Film crew hire/Birmingham/Logistics
Shoot logistics in Birmingham. The Clean Air Zone, bays, car parks, vans, trains and the airport.
An older van pays the Clean Air Zone as soon as it’s driven inside the Middleway ring road. A suspended bay is for technical vehicles only, and five of the council’s seven city-centre car parks stop at 2.1 metres or lower. Here’s how each of those works, with the trains, the airport and the NEC. Charges checked October 2026.
Clean Air Zone · older van
£8 a day
Parking suspension · per bay
£18.90
Council car parks · no height limit
2 of 7
Euston to New Street
1 hr 17 min
On this page
01 Road charges
The Clean Air Zone, inside the Middleway
One charge, for older vehicles, round the clock. From Birmingham City Council’s Brum Breathes pages, GOV.UK and Production Central WM’s note for productions, checked October 2026.
Where
Every road inside the A4540 Middleway ring road, but not the Middleway itself. The A38 and its tunnels are in, so an older van that cuts under the city centre pays even if it never stops. There are no barriers: cameras read the plates.
When
24 hours a day, every day of the year. A charging day runs midnight to midnight, so a van that drives in before midnight and out after it pays for two days.
What pays
£8 a day for a car, taxi or van that doesn’t meet the standard; £50 for a coach, bus or HGV. Motorbikes don’t pay.
What doesn’t
Diesel to Euro 6, petrol to Euro 4, gas to Euro 6, a hybrid whose engine meets those, and anything fully electric or hydrogen. GOV.UK’s checker takes the registration and gives the answer.
Paying
Online or by phone, up to six days before, on the day, or by 23:59 on the sixth day after. A business with two or more vehicles can open an account to check and pay for all of them at once.
Missing it
A £120 penalty, or £60 paid within 14 days. Ignore it and it goes up to £180.
Exemptions
There isn’t one for filming. Birmingham’s local exemptions are now only for recovery, community transport and school transport vehicles, and Production Central WM’s note says the charge applies to a production that’s in the city only to film. The national exemptions still count: military vehicles and historic ones drive in free, and Production Central WM counts a vehicle as historic if it was built or first registered 40 years ago. So a period action car that old pays nothing.
On a quote
We check every van’s registration against the Clean Air Zone before it’s booked. If an older van is the only one that will do, its £8 goes on the quote as its own line for each day it comes inside the ring road, and a van that stays in past midnight counts twice.
02 Parking
Parking bays: technical vehicles only
A bay suspension, a yellow-line dispensation or a van in a pedestrian zone all go through Production Central WM, the film office for the seven West Midlands councils. From its 2026–27 fee sheet and Code of Practice, checked October 2026.
| What | Birmingham | The other six councils | Notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parking suspension | £18.90 a bay | £8 to £70 a bay, by council | With the filming permit: five working days for a small shoot, four weeks for a large one |
| Set-up and logistics | £106.50 a street | £50 to £102 a street | With the filming permit |
| Yellow-line dispensation | Ask Production Central WM: it isn’t on the Birmingham fee sheet | £12 to £22.70 a vehicle | Five working days |
| Parking in a pedestrian zone | Through Production Central WM | Through Production Central WM | Four working days |
The rules on the day
Technical vehicles only
A suspended bay is for a vehicle that has to sit next to the filming: one cabled to the set, or one the crew keep going back to for kit that can’t be unloaded into the location. Everything else stops only to load, unload or drop people off, and a passenger vehicle never counts, whatever its size.
Cones don’t hold a space
The code says a production’s own cones have no legal force, and putting them out has to be agreed in advance. That’s what the suspension is for.
Keep the road open
At least 3.5 metres of carriageway on a one-way street, 7 on a two-way one, and 1.5 metres of pavement. Anyone working in the road wears hi-vis to EN471 Class 2.
Engines off, crew elsewhere
Vehicles park where and when it was agreed, and switch off on arrival. Cast and crew don’t park near the location unless spaces were set aside for them.
Late wraps
After a night shoot in a residential street, some technical vehicles may be asked to stay where they are until 07:00.
Holding the bays
On a street day a runner holds the suspended bays from first thing and sends anything that isn’t a technical vehicle on to a car park, so the trucks have somewhere to go when they arrive.
