M2 financial director John Tadros is pumping over£750,000 into vfx start-up Lime.
M2 financial director John Tadros is pumping over£750,000 into VFX start-up Lime.

Lime has signed a five-year lease on a new 2,500sq ft location at Berners Street and is gearing up with high-definition suites and CGI workstations after being based at M2 for the past six months. The cost of the lease, which runs until the end of the decade, was not disclosed and does not contribute to the investment figure.

The signing of the lease has also allowed the company to place bulk kit orders, including HD-capable Smoke and Flame systems, two offline Avid Adrenalines and eight graphic workstations using Lightwave CGI software.

Full-time members of staff will occupy four of the graphic seats while freelancers will be called in on a project basis to fill the remaining four stations.

The kit was due to arrive at the beginning of the week and is expected to be ready for use by mid-June, assuming that building works finish on time.

Co-directors Nick Wortman and James Niklasson - formerly with VTR Media Services' CGI arm The Hive - founded Lime last November, taking Nathan Laud, head of Lightwave animation, and Lightwave operators Jamie Franks and Julie Goacher with them.

Graphic designer Emma White resigned from The Hive earlier this week and will join Lime next month. Lime recently poached Flame operator Paul Marangos from The Mill. He started at the company at the beginning of the week and is expected to be influential in the kitting out of the suites.

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