MediaCity Round-Up: Mandy visits Salford, a bigger Children’s budget and more jobs…
posted Tue 16th Mar, 2010 | 1 comment
Business Secretary Lord Peter Mandelson visited MediaCityUK last week as part of a visit to Manchester that included a speech at the University and the opening of a welding school in Salford.
Mandelson got a brief tour of the site, accompanied by Chairman of Peel Media Bryan Gray, and John Whittaker, Chairman of the Peel Group. The Salford Star managed to grab an interview with the man himself about MediaCity, which is well worth the read.
In other news:
- Crain's reports that BBC Children's (moving to MediaCity as part of the Salford move) will have an extra £10m in it's annual budget from 2013 - following the closure of 6music and the Asian Network (full article here). The proposed cuts have sparked much debate amongst listeners and BBC staff, not least on our own facebook page.
- How-Do says the BBC will now move the entire Learning Department to Salford, meaning an additional 32 posts at MediaCityUK. The BBC Learning Controller Saul Nassé said, "I can think of nowhere better for Learning to spend its future than as part of BBC North at MediaCityUK". Full article at How-Do.
- In another positive note for MediaCity, media consultancy firm K7Media has led a 'fact-finding mission' about MediaCityUK for CBS Paramount that received an "exceptionally positive" response, says How-Do. K7Media will be showing more international broadcasters around the site shortly, and their MD Keri Lewis Brown said, "The Salford development is, without question, attracting world interest to our region." Full article at How-Do.
- The Radio Academy has announced that the 2010 Radio Festival will take place in Salford Quays. Representatives of Global Radio, Bauer Radio, GMG Radio, Absolute Radio and the BBC are all on the committee for the festival, which takes place between the 18th and 20th October. More details at Radio Today.
- Luvthecity have an interview with local photographer Mark Whitfield, who has chronicled the construction of MediaCityUK with over 12,000 photos and maintains the MediaCity photographic timeline (Those are Mark's flickr photos on our homepage). Head over to Luvthecity for the full article.
That's all for now folks. For up to date MediaCity news and rumours, you can follow us on twitter or join our happening facebook fan page.
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MediaCityUK Round-Up: end of 2009 edition
posted Sun 20th Dec, 2009 - 09:57 PM
Well here it is folks - the final MediaCityUK round-up of 2009.
As we head into 2010 there's an awful lot of cash being committed to projects at MediaCity - allow me to draw your attention to a few examples:
- Over £8m towards MediaCityUK's MEC (Media Enterprise Centre - see here for a map), from the European Regional Development Fund and the North West Regional Development Agency. That money will contribute towards a research hub led by Salford Uni (more details here), a 'Digital Content Lab' and the 'Make Media Centre' - a project to help local community groups take advantage of digital media.
Steven Broomhead of the NWDA says, "We know that MediaCityUK will be a site of global importance in the digital and creative sector and the initiatives based within the MEC will make it a bustling centre of the latest digital and creative thinking." More details at How-Do. - £1m from the government's Strategic Investment Fund designated to a national 'centre of excellence' for the games industry based at MediaCity (last mentioned in October). The centre will be based in the MEC, and is intended to drive creativity, innovation, product development and skills in the UK games industry. More details at Develop.
- A £15m high speed digital network ('NorthernNet') to help connect the creative industries across the North of England. The project is funded by the North West Development Agency(again) and Northern Way, and will apparently play a 'key role' in the delivery of the BBC @North project. (reaching out to digital producers and agencies across the north in a link up with BBC Children's – moving to Salford in 2011).
With me so far? good. Here's a few extra MediaCityUK-related news items that you might have missed...
- BT have been awarded a five-year contract to build the fibre-optic-based communications infrastructure at MediaCityUK. The network will contain more than 20 million metres of optical fibre, with connection speeds of up to 10Gbps. More details at ZDnet.
- Acting agency MTM Associates has taken space at the Quay West Business Centre in Salford Quays, to be closer to the action when MediaCityUK opens for business. (Crain's).
- Broadcast systems firm TSL is going to open a new office at the Pie Factory, MediaCity. David Phillips, MD, said, "This new office is demonstrable evidence of our commitment, not just to the MediaCityUK development but to the expanding broadcast and production work that will emanate from this world-class facility." (How-Do).
- MediaCityUK have posted some recent photos of the site on their new official flickr feed - flickr.com/creatingacity, and have a new CGI image as the background of their official twitter - @creatingacity.
So that's about it for the naughties...but as we speed into 2010 there's still one big question - who's gonna be next to sign up? We start 2010 much like 2009 - the BBC and Salford Uni all signed up, but as yet no major commercial tenant.
Perhaps this will be the year ITV joins the party (though that currently looks pretty unlikely) - but with the BBC making a big recruitment push next year and the development nearing completion, hopefully it won't be long before we've got some big hitters to report on.
