Fountain Studios kit haul fetches £670k at auction

The sale was organised by auctioneers Charterfields and received worldwide interest with more than 450 bidders registering from Australia, New Zealand, USA, Italy, The Netherlands as well as the UK.

A range of sound, lighting and camera equipment was made available with proceeds going to Fountain Television, the subsidiary of the Avesco Group that previously ran the studios before it closed in December 2016.

A Calrec Apollo 72 fader digital audio console was the most expensive item purchased in the auction, fetching in excess of £85,000.

Ian Maycock, director of Charterfields, said: “We had more than 100 bidders attend the two viewing days as this was seen as a unique opportunity to acquire the highest specification technical equipment.

“There was also strong interest in the catering equipment and furniture from the numerous hospitality rooms which brought to a close the long and illustrious location in British television history.”

Fountain Studios closed in December after Avesco sold the site and buildings to a property developer for £16m.

At the time of the sale, Avesco chairman Richard Murray said the “physical constraints of the Wembley site have limited Fountain’s ability to grow while at the same time property values in Wembley have increased substantially”.

Opened in 1955, it housed an array of different productions from On The Buses, and Opportunity Knocks to Britain’s Got Talent, All Star Mr & Mrs and The Last Leg.

The last show to shoot at Fountain Studios was The X Factor (semi-finals) in December 2016.