Evolutions Bristol shuts down

Evolutions Bristol has closed down.

Broadcast Tech understands that separate interests had emerged for Evolutions’ Bristol and London facilities after adminstrators were appointed earlier this month - this resulted in the London side recently being acquired by Halo. Meanwhile, the Bristol side continued to trade while in an effort to secure a sale, as well as continue working on ongoing projects. However, this didn’t materialise, and it has now closed with 35 employees made redundant.

Former head of engineering Will Blanchard posted about the news of the Bristol facility’s closure on Linkedin, revealing that the facility had been wound down from last week, with a reduced team kept on to complete and transfer ongoing projects before it fully closed. 

He wrote: “Evolutions Bristol closed its doors for the last time yesterday. It was a very emotional day all round as you can imagine.

“I spent the last three and a half years there as head of engineering. Before then I had worked with many wonderful teams of people, but the team at Evolutions Bristol was something a bit special. The culture was one of inclusion, where people could talk critically without bruising egos, and everyone could be open and honest about mistakes without being ostracised.

“Just over a week ago a quarter of the team was made redundant, leaving the rest of us to try and carry on. Rather than feel bitter and hard done by those members of the team returned yesterday to see the building close and so everyone could support each other in this sad and challenging time. I think that speaks volumes for the team that we had there.

“I was really touched by the support of the Bristol post community. It would have been easy to feel like we had failed and were left alone to fade away. But so many people reached out in support for all of us. That had a big impact and is really appreciated.

“I have to say in particular the team from the BBC went above and beyond and I couldn’t be more grateful for their support during this time.

“In the last two weeks our team managed to move one of the biggest projects we’ve ever worked on to a new post house, giving everything we could to make sure that project could be successfully delivered without us.

“We have delivered over 3 petabytes of media in two weeks to various clients. And on the final day moved almost 1 petabyte of storage with live media (successfully I may add) to a new facility. Thanks to everyone at Films at 59 for thier help and support getting this done.

“I would like to thank everyone for their support.”

Separately, Halo acquired Evolutions London after receiving third-party investment from Australia-based Morris Group to complete the acquisition. This deal was unconnected to Evolutions Bristol, and Halo has no role in its closure. At the time, Halo director John Rogerson said: “This is an exciting coming together of two of London’s best known post companies. With Halo’s brand focused on high-end factual, comedy, drama and film and Evolutions being more concentrated on entertainment, factual and reality television; the two businesses will complement each other perfectly.

“It’s no secret that the post sector has struggled over the last 12 months and in order to survive, consolidation is vital. The economics of providing top-quality post production in central London demands innovation and streamlining. That’s how we will create a vibrant and thriving post sector for the future.”