECRET.

Four of the Bottle Yard studios will move to Hawkfield in late 2020 and then the last two will move there after the Reverend has SPUNKED more money building two purpose-built studios on the site by 2022.

The official reason supplied by the Reverend and his cabinet for this EXPENSIVE MOVE is that “the lack of soundproofing in older, unadapted buildings will render three (possibly four) of the current studios inoperable” once housing at the proposed Hengrove Park development is built.

However, insiders tell us that the current Bottle Yard site is simply “NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE“, which raises the question of why did the Reverend invest £1.2million into the site in 2016? Especially as the council claims the business only generates £100k a year so has little chance of ever paying back this huge PUBLIC HANDOUT.

Meanwhile at Hawkfield, the Reverend’s cabinet report breezily informs us that the COST of repairs alone, will be £520k and “this may have a direct impact on the Bottle Yard Studios overall operating position if they are to pick up these costs.”

In other words, we’ll be picking up the BILL for the purchase of the Hawkfield site and its repairs so that the Bottle Yard Studios can continue to pretend – for PR purposes – to “generate” money for the public purse.

It doesn’t. It runs at a loss and will run at a bigger one now.

CREATIVE STORAGE INNOVATION JOY

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Our favourite PUBLIC SECTOR MONEY PIT, Bristol City Council’s Bottle Yard Studios, the loudmouth film and creative industries public relations initiative for the city funded by you, dear council tax payer, has some news.

We learn that at present there is NO MORE SPACE at the studios to make any actual, er, films, because Mammoth Screen, the private production firm behind BBC’s crappy Poldark drama is currently renting out most of the studios as cheap STORAGE SPACE!

Quite why the firm can’t pay COMMERCIAL RATES at Big Yellow Storage like the rest of us and let us use our facility, subsidised to the tune of £1million a year by the council taxpayer, to make films is unclear.

This foray by the council into the world of equipment storage at the city’s premier creative industries venue puts a rather large dent in their ridiculous claim that they are delivering JOBS and TRAINING in the film industry for the people of South Bristol.

What are these jobs and training in? Manual handling and minimum wage security roles?

TAX EFFICIENT EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

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Francombe earning more than the PM for managing four employees!

Please step forward Fiona “Luvvie” Francombe, winner for ‘Outstanding Management and Leadership’ at this year’s Bristol Post & Bath Chronicle WOMEN OF THE YEAR Awards.

Fiona works MOST DAYS for the city council as Site Director at the Bottle Yard film studios from a city council office in a city council building using city council equipment. She even has a city council email address and spends lots and lots of city council and taxpayers’ money managing the state subsidised filmmaking facilities.

None of this seems to stop her setting herself up to get paid TAX EFFICIENTLY and avoid the little people’s PAYE obligations right under our noses, however. Fiona is also the Company Secretary for the Purcell Partnership Ltd and, it seems, her wages – at a DAY RATE OF £625 – from Bristol City Council are conveniently routed through the council’s employment agency, Guidant, to avoid prying eyes, difficult questions and, even, the attention of council auditors who tend to have an interest in high-earning council officers.

Why would Bristol City Council choose to pay a full time, permanent, middle-ranking member of staff who manages four staff a SIX FIGURE SALARY as a temp through an employment agency enabling them to AVOID substantial amounts of tax?

I think we need to be told …

INTERNATIONAL CUTS WATCH

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Bristol City Council seems to be avoiding cuts in some areas. Please step forward the Reverend Mayor, Marvin Rees, who’s decided there should be NO CUTS at all in his personal office; his new chief executive’s office or to his senior leadership team. Areas that have all chronically UNDERPERFORMED over the last five years and cost us a lot of money.

Not that the Reverend gives a shit about saving money when it comes to himself, his self-regarding PUBLICLY FUNDED international lifestyle or his personal office team of EGO PAMPERERS on the rates.

Back on November 30 the Reverend SUSPENDED non-essential spending at the council for ordinary staff delivering services. By Tuesday 6 December he was touching down in China, pretending he was on some sort sales mission.

What the fuck was he selling them? CREAKING, underfunded local public services? SUBSIDISED film studio facilities in Hengrove ideal for overblown costume drama? CHEAP tickets for dodgy middle class comedians at the Colston Hall? The USELESS services of the shittest Internal Audit team the world has ever known?

If a pointless ‘trade mission’ to China by a SMALL and FAILING municipal body led by a pompous, preening figurehead isn’t non-essential, what the fuck is?