The BBC moved 850 staff from London to Salford in 2011, giving them £11 million to cover relocation costs such as estate fees, furniture, and rent. Staff were also given 10% of their salary as a lump sum to encourage relocation. While the BBC cited benefits like improved productions and reputation from the move, it was criticized for excessive relocation payments like £150,000 for a £1 million home. The move ultimately cost £233 million but it is unclear if it provided value.

1. As a group we researched into
the move which took place in
2011. The move from London
involved a total of 850 staff to
choose whether or not to
relocate from London and move
to Salford, staff were given
£11 million to cover the cost of
estate agents’ fees, stamp duty,
furnishings, rent and other bills,
they were also given lump sums,
worth 10% of their salary, to
encourage them to move.
"Some relocation allowances that
the BBC paid to staff to move to
Salford seem excessive and its
recording of exceptions, some of
which resulted in higher
payments, was inadequate“ a
source said.

2. The benefits of the move
included better quality
productions and also gave a
better reputation of the BBC.
During the move the BBC
spent £2m in two years on
flights to and from
Manchester.
Although there seemed to be
a lot of benefits to the move,
the public have doubted the
statistics and argue against
the benefits denying the
number of jobs created for
the local area etc.

3. 'A colossal waste of money': Fury at
BBC giving staff licence fee money
to move North including £150,000
to buy a £1million home’
• More than 850 staff given thousands
of pounds to move to the north
• Rent, utility bills, council tax, train
fares and even curtains were
refunded
• National Audit Office criticises
'exceptional' and 'unusual' payments
• Sport, children's TV and BBC
Breakfast among programmes
moved north
• One person offered allowance to sell
a second home
• Still not clear if £233million move
will give value for money

4. Media City has been designed to provide a purpose-built
home for creative and digital businesses. The first
phase, spread over 36 acres, was completed in 2011 but
there is the potential to use up to 200 acres of land over
the next decade.
Phase One Includes:
•70,000 square feet of offices (including space for the
BBC, ITV and University of Salford)
•250,000 square feet of high definition studios
(including the largest high definition studio in Europe
and one dedicated to the BBC Philharmonic)
•Public park and events space - twice the size of
Trafalgar Square!
•The Landing - a new facility for digital and media
professionals at the heart of MediaCityUK
•378 new apartments
•218 bed Holiday Inn
•Booths supermarket
•WH Smiths, Costa coffee, Wagamamas, Prezzo and
Damson restaurants
•2,200 space car park