Television Set acquires P3 Post

The Television Set group has expanded by acquiring popular Soho edit facility P3 Post.
The majority of P3 staff will move to the group’s seven-storey Newman Street premises, where the P3 operation will be merged with Arena Digital.
P3 founders Paul Hutchings and Martin Price will run the enlarged facility, which will now comprise as many as 30 online, offline and sound suites.
Joint Television Set group managing directors Dave Thompson and Terry Bettles are clearly delighted with their purchase. Thompson said: "P3 is a very well respected operation with a great team and represents an excellent fit in terms of both kit and client base. They are a well-established industry favourite, but like so many other post houses at the moment, had been suffering from a combination of high overheads and reductions in programme budgets.”
Bettles added: “The clients identify strongly with the P3 name, so keeping that familiarity alongside that of Arena, for the time being at least, makes a lot of sense for us. At some point we will probably want to think about a common identity for the expanded Newman Street operation, but for now the two brands will co-exist and share facilities".
Asked about the purchase and changing nature of his role, ex-MD of P3 Paul Hutchings said: "Obviously we feel a great sense of loss, having spent ten years growing the business, but equally it is a very exciting opportunity. The additional facilities within the Television Set group like sound mixing, TK, tape grading and the 24hr multi-format deliverables and replication operation, mean we can now offer even more comprehensive and attractive packages to our clients in the future.”
Martin Price agreed, adding: “This is a very positive move for P3 and good news for both us and our staff. Arena Digital is a leading post house, it has an impressive new building and we know our clients are going to really enjoy working in the new environment.” Founded in 1989 by Thompson and Bettles, The Television Set group acquired Arena Digital in 1995, purchased London Post from Aspen plc in 1999, and incorporated Blue Turtle pictures last year.
It is a major annual sponsor of the Guardian Edinburgh Television Festival.
(GB)