Press Releases BBC to move additional jobs to Salford

Category: BBC
Date: 11.01.2008
Printable version

The BBC is moving additional posts to mediacity:uk, the new media centre in Salford, Caroline Thomson, the BBC's Chief Operating Officer, announced today (Friday 11 January).

 

Speaking at the launch of the BBC Connect And Create Partnership at Huddersfield University, Caroline said:

 

"As part of the BBC's drive to become less London-centric and more deeply rooted in the whole of the UK, we will be moving a significant number of additional staff to the new media centre in Salford Quays.

 

"All of this will strengthen Salford's place as a true network centre.

 

"And with a stronger BBC presence, there will be even greater potential for Manchester, Salford and the whole of the North of England to become a world class centre of media innovation and technology for the 21st Century."

 

The additional jobs are in the BBC Future Media & Technology (FM&T) division, and in BBC News – including journalists working in BBC Radio 5 Live as well as some network news correspondents.

 

The net result of these additional moves is that the overall number of BBC posts moving from London to Salford will increase by nearly 10% from just under 1,500 to over 1,620. Around 800 staff currently working at the BBC in Manchester will also be moving to Salford.

 

There will now be an even stronger presence for BBC FM&T in Salford. This encompasses the central Future Media team which leads the development of the BBC's offering across the internet, digital TV and mobiles, and also the Media Research & Innovation team. It brings to over 500 the total of FM&T staff who will be based in Salford by 2011.

 

The Director of FM&T, Ashley Highfield, believes this is a chance to reinvent Future Media and how the BBC goes about creating it. He describes it as "the boldest move we can make in helping to shift the centre of gravity of the BBC".

 

In addition, more journalists are moving to Salford. Radio 5 Live news programmes will now join the rest of the radio station and there will be an increased national newsgathering presence with the creation of a news hub with additional correspondents.

 

Notes to Editors

 

The BBC Connect And Create Partnership involves all the universities in the North of England; further education institutions and nearly 30 community organisations. It is aimed at nurturing new talent and developing media skills across the North of England.

 

The BBC at mediacity:uk in Salford:

 

 

• The BBC is creating a new centre in the North of England as part of the mediacity:uk development at Salford Quays in Greater Manchester.
  
  Five BBC London-based departments, including two TV channels and two radio stations, will move to mediacity:uk in Salford in 2011. They are BBC Children's (including CBBC and CBeebies); BBC Formal Learning; BBC Future Media & Technology (including Research & Development); BBC Radio 5 Live (including 5 Live Sports Extra); and BBC Sport.
  
  The BBC will be based in three new buildings at mediacity:uk, a 200-acre brownfield development and the UK's first media city. A separate studio block also forms part of the development, although this is not solely for the use of the BBC. [Note. The BBC does not own the buildings nor is it responsible for their construction or the site's development; these are all the responsibility of Peel Holdings].
  
  The mediacity:uk consortium developing the site comprises Peel Holdings Ltd, the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company and Salford City Council. [Note. The BBC is not a member of the consortium, nor is it a partner in the development, but as the anchor tenant does have a place on the Steering Group].
  
  Final approval for the BBC initiative was given by the BBC Trust and agreement reached with the developer Peel Holdings on 31 May 2007. Preparatory work started on site in June 2007 and will be followed by construction proper in September 2007.
  
  The initiative will cost £200m to the licence fee payer over the period of the next Licence Fee.
  
  
• The relocating departments represent £225m of BBC production spend and £275m of BBC commissioning spend. [Note. These figures are not mutually exclusive and should not be added together or taken away from each other. Some production spend will be outside Salford (ie, with the BBC elsewhere in the UK or with independents) as will some (different) commissioning spend].

 

BBC Press Office