The businessman behind the Bay Studios site on the outskirts of Swansea has praised the rapid creation of a new field hospital, but said the region still needed a filming hub.
Roy Thomas owns or leases the sprawling industrial site off Fabian Way and was key in handing over the large Elba building for a new 1,000-bed facility.
Swansea Council was commissioned by Swansea Bay University Health Board to oversee the conversion of the building into a field hospital in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The first 420-bed phase of the scheme was officially handed over to the health board on May 7th.
鈥淚t is fantastic what has been done in a month,鈥 said Mr Thomas.
But nobody knows whether the beds will be used at this stage.
The council has a 12-month arrangement to be on site, and last week Swansea Council Leader Rob Stewart said he would support any discussions for the Elba to remain as a longer-term step-down hospital facility.
Mr Thomas, who founded and built up Bay Studios, said he wanted to support the health board during the current emergency but that he would need the cavernous Elba.
鈥淲ithout a shadow of doubt - but not against the wishes of the health board,鈥 he said.
鈥淚t is the jewel in the crown because of its headroom.鈥
He added: 鈥淣o-one knows how the pandemic is going to play out. I will do what is necessary and work with the health board. They鈥檙e a brilliant organisation.鈥
But Mr Thomas said the studios would not be economical if a replacement building was needed from scratch. 鈥淚t would cost 拢15m聽 to build now,鈥 he said.
Mr Thomas acquired the former car parts complex in 2007, and later launched the new studios.
鈥淚t has been a massive challenge,鈥 he said.
The Elba was where rear axles for Ford cars and vans had been manufactured and assembled for years.
Before that it was a steel and tinplate works.
Mr Thomas said: 鈥淭here was oil and pipes everywhere - it was a different manufacturing process back then.鈥
He said the studios鈥 biggest production was the three-year Da Vinci鈥檚 Demons fantasy drama series.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great atmosphere when the filming actually begins,鈥 he said.
鈥淭housands of children visited during the Da Vinci days - many wrote in saying it was the best trip they鈥檇 ever been on.
鈥淵ou have ex-police inspectors and head teachers as extras, and they love it.鈥
Other productions have followed - and others have slipped by.
鈥淲e nearly had Gangs of London in Bay Studios,鈥 said Mr Thomas.
Executives from HBO, Disney and NBC have flown in. 鈥淭hey can see the potential of the site,鈥 he said.
Mr Thomas currently rents out around a third of the overall site to commercial tenants but said he would be hesitant in letting out any more as film studios needed to be of a certain size.
He said Government support for the film industry was vital.
鈥淟ook at Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland, and Outlander in Scotland,鈥 he said.
鈥淭hen it鈥檚 the layout of the studio site, and being cost-effective as much as possible.鈥
Mr Thomas said he wanted to see Bay Studios progress and attract more big-name productions to South West Wales.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something different for the area - it would be shame to lose it,鈥 he said.
Business career
The聽 Bay Studios is just one of the many ventures undertaken by businessman Roy Thomas, who moved from Carmarthen to Swansea at the age of eight.
He lived on Fairfield Terrace, Mount Pleasant, and went to school in Penlan.
鈥淚 was interested in property when I was 10 years old,鈥 he said.
Aged 19, he said he read Race of the Tiger - the story of a poor family who flee Ireland to try to make their fortune in the New World - and his path was set.
Mr Thomas built up a significant commercial property portfolio over the years but said he got 鈥渞olled over鈥 by a major financial institution after the 2008 financial crash.
Despite many successes, he also lost money on Air Wales, which used to run commercial flights from Swansea Airport.
Mr Thomas said he had been determined to make a big success of Air Wales, but said it was knocked sideways by a subsidised BMIbaby operation which started up at Cardiff Airport.
鈥淲hen BMI came along I carried on with Air Wales for two years,but I had to sell properties and mortgages,鈥 he said.
Mr Thomas still leases Swansea Airport from Swansea Council and has ideas to make it profitable, potentially including using some of the land for caravans.
Mr Thomas said 鈥渟taycations鈥 were likely to increase in the wake of the pandemic.
鈥淚 think the world is going to change,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he airline industry is practically wiped out.
鈥淎fter the crash of 2008 banks became risk-averse. Everybody now is going to become risk-averse.鈥
