BBC announces further moves out of London to reduce cost of property estate

MediaCityUK in Salford

The BBC has announced plans to move more of its BBC teams out of Media Village, London W12, to bases in Salford, Birmingham, Caversham and other buildings in London. It’s part of the corporation’s strategy to reduce the size and cost of its property estate, invest more of the Licence Fee in programmes, and build its presence outside the capital. Around 120 Future Media roles and 102 Technology roles will move to Salford during 2015, joining around 3,000 colleagues already based at MediaCityUK. Anne Bulford, Managing Director Finance and Operations, said: “We are well advanced with reducing the amount of space the BBC occupies in London W12. Spending less on these buildings will enable us to invest more of the Licence Fee in programmes, as well as continuing to build up our presence out of London, ultimately bringing us closer to audiences. BBC Worldwide is due to leave the Media Centre early in 2015, so we are developing proposals on how to accommodate the remaining occupants and free up this building to release savings.”

Following the announcement that the home of the BBC Academy and HR is moving to Birmingham, around 25 BBC Workplace & Safety staff will also move there next summer to support the whole of the UK from this central base.

Peter Salmon, Director England, said: “The North and Midlands are right at the heart of BBC plans to spend the Licence Fee closer to all our audiences. These 200 plus new roles for Salford cement its position as a key digital hub for the UK.

“These additional jobs for Birmingham – alongside key training moves already announced for our BBC Mailbox base – mean more than 200 positions are being created there from next year, too. It’s another significant development that keeps the Corporation locked into England’s most creative regions.”

A number of other roles will be relocated across the BBC’s other London bases. For example, BBC Media Action plans to move to third-party accommodation in London by May 2015, where they will have several touchdown desks in W1 so that they can remain close to the World Service Group.