Rebellion to build new film studios in former Daily Mail print works

One of Europe’s leading independent game developers and comic book publishers. Rebellion, which is behind computer games such as Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper, has bought a former Daily Mail newspaper factory at Didcot.

The company will build six sound stages and create 500 jobs. The complex is due to open in the spring.

The CEO Jason Kingsley is reported as saying that the move was incredibly exciting and the booming film industry was in desperate need of further infrastructure to cope with the demands for new and engaging content.

The company's current headquarters are at Osney Mead, Oxford.

Feature film production spend in the UK reached a record high of 1.9bn in 2017, with film-related industries contributing 13.2bn to the UK economy, according to research from Lambert Smith Hampton. However, the current studio infrastructure is struggling to keep up with the demand for new content from big media companies and projections show that, at the current rate of growth, the UK is in urgent need of 1.9m sq ft of additional studio space.

HSBC handled the finance for the purchase and Roger Mould, HSBC UK Relationship Director in Thames Valley, said: “We’re delighted to support Rebellion with its exciting plans for expansion into the film and television industry. The substantial new development in Didcot will dramatically increase the studio space available for the burgeoning film and TV production sector and is ideally located with easy access from London. With its ambitious growth plans, we look forward to seeing what’s next for Rebellion in the future.”