From Kitchen Table To Top Table….

10 months ago

LS Productions - a global production company that started life on a kitchen table by a former air stewardess - is officially recognised as one of the UK’s fastest growing private companies

• Set up in Scotland by Marie Owen – with 3 kids under the age of 5 – the company has gone from strength to strength being named on two prestigious lists of fastest growing UK private companies

• LS Productions was Grammy-nominated for its work on its second Harry Styles music video (‘Adore You’) and works with high profile celebrities including Zendaya, Ed Sheeran and Cristiano Ronaldo

• With ambition to become a £40 million turnover business in the next two years, the company providesproduction services to clients for commercials, fashion, sport, music videos and film and TV projects working across the globe

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LS Productions is today celebrating appearances on The Sunday Times 100 and FEBE Growth 100 lists - recognising the UK’s fastest growing private companies.

Both lists celebrate British business at its best – highlighting founders that are driving their companies to deliver significant sales, revenue and profit, against a backdrop of unprecedented economic challenges.

With their headquarters in Edinburgh, LS Productions are the UK's largest production service company with additional offices in London and Manchester. LS’s recent growth is down in part to the expansion of their services into the international film & TV sectors, taking on global TV and film production service projects over the last 18 months, with recent projects including Ghosted (Skydance / Apple TV), episodes of the Bachelor (NZK Productions / Warner Bros Entertainment / ABC) and a Kind of Spark (CBBC / BYUtv America). As part of this growth they have also added a warm water production and location facility in Malta to further bolster their international offering.

In conjunction with this expansion, the LS growth can also be directly attributed to a commitment to invest in and recruit talent in the LS’s core production specialisms, including commercials, fashion, music and sport. The diversification of these business streams was a deliberate move to weather the storm faced by the production industry in a post Covid landscape. Across this period LS has worked on a succession of high profile service production projects ranging from Ed Sheeran’s latest album Subtract (Freenjoy / Directed by Mia Barnes), Harry Styles ‘Adore You (Freenjoy / Directed by Dave Meyers), Valentino’s Pink Dreamsstarring Zendaya (Marcell Rev / Michael Bailey Gates) and ‘You're Up’ featuring Cristiano Ronaldo for Nike (Wieden & Kennedy/ Directed by Megaforce).

Not only this but Covid also provided cause for reflection about where the business saw itself creatively in the long term and how they could look to continue to stay true to their values of being ‘creative at heart’ which drove further diversification with the arrival of an original content arm in the form of LS Films.

Thanks to this successful business strategy, LS has seen a two year growth of 273% and boasts sales of £20 million.

Speaking about the recognition, CEO and Founder Marie Owen, said:

“I’m beyond thrilled to see LS Productions name appear on such prestigious lists, in fact I can’t quite believe it. If you could have told me that we’d be appearing on lists like these when I started the business back in 2006 from my kitchen table I’d probably have laughed and said ‘are you joking’. It’s such a fantastic achievement and so rewarding to see all the incredible hard work and dedication that myself and the team have put in to get recognised. Both in terms of growing a world-class global production company, but also a business that people genuinely love working for that is firmly rooted in the values of kindness, hard work and learning.”

Marie continued:

"Post Covid we had to completely re-evaluate where we wanted to go - not just professionally but personally. So we went, quite literally back to our roots - which meant investing heavily in specialised expertise to develop focused business streams; Fashion, Sport, Commercial, Music Videos, Film & TV Service and an original content division called LS Films. This robust diversification gives LS a solid foundation in an industry that is notorious for huge highs and steep lows because we're not overly dependent on one particular stream and it also allows us to explore our creative passion with LS Films."

The full 100 rankings can be viewed:

www.febe.com

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/sunday-times-100-fast-growth

The following are available for interview:

• Marie Owen, CEO and Founder LS Productions

• Jenny Campbell – YourCash Founder & ex Dragon’s Den Dragon plus FEBE ambassador to speak about LS Productions inclusion on the FEBE Growth 100

• Sarah Willingham – Nightcap Founder & ex Dragon plus FEBE ambassador to speak about LS Productions inclusion on the FEBE Growth 100

• Piers Linney – Atherton Bikes Co-Founder & ex Dragon plus FEBE ambassador to speak about LS Productions inclusion on the FEBE Growth 100

• John Maffioli, Co-Founder FEBE – on the LS Productions inclusion

Photos / video is available, copyright cleared and free for media use, of LS Productions projects and team at work on location

Download stills here: https://we.tl/t-L9e8VPDswy

Notes to Editors

Full Biography Marie Owen

When I left school, instead of taking a place at Heriot-Watt University to study languages and economics (I hated economics, but loved languages), I took a job at Edinburgh Airport to work on the ground for Air UK. This role paved the way to becoming a stewardess for the same airline and I accidently found myself there for nine interesting years.
I took redundancy to have my first child, Grace, in 2001, as both my husband, John, and I were travelling extensively at the time. We collectively felt that at least one of us had to be at home. Grace was followed three years later by a set of twins, Ralph and Lily. Life was incredibly busy and chaotic, but I felt like I needed a challenge that was my own. I decided to assist a friend who owned a photographer’s agency to give me a little bit of my sanity back.
From there, Location Scotland, the company’s original name, was created. In its origin, the idea came from my husband who works as a fashion photographer. John suggested that I make a go of it - so I did!
Since launching in 2006, the business has gone from strength to strength, growing organically by always doing what makes sense, feels right and staying open to
possibilities, recruiting who we need, where we need them, and by always staying true to the core values and culture at the business’ heart.
LS Productions, as we’re now called, is a production company that works across the UK and increasingly globally. My aim originally was to put Scotland on the map, and now we have offices in Edinburgh, Manchester and London working across the UK, in Europe, The USA and China.
With origins working on fashion shoots, by 2014 there was a clear opportunity to scale up into new sectors including commercials. Again, this growth in size and ambition came from the idea of doing what makes sense. We now provide great production service to clients for commercials, fashion, sport, music videos and film and TV projects. The resulting work has been shown globally.
In the last year, we worked for a third time with Harry Styles, acquired world-class studio space in Manchester, a new Manchester office, and launched an original content arm, LS Films, which has already seen recognition by festivals and funders. We produced at Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles for a Valentino fashion shoot with Zendaya as the talent, and our studios in Manchester are now the only location Cristiano Ronaldo wants his shoots held.
In-house, our team has nearly doubled to forty members of staff. Notably, our growing presence in Manchester and London has led to the recruitment of senior team members from those regions, including a London-based Head of Production. We have expanded our executive team, adding a Sales & Marketing Director in 2021, and we are currently recruiting for a Manchester-based Operations Director.
2021 was our most successful year, and in the aftermath of COVID, our industry has changed for good. I see a huge opportunity to go beyond expectation and be brilliant. The plan is to become a £27 million turnover business by 2025. We’re well on our way to achieving that aim.



About LS Productions

Chief Executive, Marie Owen, founded LS Productions in 2006. Today, it is a global production partner to brands and production companies, providing location and production services from hubs in the UK and, most recently, Malta. LS Productions has access to over 9,000 locations and specialises in film and television, commercials, music videos, fashion, and sports campaigns. The company moved into original content with the launch of LS Films in 2022. Clients include: Aston Martin, Adidas, HBO, Netflix, and Ralph Lauren, and they have worked on projects featuring A-list talent like Meryl Streep, Harry Styles, Cristiano Ronado, Chris Evans and Ed Sheeran.

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