主播大秀

As the Director of Workplace and Safety, I lead the team that manages the 主播大秀’s properties across the UK. Our buildings provide the production and broadcast capability that allows us to serve our audiences both in the UK and across the globe. We have distinct services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland together with our regional and local radio stations across the country. Many of our buildings are highly specialised with studios, editing and playout facilities which need to run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The output of the 主播大秀 has increased enormously over the past 20 years from two to nine television stations and five to 10 national radio stations as well as 主播大秀 online, iPlayer and Red Button.

Our buildings have also had to keep pace with the rapid changes in technology and the way we all consume media now – such as 24-hour news and the internet. About 15 years ago we recognised that many of our buildings were rapidly becoming out of date and unable to support the ‘digital revolution’ in broadcasting. So we embarked on a programme to modernise the estate and make it more efficient and to do so without increasing the cost to licence fee payers. Along the way we also addressed some other things including the need to better reflect the geographical spread of our audiences across the UK outside London.

That programme is nearing completion. Most of our buildings have been modernised – more than 60 per cent are less than 15 years old compared to 5 per cent in 1999 – and over half of our staff now work outside of London. We have also reduced the number of buildings we occupy from over 250 to 154 and the overall space by nearly 30 per cent. The 主播大秀 now spends 4 per cent less in real terms on property than at the start of this programme. Between 2010 and 2017 we will have reduced the cost of running the estate by £67m a year.

We have replaced buildings like Television Centre, Bush House and White City in London, Queen Margaret Drive in Glasgow, Oxford Road in Manchester and Pebble Mill in Birmingham – in many cases much loved, but run down and technically obsolete – with modern, technologically advanced buildings such as Broadcasting House in London, Pacific Quay in Glasgow, MediaCity UK in Salford and the Mailbox in Birmingham.

It is right to say that we have invested significantly in these buildings particularly in New Broadcasting House. In doing so, we have consolidated into one building the news, world service and television operations that were previously spread across three major sites. As a consequence this brings nearly half of all output under one roof using an unprecedented level of technological sophistication and resilience. Its open and accessible design has brought us closer to audiences with over 100,000 people visiting the building each year. And this doesn't include the countless passers-by dropping into the media café to overlook the newsroom, flocking to see their idols go in and out of Radio 1 or watching The One Show being made in the public piazza.

But we’re not quite finished yet. We still have some major sites that need to be modernised – we've announced a major new development in the centre of Cardiff to house our broadcast operations in Wales, and we're looking at options for Belfast and Bristol. We will also continue to improve on how efficiently our buildings are used and how they perform environmentally, continuing to drive down costs in real terms. But we have achieved a significant amount so far; particularly given that the Licence Fee has been held flat at £2.80 a week for six years. Today the National Audit Office, the public spending watchdog, has said that we have made good progress:

“The reduction in space has significantly exceeded the reduction in staff numbers, which indicates the 主播大秀 is using its estate more efficiently.”… “This reduction coincided with an increase in its broadcast and digital output.” It added that the 主播大秀 has “replaced many ageing buildings with a smaller number of modern facilities that are better suited to its needs and more accessible to audiences.”

This confirms that the strategy the 主播大秀 set out to deliver at the start of this was the right one.

Better buildings mean better value for money. The efficiency they provide means we can spend more of the licence fee income in producing more of the world class programming that is expected of us.

Paul Greeves is the 主播大秀's Director of Workplace and Safety

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