Finally, thanks to everyone who's read, replied, commented, emailed, tweeted or re-tweeted anything on the blog this year. Hopefully you've found something useful or valuable here...and we've got some improvements planned for the new year, so watch this space. (If you have any comments or suggestions you can contact me directly at michael@mediacityblog.com.)
Merry Christmas to all, and a Happy New Decade!
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New Blue Peter garden found, on the roof of MediaCityUK Studios
posted Sun 22nd Nov, 2009 - 07:33 PM | 2 comments
The new home of the Blue Peter garden in Salford Quays has been spotted, up on the roof of the MediaCityUK Studios block.
The location was pointed out on a planning document over at the MediaCity thread on SkyscraperCity.
The new garden is tucked around the corner from the main piazza, and presumably will only be viewable from adjacent offices and apartments (quite a unique selling point if you're a big Blue Peter fan).
You can see the new location on the image below, or the planning document right here.
Back in July it was reported that the Blue Peter garden was to be replaced with a virtual version, but that was quickly denied by the BBC. Unfortunately, the remains of George the tortoise (the only Blue Peter pet buried in the garden) won't be making the move North.
(thanks to CDX at skyscrapercity for the spot!)
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BBC accused of ‘bribery’ over allowances for MediaCityUK movers
posted Mon 09th Nov, 2009 - 10:27 PM | 2 comments
This week the shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt accused the BBC of 'bribing' staff to make the move to Salford Quays.
He was referring to the issue of London 'weighting' allowances (up to £4k a year), which BBC staff relocating from London to MediaCityUK will continue to be paid for the remainder of their careers.
Hunt said, "For the BBC to be using licence-fee payers’ money in this way beggars belief. Money should be spent on producing great programmes, not bribing people who want to stay in London to move to Salford."
The BBC has defended itself, saying it is "common practice" for employees to keep weightings when relocating out of the capital and that, "It would be unreasonable to expect staff to take a reduction in earnings as part of this process." (more at the Times).
The issue has prompted comments galore at the Times and How-Do, and the Salford Star has labeled it an 'apartheid wage system' that prefers London staff to new recruits.
It doesn't really matter how the BBC tries to justify it's various relocation incentives - in the middle of a recession these allowances are never going to go down well. And with a Conservative government breathing down it's neck, chances are we'll see less of these generous packages in the future (though probably no less media coverage).
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In some not-entirely-unrelated news, here's a cool little video from some Salford youngsters who visited MediaCityUK recently (featuring a very relaxed looking Peter Salmon):
Hopefully by the time these kids land jobs at MediaCity that £4k a year won't seem like such a big deal.
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MediaCityUK round-up: Holiday Inn announced, keys handed over, plus much more!
posted Fri 30th Oct, 2009 - 12:28 AM
It's been a month since our last update, so you must be desperate for your fix of MediaCity-related news. We won't keep you waiting any longer:
- Yesterday it was announced that the 218-bed hotel at MediaCityUK will be a Holiday Inn, complete with bar, restaurant and gym facilities. Andrew Gill, Vice President of Development for IHG (Holiday Inn), said: “Signing the Holiday Inn Manchester MediaCityUK in such a tough economic climate is testament to the strength of the Holiday Inn brand...It’s an ideal location and we’re confident the hotel will be an asset to the development.”
- Earlier this month the BBC were given the keys to building C, future home to Radio Five Live, BBC Sport and local and regional news. Channel M was at the handover ceremony, and took the opportunity to question Salford locals on the impact of MediaCity:
- BBC presenter Gabby Logan is being tipped to make the move to Salford Quays in 2011, as she is set to host a new daily show on Radio 5 Live. Logan doesn't seem to be directly replacing any other presenter - it's just part of the ongoing shake up of 5Live. More details at the MEN.
- Plans for a video game 'development hub' based at MediaCity have been in the news this week, after reports that work could start on the project as early as next summer. The idea was originally discussed in the Digital Britain report, but has since been criticised by those preferring the project be based in Liverpool or Dundee (already home to a number of gaming companies). Crain's currently has a poll about the subject, and (somewhat unsurprisingly) 60% of readers think MediaCity is a better option than Liverpool. Just another thing we can fight about.
- Jason Legget, Head of Business Development at MediaCityUK will be speaking at the Creative Industries Networking Group (CING for short) birthday party on 2nd November at Rain Bar in Manchester. Jason will be outlining the current status of developments at MediaCityUK, and sharing his strategy and opportunities for making MediaCityUK a success. We can personally recommend CING as a great meetup for anyone involved in the creative industries (full of friendly people!), so get yourself down there if you're interested.
- Finally there are a handful of new BBC positions over at MediaCityUK Jobs - all unfortunately based in London for the time-being, moving to Salford 2011. Still, if you fancy living in the big smoke for a few years, check 'em out.
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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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