03 Off the street
Car parks and unit bases
Birmingham City Council runs seven car parks in the city centre, and only two of them take a high-roof van. From each car park’s page on the council’s site, checked October 2026.
| Car park | Spaces | Height limit | Open | Up to 12 hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Charles Street, B3 1NR | 82 | None | 24 hours | £11.60 on weekdays; £6 all day at weekends |
| Navigation Street, B5 4AD, by New Street | 44 | None | 24 hours | £18.50, pay by phone |
| Snow Hill multi-storey, B3 2BJ | 863 | 2.1m | 06:00–23:30, Sundays 09:00–21:00 | £22 |
| Millennium Point multi-storey, Howe Street, B4 7AP | 959 | 2.1m | 06:00 to midnight, then locked | £9.60 |
| Town Hall multi-storey, Brunel Street, B1 1TA | 387 | 2.1m | 24 hours | £18.50 |
| Dudley Street, B5 4PJ | 57 | 2.1m | 07:30–23:30, Sundays 09:00–21:00 | £18.50 |
| Jewellery Quarter multi-storey, B18 6LP | 553 | 1.9m | 06:00–20:30, closed Sundays and bank holidays | £8.40 for up to 10 hours |
What jobs elsewhere have taught us
Know the height
On a City of London job in 2026 the gaffer’s van was a Transit L3H3, 2.8 metres high: in Birmingham’s council car parks, that’s Great Charles Street or Navigation Street. A 2.02-metre van was too tall for the car park under One Canada Square, in London. It would clear the 2.1-metre limits here, but not the Jewellery Quarter’s 1.9.
Unload, then move
At One Canada Square in October 2024, the vans dropped the kit in a working loading bay and parked elsewhere. At a City of London tower in March 2026 the van could unload but not stay, and on the second day there was no parking at all.
Ask the building
At Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, in London, for Swanson Studios in November 2023: “Parking a challenge, but loading bay is accessible.” JJ Studios’ HIDE on Hackney Road had ten underground spaces by arrangement, with a 2m limit, when we filmed AlTi Tiedemann Global there in November 2024. From an office on Colmore Row to a hall at the NEC, we ask about loading and the height limit before the van’s booked.
Unit bases and catering
Council land goes through the film office
Production Central WM permits council car parks as well as the streets, so a unit base on a council site goes through it too. A large-scale shoot gives it four weeks.
Catering trucks need a base
Some streets don’t allow a location catering vehicle at all, so the code asks for it to be cleared in advance and parked at the unit base. Dirty water goes in a bowser where possible, never down the drains, and the waste goes at the end of every day.
Meals in one place
Drinks and meals are taken in an area set aside for them, not on the pavement. For a crew of four, lunch is a delivery to the location.
Who books it
A bigger unit needs someone to book the base, the bays and the traffic management. That’s the production manager’s job, and you can book one with the crew from the Birmingham crew page.
04 Vehicles
Vans, drivers and the roads in
Crew vans come from a hire firm or with the crew, and every one is checked against the Clean Air Zone before it’s booked. Hire details from the firm’s own site, checked October 2026.
Wolverhampton · WV11 3DS
Arnold Clark Car & Van Rental
A film and TV reservation department with its own account manager, and specialist vehicles that include people carriers with space for luggage, six-seat long-wheelbase vans, Hilux vans and 7.5-tonne trucks. The Wolverhampton branch hires small vans, Transits and Luton box vans, insurance included. Ask for each van’s Euro standard before it’s booked.
Gaffers and grips
The crew’s own vans
Gaffers and grips usually bring their own kit van. On a four-day job in London in 2025, putting the crew and the kit in one van saved the client about £1,000.
From outside Birmingham
Crew driving in
Crew from Manchester, London or Bristol who drive in with their kit go on the quote with the mileage, before anything is booked.
The roads in
The motorways
Birmingham Airport’s directions bring the M6 in from the north-west, the M40 from the south-east and the M5 from the south-west, each to the M42. The airport is off junction 6 of the M42, about 8 miles east of the city, and the NEC shares its station, Birmingham International.
