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Case studies:

SHOWCASING INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS

British film industry receives boost

US entertainment giant Warner Bros has made a major commitment to the UK film industry with the purchase of Leavesden Studios in Watford, with a further £100m expansion plan for the site. Once completed, Leavesden will represent a third of the total film stage space in Britain. The Harry Potter films, The Dark Knight and Inception were all filmed at the studios, and the second Sherlock Holmes film is currently being shot there. Barry Meyer, chairman and chief executive of Warner Bros, said: “Our purchase of Warner Bros Studios, Leavesden, and our multimillion-pound investment in creating a state-of-the-art, permanent UK film production base further demonstrates our longterm commitment to, and confidence in, the skills and creativity of the UK film industry.” >> www.warnerbros.com

Next chapter for UK

book publisher Igloo Books | Northants

“Just five years ago, we weren’t operating overseas, but we’re now in more than 26 territories with two thirds of our £17m turnover coming from overseas trade,” said John Styring of Northamptonshire-based Igloo Books. It’s an impressive achievement for the company, which has found its publishing niche in mass-market books.

Having started in the English-speaking countries of the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Igloo Books has established key partnerships to achieve success in France, Spain, Brazil, Holland and Germany. “We started seven years ago, undertaking an OMIS report and working closely with UK Trade & Investment to consolidate our time on working trips to the US and Australia. We now work directly with many of the key book retailers in the US and grew our business there by 55 per cent this year. In all of the countries that we operate in, growth last year was more than 50 per cent with compound growth of 67 per cent over the past five years. We will continue to work with UK Trade & Investment and local partners to explore new territories,” Styring added. >> www.igloo-books.com

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