Birmingham’s Irish community has always been an important contributor to the cultural life of the city. Whether that’s through events such as St Patrick’s Day, Irish music and art or the hugely significant amount of charity and volunteer work carried out each year, there is always something going on within the Irish community, often centred on its traditional home of Digbeth.

Well, now Digbeth is set to take centre stage like never before, as huge investment turns it into a media hotspot that has already been dubbed ‘Brummiewood’.

I thought I would use this column to tell you a little about how Digbeth is set to become a centre for film and TV production.

For years, Birmingham was the home of all kinds of popular TV shows. Back when the BBC had major studios at Pebble Mill, programmes including All Creatures Great and Small, Boys from the Blackstuff, Doctors, Dangerfield, Howards' Way, Juliet Bravo and Dalziel and Pascoe were filmed here.

The first series of the hugely popular Line of Duty was shot in Brum too. However, in recent years, not enough TV programmes have been made here, despite local people contributing massive amounts of money to the BBC and ignoring the huge talent on offer in the West Midlands.

Even Birmingham-set Peaky Blinders, created by Brummie Steven Knight, had to film much of its action elsewhere.

All of that is now set to change, as Digbeth becomes the centre of a Brummie media revolution.

For a start, the Peaky Blinders could be coming home. It’s reported that Steven Knight aims to end the much-loved gangster saga with a feature film – and that he wants to film it at his new Mercian Studios development, planned for Digbeth.

This 38-acre complex aims to create a Brummie equivalent to London’s Soho, featuring with filming facilities, education initiatives and new housing.

We have also seen the BBC commit to major investment too - with prime-time television set to be made here.

And right now, in Digbeth, a new world class Creative Content Hub for independent TV production and creative content developers is taking shape.

The £18m facility, based at The Bond in the city’s historic Creative Quarter, has had an investment of £3m from Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) and building work is now getting underway.

So, you can see that the heart of Birmingham’s Irish community is also set to become the heart of the city’s new media cluster, bringing exciting new opportunities for local people and significant investment.

Soon, it will be ‘lights, cameras action’!

Are you ready for your close-up, Digbeth?

Welcome to another Birmingham Irish Association news update

We publish news and project updates keeping you up to date with details regarding our services and events, as well as other local developments and other news that will be of interest to our clients as well as other visitors.