MediaCityUK Round-Up: new tenants, £3m roundabouts and the cost of living at MediaCity…
posted Tue 09th Feb, 2010
- Two new tenants have moved into The Pie Factory at MediaCity - MK-V, who make camera stabilisation systems, and Web Potential Ltd (autoplay video alert!), a web-video presenting company.
The new tenants are taking advantage of additional space that has been created, and join the broadcast systems integrator TSL and Toasted Productions, who both opened offices at The Pie Factory in the past six months. - A £3million roundabout refurbishment known as the 'quays gateway' has attracted criticism after being mentioned in Private Eye. Salford Council have approved plans to make a pedestrian 'destination' out of the roundabout at the end of the M602 - by relocating cranes and adding new pedestrian crossings and lighting. You can view the full plans here (2mb pdf).
The plans have been attacked by the Salford Star, but the Council have defended the plans at Salford Online, saying, "We are not talking about some minor modifications to an insignificant traffic island here, we are talking about a major engineering undertaking for the city’s busiest intersection...It is the natural gateway to our city and to the flagship developments of Salford Quays and MediaCityUK." Read more here, and at the Star. - Finally, the cost of living above the BBC has become clear, after Peel published a residential brochure for the two apartment blocks at MediaCity - 'TheHeart' and 'NumberOne'. Prices start at £135k for a one bedroom apartment. A quick search for apartments at the Quays shows those prices are fairly standard, - but if you had your eye on that £350k penthouse at NumberOne, you're out of luck as it's already sold.
Local photographer James Lester was not impressed however, as he tweeted, "Just come back from @mediacityuk apartments. Verdict: Great view, great broadband, if you like living in a cupboard. Very disappointed."
Other notable mentions this week:
- Claire Rainford, the head of Communication North with the BBC, is to become the head of communications across the BBC’s Children's and Learning departments, which will relocate to MediaCity in 2011. More info at How-Do.
- Looks like MediaCity will have it's own dentist - plans have surfaced for one to be located under the multi-storey car park alongside Booths. (from SkyScraperCity).
- Jason Legget, Head of Business Development at MediaCity will be speaking at the Navigating Media City event on 9th March at the Waterside Plaza in Sale. The event, put on by Creative Industries Trafford, will be an 'insiders' guide to the realities, opportunities and who's who of the MediaCityUK'.
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Saul Nassé is new Controller of BBC Learning
posted Tue 22nd Sep, 2009 - 05:27 PM
photo: BBC
Saul Nassé (pictured) has been appointed as the new Controller of BBC Learning, replacing previous Controller Liz Cleaver who decided not to make the move to MediaCity earlier this year.
Saul is currently based in Mumbai where he has been General Manager and Creative Head of BBC Worldwide Productions India since 2007, and it is hoped his international experience will be an asset in establishing MediaCityUK as a global centre of excellence for the media industry.
Saul says: "I'm thrilled to have been asked to lead Learning at a time ripe with opportunity...I'm delighted to be part of the move to BBC North, which offers a great chance to reinvent the way we work and build new partnerships."
The deadline for the remaining BBC staff to decide on the move North is the end of this month (September '09), and if the recent trend is anything to go by there may be very few BBC vacancies for local talent come 2011. Despite this, the BBC is said to planning a recruitment drive for BBC North beginning November 09, so watch this space.
As How-Do points out, it was also announced today that BBC Childrens (which will also be making the move to Salford Quays) will recieve a minimum £25m increase in investment across the next 3 years. More details on that story at the BBC.
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MediaCityUK round-up: No Mayo, Illegal workers and an Olympic kerfuffle
posted Wed 16th Sep, 2009 - 08:51 PM
A quick round-up of MediaCity news from the past few weeks, with contributions from guest author Stephanie Redmond of Creative News.
Mayo moves on
It's been a long time coming, but Simon Mayo has finally decided that Salford is not for him. Mayo will replace Chris Evans on Radio 2, as part of a wider game of BBC musical chairs prompted by Sir Terry's resignation.
Mark Radcliffe and Richard Bacon are just two possible Mayo replacements, so maybe a re-shuffle - teamed with new talent - is just what the BBC needs. Who knows, they may fill the vacancies through judging candidates on personal merit, instead of who your Daddy is. As without an inside connection it is easier to become the president of the Freemasons than to acquire a cleaning job at the BBC.
(You can see Mayo make the announcement (and read listeners' reactions) on the 5live blog. - Ed.)
Sun questions BBC's timing
Next on this week's agenda is some BBC bashing by The Sun - a paper owned by Rupert Murdoch, a man with a few sour grapes in his fruit bowl. (Presumably because he doesn’t own the BBC, making him one step further away from world domination.)
The problem for The Sun is the timing of the MediaCity move - BBC Sport will be upping sticks a year before the 2012 London Olympics - costing the license payer a reported cheeky £3 million. The BBC have defended the schedule, stating the Olympics are a mere two weeks long, whereas MediaCityUK is part of a much bigger picture. A move is for life, not just for the Olympics.
