2017年 07月 04日

Salford’s MediaCityUK gets £1bn expansion

The BBC’s northern home is to double in size within ten years after local council gives go-ahead. MediaCityUK, the BBC’s home in the north of England, is to double in size geographically over 10 years as television production companies are increasingly priced out of London and the south-east.

MediaCity leads to Salford becoming the UK’s property hotspot
Plans for a £1bn expansion of Salford Quays were approved by the local council on Thursday. The new development will include more TV studio and production space as well as shops, offices, a 330-bed hotel and over 1,400 new homes.

It marks a rapid change in attitude towards the north of England as a media hotspot, just five years after more than 1,000 BBC staff were relocated with varying degrees of enthusiasm from London. Some stars famously refused to make the move, with Jeremy Clarkson making it clear he would not countenance the idea of relocating Top Gear to Salford.

Compared with London, studio costs in Greater Manchester are more than 50% lower, average full-time staff costs are 40% lower and lifestyle costs including transport are between 40% and 60% lower, according to an independent report.

The report claims one in four dramas shot outside London are now filmed in Manchester, which is home to over 600 film and TV companies and major independent production companies, such as Red (Happy Valley, Cucumber), Baby Cow (Alan Partridge, The Trip) and award-winning documentary maker Nine Lives Media. Over 60,000 people now work in the creative and digital industries in Greater Manchester, according to Amion, which forecasts that number will grow 27% by 2034.

“Manchester has become the go-to production destination in the UK due to investment in facilities, the deep-rooted talent pool and it is now the biggest tech and creative centre outside the capital. On all counts it is a more cost-effective choice,” said Sue Woodward, founder of The Space Project and a former managing director of ITV Granada.

There are around 250 businesses in MediaCityUK employing approximately 7,000 people and another 1,000 businesses in the wider Salford Quays area employing a further 27,500 people. That’s up from 24,000 in 2008.