As part of the BBC’s commitment to supporting the grassroots of the creative industries in all four nations, we are announcing the 40 independent production companies that will receive support from the Small Indie Fund and the Radio & Music Indie Development Fund.
All companies will receive strategic investment from a total £1.3m pot, mentors from the commissioning teams, and a programme of introductions to wider BBC teams, to help them grow and develop their ideas and businesses.
And as announced yesterday, a further 4 companies will be supported by the Digital Accelerator – a bold new partnership between the BBC and North East Screen Industries (NESIP) designed to grow and strengthen the region’s digital production sector. With £600,000 total funding, the programme aims to fast-track the growth of digital-first content companies in the North East. The successful 4 companies will receive ongoing support from BBC and North East Screen teams, including mentorship, editorial and business guidance, to help them scale up and deliver high-impact, market-ready digital content.
David Pembrey, BBC Content’s Chief Operating Officer says: “Partnering with a wide range of UK independent production companies is essential in delivering a distinctive, authentic content offer for our audiences. All of these initiatives – which support content right across our platforms and genres – were highly competitive; and we’d like to thank everyone who expressed interest as well as congratulate the producers who have been successful.”
Launched in 2020, the TV Small Indie Fund supports the growth of small qualifying independent production companies from across the UK with turnovers below £10m across Scripted, Unscripted and Children’s. This year we also opened an additional Digital opportunity for production companies and studios who are looking to develop digital media content across a range of genres and platforms.
29 companies (23 for TV and 6 for Digital) will be supported through the fund and receive a total of c £1.1m. 83% of the companies are based in the Nations & Regions, and 79% have at least two individuals in key leadership roles who are from under-represented groups.
Chris Jones from Nice One, a recipient of the TV Small Indie Fund across the past 2 years says: “A far wiser person than me once said that ‘vision without funding is just a hallucination’ – thanks to BBC Small Indie Funding for Comedy, Nice One’s ambition to become a trusted supplier for funny new comedy from Belfast is becoming a reality with a new BBC series commission, and we are so grateful for this priceless continuing support.”
Now in its fourth year, the BBC’s Radio & Music Indie Development Fund supports and champions indies who are based across the UK. The 11 successful recipients of the fund, worth £250,000 in total, are all based outside of London. The cohort is made up of indies that between them deliver speech and music content and each company will be supported by bespoke mentoring from a BBC commissioner for 12 months.
Nina Robinson from Birmingham-based indie Soundtruism, a recipient of this year’s BBC Radio Independent Development fund, says: “The BBC Radio Indie Development Fund is a valuable and much-needed fund, supporting independent creative businesses in the UK. Soundtruism look forward to extending our slate through mentorship and contact with commissioners in different parts of the organisation.”
Opportunities for Unscripted companies in Northern Ireland are being developed, building on the previous Hot House initiative.
Companies selected for the 2026 TV & Digital Small Indie Fund, Radio & Music Indie Development Fund and the North East Digital Accelerator
Northern Ireland
barry crerar Ltd (TV)
Fibin Films (TV)
Nice One Productions (TV)
Slack Panda Productions (Radio & Music)
Walk On Air (Radio & Music)
Scotland
Bespoken (Radio & Music)
Compact Ltd (TV)
F22 Films (TV)
The Big Light (Radio & Music)
Unified (TV)
Whistledown Productions (Radio & Music)
Wales
Awkward Studios (Digital)
Beastly Media (Digital)
Bumpybox Ltd (TV)
Good Gate Media (TV)
Overcoat Media (Radio & Music)
Pixie (TV)
Triongl Cyf (TV)
Yeti Television (TV)
English Regions
Adventure Alliance Films – North East (Digital Accelerator)
Audio Always – North West (Radio & Music)
Button Down – Yorkshire and the Humber (Digital)
Changing World Productions – West Midlands (TV)
Cosmosquare Films – Yorkshire and the Humber (TV)
Dice Roll Productions – West Midlands (TV)
FilmNova – North East (Digital Accelerator)
Full Fat Television- West Midlands (TV)
Hill 5.14 – East (TV)
Made in Manchester – North West (Radio & Music)
Northern Child – North East (Digital Accelerator)
Runt Films – North West/London (TV)
Salt Street Productions Ltd – Yorkshire and the Humber (TV)
Soundtruism – West Midlands (Radio & Music)
Square Pears – South East (TV)
The Resonate Agency – West Midlands (Radio & Music)
Unedited – West Midlands (Radio & Music)
Wall of Entertainment – South East (Digital)
Wander Films – North East (Digital Accelerator)
Zandland – North West (Digital)
London
Brown Bred Productions Ltd (Digital)
Fowl Fight Productions Ltd (TV)
Juno Studios (TV)
Them Ones Studios (TV)
Three Tables Productions (TV)
CM2
