FACILTIES FRIDAY: THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND PRODUCTION!

Action Vehicle Services is a Knowsley‑based supplier of specialist vehicles for film and TV productions, founded in 2024 by Mark Cummings, an experienced by Action Vehicle Coordinator with over 16 years in the industry. 

Action Vehicle Services provides a wide range of vehicles to production, from period cars and motorbikes to police and military vehicles. As Mark explains, “whatever the criteria for the production is really, we can match it, if it’s 80s, 70s, 60s or contemporary, we’ve got the vehicles for it”. Mark is also on hand to support productions on set, helping to prep vehicles for scenes, assist the grip department and fit camera mountings. 

The business launched in August 2024, with Mark building on his 16 years of experience at Lime Pictures. Having spent years sourcing and managing vehicles for productions, he started to recognise a growing opportunity in the local market. “I incorporated the business in April while I was still at Lime, then I left and went straight into Action Vehicle Services,” he says. “My role there was very similar to what I do now. I was sourcing vehicles and assisting with them on set, and I realised there was a gap in the market here for it.” 

Stepping out independently has opened up a new and more varied chapter for Mark. “At Lime, you were dealing with the same cars and characters most of the time,” he explains. “Whereas now, you’re dealing with a completely different production every time – you can go from a 90s show to modern day, then back to the 60s and 70s.” That variety, he says, is what makes running Action Vehicle Services so exciting. 

With a little over a year and a half in operation, Action Vehicles Services has already racked up an impressive local resume of productions. Recent credits include G’wed (Series 2 and 3), The Jury, Dexter Proctor, Girl Troop vs Aliens, A Town in Nova Scotia and numerous commercial productions across the region. Not limited to just Liverpool City Region productions either, Action Vehicles has taken Mark to Belgium with Professor T, and the company’s first feature coming last summer in Anglesey with Black Church Bay.

Action Vehicle Services currently owns 17 vehicles, including an electric police car built in-house to meet sustainability demands. “At the time, there weren’t any electric police cars in the industry, so we built one to fill the gap,” he says. And his personal favourite in the collection? “The 1959 Rover P5, it always gets a lot of attention when we take it out.” 

Having started out as a mechanic before joining Lime Pictures as a valet, he says, “the Action Vehicle Coordinator left, and I stepped up temporarily and ended up doing it for 16 years. Ever since I went into the industry, I just loved it.” 

Now running the business solo, he believes Liverpool City Region is the perfect base. “It’s the people,” he says. “Local crews muck in and help each other, the architecture is amazing. It’s just a great place to work.”