The M6 Toll
A paid route around Birmingham, the alternative to the M6. A van over 1.3 metres pays a higher class than a car, prices are reviewed every quarter, and it takes contactless at the plaza. If the van uses it, it’s on the quote at cost.
HS2’s roadworks
Until November 2026, HS2 is closing the M42 between junctions 6 and 9, and the M6 at junctions 4 and 4a, on some nights and weekends. Its list of closures is the first thing to check before a van is booked for a day at the NEC.
Who drives
On a small job the driver is often the production assistant: our PA drove the van on a studio day in Woolwich, London, in January 2025. Travel and mileage go on the quote at cost, each on its own line.
05 By train
Trains into Birmingham, and kit on board
Three stations in the city centre, and the right one depends on where the crew are coming from. From the operators’ own pages, checked October 2026.
| Station | Trains | Arriving with kit |
|---|---|---|
| New Street | New Street is 1 hour 17 minutes from London Euston on the fastest trains, about an hour and a half from Manchester Piccadilly and an hour and a quarter from Bristol Temple Meads; Birmingham International, for the airport and the NEC, is ten minutes out (checked October 2026). | A drop-and-go off the Hill Street entrance, with level access; the taxi rank on Navigation Street; lifts and escalators to every platform; a 38-space short-stay car park. |
| Moor Street | Chiltern to London Marylebone, as fast as 1 hour 47 minutes, twice an hour. A short walk from New Street. | No set-down or pick-up out front since the road layout changed. Lifts and ramps to every platform. |
| Snow Hill | West Midlands Railway, with the Metro tram platform next to the station. | A set-down at the front, on Colmore Row; step-free to every platform; the council’s 863-space multi-storey. |
Kit on the train and the tram
From Euston
Avanti takes up to three items each, as long as you can carry them all yourself, the largest no bigger than 30 x 70 x 90cm, and nothing blocking an aisle or a door.
From Manchester
CrossCountry asks for one item each, at the same size, and allows no trolleys or four-wheeled trucks at all. A camera cart goes by road.
On the tram
The West Midlands Metro carries no single item over 15kg except a suitcase, wants batteries sealed and on the floor, and can turn away anything bulky.
What goes by train
A camera operator with a bag of batteries, cards and drives, or a director and a producer, yes. Lighting, stands, track and carts come in a van.
Travelling isn’t filming
Filming at New Street needs Network Rail’s permission and has its own fee: New Street is on the crew page, and the rest is in the locations guide.
HS2
Its Birmingham terminus at Curzon Street won’t see its first trains before May 2036; the target is late 2037.
06 Flying in
Birmingham Airport and the NEC
The airport and the NEC share Birmingham International station, ten minutes from New Street. From the airport’s and the NEC’s own pages, checked October 2026.
Into the city
The free Air-Rail Link runs from the terminal to Birmingham International station, 03:30 to 00:30 every day. New Street is about ten minutes on from there, with Avanti, CrossCountry and West Midlands Railway or London Northwestern trains several times an hour.
From the US
There’s no direct flight between New York and Birmingham: the airport’s own page sends you through a European hub, with one change on Air France, Aer Lingus, KLM, Lufthansa or SWISS.
From further
Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and Air India are on its airline directory.
Straight to London
Three Avanti trains an hour run from Birmingham International to Euston, in about 70 minutes, for a crew splitting a week between the two cities.
Loading at the NEC
Book the slot
During an event build, deliveries to the back of the halls are booked as a slot on Voyage Control. Behind the halls is for offloading only: the van then moves to a visitor car park, and the booking’s QR code lets it out free.
Don’t overstay
At a busy event the NEC may take a deposit and time the offload, and a vehicle left behind the halls after its slot gets an automatic overstay charge. Breakdown needs no booking.
On foot
The halls are a five-minute covered walk from Birmingham International over the bridge link, and the airport is on through the station by the Air-Rail Link.
Other venues
The ICC and the city-centre venues set their own delivery times: we ask each one for its slot and its height limit before the van’s booked.
From abroad
Kit flying in comes on an ATA Carnet: here’s how bringing film equipment into the UK works. And here’s how overseas teams book a Birmingham crew, or a UK production service company if you need one. Flying a drone near the airport or the NEC? Start with the airport’s zone.
