Creating the Cymru Broadcast Centre – a state of-the-art remote production hub in Cardiff – has been a story of partnerships.
What started off as an incredibly ambitious idea when Whisper Cymru bid to deliver The Paris 2024 Paralympics for Channel 4 became a pioneering fully accessible, remote production centre thanks to teamwork.
Whisper Cymru, Creative Wales, Cardiff Capital Region, Media Cymru and Channel 4 worked tirelessly to bring the centre to fruition. But another key player has been part of our journey for even longer.
When Lens 360, the production company I founded, joined forces with Whisper in 2021 to grow Whisper Cymru, one of the first things we did was create new edit suites at Tramshed Tech in Cardiff.
Fast forward to today and we’ve worked on some of the biggest sporting events in the UK, including the Rugby World Cup, the Women’s Super League, and the Women’s Six Nations for major networks like BBC Sport and Channel 4. We’ve also ventured into branded work, collaborating with iconic names such as the British and Irish Lions, Manchester City, and even Oasis – the band, not the drink.
We’ve grown to 29 full-time staff and a key enabler of that has been the support and flexibility we’ve received from Tramshed Tech.
When I first walked into Tramshed Tech, I was struck by the physical beauty of the space. The building itself, steeped in history, has a way of sparking creativity. It’s not just about working from an office; it’s about being in a place that fosters innovation and collaboration. As a creative company, having an inspiring environment is key, and Tramshed Tech offered just that.
But beyond the aesthetic appeal, what really made a difference was the flexibility they offered as a landlord and partner. As our projects expanded, so did our team. It was essential to have a flexible workspace that could grow alongside us and Tramshed Tech was there every step of the way.
Starting with just a small office, we have made move after move into ever-growing areas, but the transition has always been seamless. The flexibility of Tramshed Tech’s model meant that as our staff grew, we never had to worry about moving to a new location or setting up elsewhere.
Being able to move through the building and scale up our office space as we grew has been key. In a fast-paced industry like broadcast production, the ability to quickly adapt and expand your physical footprint without the constraints of long-term commitments is crucial.
Scaling a business is challenging, especially when you’re dealing with rapid growth in both team size and the scope of your work. The pressure of expanding quickly can be immense – recruitment alone can become a full-time job, let alone managing everything else. What made it manageable for us was having Tramshed Tech as a partner that understood our needs and was as invested in our success as we were.
From the outset, Mark John and Louise Harris at Tramshed Tech didn’t just see us as tenants. They became part of our support ecosystem, providing us with more than just a physical space. Their openness to collaborate, discuss our growth plans, and offer support made them true partners in our journey. Together we grew Whisper Cymru, and that level of partnership is incredibly rare.
For any business owner or entrepreneur looking to scale, I can’t stress enough how important it is to have the right partner around you – someone who understands the pressures and challenges of scaling quickly and can offer the support you need to make your business sustainable. In Tramshed Tech, we found exactly that.
Whisper Cymru is incredibly proud of its Welsh roots, and it’s important to us to champion the Welsh talent that has made so much of our work possible. Being based at Tramshed Tech has enabled us to remain at the heart of Cardiff’s thriving creative community, while also giving us the tools and flexibility to operate globally.
Tramshed Tech has provided us not only with the physical space to grow but also with a community of like-minded businesses and talent that we collaborate with and learn from. Through the Cymru Broadcast Centre I’m excited that Whisper Cymru can give something back to this supportive ecosystem and to the future tech, digital and creative talent pipeline.
