Manchester the key to London property reshuffle

Ariel: 8 November 2005

Programme makers could find themselves moving to the Media Village within the next year or two, where they might be joined by staff from BBC Worldwide. The commercial operation is to leave Woodlands as part of the BBC's long term property strategy, and probably will be rehoused in one of the White City buildings or at Television Centre.

It's all part of a giant ‘property jigsaw', Mark Thompson told a House of Commons public accounts committee on Monday, although he admitted: ‘It is not yet clear how all the pieces will fit together.'

Much hinges on shifting key departments to Manchester and completing the value for money plans that will see around 4000 people leave the BBC.

Far from being an ‘inefficient' use of money, as suggested by Tory MP Edward Leigh, the committee's chair, the Media Village would help the BBC make better use of its property portfolio, Thompson argued. ‘We will consolidate into White City, TV Centre and W1,' he said.

A key aim was to increase occupancy of the Media Village. Currently 6.5 percent of the site is vacant. ‘It compares well with industry standards but I hope we can get it higher,' said Thompson.