07 Hotels
Where crews stay: by the station or on the NEC campus
NEC days
The NEC has seven hotels on its campus, all within walking distance of the halls; the Hilton, the Crowne Plaza and the Genting Hotel are a short walk. Nobody needs a car to get to the call.
City-centre days
Stay within walking distance of New Street, so anyone arriving by train walks straight in, and send the van to a car park that takes its height.
Two locations, two hotels
For four days split between Cannon Street and Uxbridge, in London, in 2025, the visiting team stayed by Hyde Park and in Uxbridge, and we booked the rooms so the VAT could be reclaimed.
On the quote
Hotels we book go on with everything else, under the same 10% booking fee and 2% insurance.
Want the Birmingham logistics sorted?
Send the dates, the locations and who’s travelling. We’ll check the vans against the Clean Air Zone and book the bays, parking, hotels and food with the crew, each on its own line. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Quick contact form
08 Questions
Shoot logistics in Birmingham: questions
Do crew vans pay Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone charge?
Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone covers every road inside the A4540 Middleway ring road, around the clock. A car or van below Euro 6 diesel or Euro 4 petrol pays £8 a day, an HGV or coach £50 (checked October 2026). A charging day runs midnight to midnight, and it’s paid on GOV.UK up to six days before or by 23:59 on the sixth day after; miss it and the penalty is £120, or £60 within 14 days. There’s no exemption for filming, so we check every van before it’s booked.
Is there a Clean Air Zone exemption for film vehicles?
No. Birmingham’s local exemptions are now only for recovery, community transport and school transport vehicles, and Production Central WM says the charge applies to a production that’s in the city only to film. The national exemptions still count: military vehicles and historic ones, which Production Central WM defines as built or first registered 40 years ago, drive in free. Checked October 2026.
How do I suspend parking bays for a shoot in Birmingham?
Through Production Central WM, with the filming permit. A bay is £18.90 and set-up and logistics £106.50 a street, plus VAT and its 20% administration fee, and a suspended bay is for technical vehicles only, parked next to the filming. A yellow-line dispensation takes five working days and parking in a pedestrian zone four. Checked October 2026.
Where can a crew van park in Birmingham city centre?
Of the council’s seven city-centre car parks, only Great Charles Street (82 spaces) and Navigation Street (44, by New Street) have no height limit. Snow Hill, Millennium Point, the Town Hall and Dudley Street stop at 2.1 metres, and the Jewellery Quarter multi-storey, which is closed on Sundays, at 1.9. Checked October 2026.
How do crew get from Birmingham Airport to the city?
The free Air-Rail Link runs from the terminal to Birmingham International station, 03:30 to 00:30 every day, and New Street is about ten minutes on from there. The NEC is a five-minute covered walk from the same station. There’s no direct flight from New York: change at a European hub with Air France, Aer Lingus, KLM, Lufthansa or SWISS. Checked October 2026.
Can crew bring kit on the train to Birmingham?
Some. Avanti, from Euston, takes up to three items each that you can carry yourself, the largest 30 x 70 x 90cm. CrossCountry asks for one item that size and allows no trolleys or four-wheeled trucks. Lighting, stands and carts come by van. Checked October 2026.
How do I get kit into the NEC?
During a build, deliveries to the back of the halls are booked as a slot on the NEC’s Voyage Control system. It’s offloading only: the van then moves to a visitor car park, and at a busy event overstaying brings an automatic charge. Checked October 2026.
Can you sort the logistics with the crew?
Yes. Send the dates, the locations and who’s travelling. We check the vans against the Clean Air Zone, then book the vans, bays, parking, hotels and food with the crew, each on its own line of the quote, with travel and mileage at cost. Crew coming in from Manchester, London or Bristol are on the quote before anything is booked. On a crew hire, everything we book carries the 10% booking fee and 2% insurance. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours.
Around the crew
More for Birmingham shoots
01
Kit rental
Kit houses at the NEC and on Hagley Road, the crew’s own kit, and what comes up from London.
02
Locations and permits
Production Central WM, the canals, New Street, the parks and the airport’s drone zone.
03
Studios and set builds
Digbeth Loc., Curzon Street, blackout and green screen studios, and set builds.
