Sixteen South, the award-winning children’s television production company, is to be the star of a £1 million relocation project that will see it move to a historic, new premises in Belfast as part of an ambitious expansion plan.

The company is moving to new studios next month at 46 Bedford Street – formerly a linen warehouse – and hopes to triple its workforce over the coming months as new shows are scheduled to be launched.

Colin Williams, creative director and founder of Sixteen South, said it is the beginning of a new chapter for the company which has already won more than 30 international awards since it was established in 2008.

Mr Williams said: “All aspects of our childrens television shows are made in-house, from pre-production to post-production and every stage in between.

“We had reached capacity at our current studio and needed about three times more space to facilitate our operations, which are continually expanding.”

He leased his very first studio space from commercial property agent Lisney - 16 Donegal Square South - which is where the inspiration for the company’s name from.

This time around Lisney also helped Sixteen South find its latest home - but while there is no plan for a new name change Mr Williams says he does appreciate the “symmetry” involved.

“Our new studio in Bedford Street is an important building with lots of history. It originally housed a busy linen manufacturer in 1884 - an industry that Belfast was world-renowned in for the quality of its work.

“It’s apt that the same building is home now to one of the new industries, which I hope will benefit the city in the same way,” he said.