(Ian Wylie at the MEN has a good response to this story on his blog. - Ed.)
Illegal workers on site
MediaCityUK was the focus of a swoop by immigration officials this week, as eight men were arrested on suspicion of working illegally at the construction site. The operation went ahead with the co-operation of the construction company, who will face no further action over the arrests.
Apparently this is the second time illegal workers have been discovered at the development. You can see more details on the BBC website.
Other notable mentions this week:
- Times Higher Education has an interesting interview with Salford Uni's new VC, Martin Hall. Professor Hall thinks their expansion to MediaCity will result in great ideas being generated, as young go-getters rub shoulders with leading broadcasters.
- Some fantastic new aerial shots of MediaCityUK over at SkyScraperCity, showing how the development is coming along in the wider context of Salford Quays.
That's all for this week...don't forget you can follow our daily updates via twitter and on our facebook page.
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Booths set to be first MediaCity retailer
posted Thu 03rd Sep, 2009 - 09:47 PM
Award-winning north west food store Booths looks set to become MediaCityUK's first retailer, once planning permission is granted.
Peel Media has submitted an application to extend a unit under MediaCityUK’s multi-storey car park so that it can become a Booths in 2011. Booths already operates at 26 locations around the north of England, but the MediaCityUK store will be the first in Greater Manchester.
It seems to have been a good choice, (welcomed on twitter at least) but what other stores would people like to see?
A quick twitter survey included responses such as: Greggs, Subway, Wagamama, Nandos, Pret a Manger, Fortnum and Mason and Krispy Kreme. Oh and "A reasonably-priced bar (NOT a swanky wine bar)"
Let us know what names you'd like to see at MediaCityUK - and who knows what could happen!
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New MediaCityUK website and promo videos - ‘ere be monsters!
posted Sun 30th Aug, 2009 - 08:29 PM
The long-awaited official MediaCityUK website has launched, along with a new promotional video (embedded below) featuring a host of crazy characters.
The new site features a timeline of Salford Quays, with details of the areas transformation from historic docks to futuristic media community.
There is also expanded information about the plans and vision of MediaCityUK, a handy FAQs section, and a dedicated news section for the latest press releases.
Along with the launch of the website comes a series of promo videos - the first of which flies us through MediaCityUK, overrun with various monsters, turtles and hot air balloons. Take a look:
You can see three more mini-promos at the official MediaCityUK channel on YouTube; all short teasers under the same 'MediaCityUK - Take Note' campaign, featuring Bridget, Jeff and Bob the whale. Let us know what you think by adding a comment below.
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I've just fixed the commenting system on the blog, which appears to have been malfunctioning for the past month or so. Apologies to anyone who has posted recently without any success, please do post again if you can be bothered! Jun 08, 2009 - 10:16 PM
CBBC are looking for new drama writers - if you fancy a future job at MediaCityUK check it out - http://bit.ly/10wvA0 May 20, 2009 - 07:14 PM
Not a lot of MediaCityUK news to report since the ITV bombshell, except perhaps this article from the FT about the positive impact MediaCityUK is likely to have on Salford and the surrounding areas. The article also provides a quick introduction to the local housing market - useful if you're looking at relocating to Salford. Mar 26, 2009 - 06:04 PM
Debate about the BBC's staff relocation packages continues to rumble on and on - Liz Hunt at the Telegraph says, "I can't be the only taxpayer with northern credentials who feels insulted by the implication that having to up sticks from the South East is akin to an enforced relocation to Mogadishu or Harare." (full article here). Meanwhile, Andy Spinoza at How-Do offers some relocation advice to BBC staff - "Some media people will find the value, community, and friendliness on offer in the likes of Monton and Eccles more appealing than the fancy nick-nack shops of Didsbury..." (full article here). Mar 12, 2009 - 07:22 PM
The Manyoo apartment towers in Salford Quays will be built, despite one of the developers behind it going into administration, reports the MEN. Manyoo will have 1,036 apartments over four towers that will `quite literally change the skyline of Salford Quays'. Mar 04, 2009 - 01:04 AM
Interesting article over at The Life of Wylie about the problems piling up for ITV; chief amongst them the need to make a decision about selling the Manchester site in Quay Street and moving to MediaCityUK, Salford. (via SalfordQuays.org) Feb 18, 2009 - 08:54 PM
Former journalist Aziz Rashid has been announced as the new head of BBC North West - "we have an exciting future ahead with our move to Salford Quays in 2011." (full article at the MEN) Feb 17, 2009 - 05:09 PM
The Guardian has a short article about some of the problems facing HBOS, one of which (according to the Guardian) is their £350m backing of MediaCityUK. (via SalfordQuays.org) Feb 17, 2009 - 05:00 PM
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