country started to really bear down upon the corporation. It started with a shift of some of its production up to Scotland; the departments they moved first were sports and children’s TV. Then the decision was made to develop in another new location, for which they chose Salford in Manchester. The company at the time, Peel Media, decided to build a complex not just fit for the BBC, but a hub for a whole new broadcast and media community to move into. While this was all happening, I saw the job advert in The Guardian , which someone pointed out to me – so I just went for it, and got it! Then we had to decide what we were going to do. What we were attempting was to deliver broadcast services outside London, and when you unpack that, it’s also about making sure people from all sorts of different backgrounds are given the same opportunities to work in broadcast media.
Before Dock 10, if you wanted to be a camera assistant or lighting director and you lived in Eccles or Stockport, for example, your only option was to pack up your life, move down to London and find somewhere cheap or sleep on a sofa while you established yourself – which was tough. Dock 10 meant people didn’t have to do that any more, as there were now going to be opportunities outside the capital in the north-west for those sorts of careers. We had seen a massive brain drain across the UK for years, with the centre of that being London. This was a chance to put a stop to that and start creating jobs, opportunities and skill sets that would invite the production community to be based outside of London. That would then allow high-quality programmes to be made in other parts of the UK. We’ve always felt Media City was a stake in the ground, showing that those opportunities can be gained elsewhere. We really wanted to create the facilities and resources to be able to deliver that. That must have injected numerous new career opportunities into the region. What did such a shift look like? Over 5000 people now work out of Media City, for a range of major networks and companies. There’s the BBC and ITV, but there are also numerous SMEs and independents that now work here – and many production companies regularly use the facilities within Dock 10 itself. It was a game changer for the industry. Diversity is central to what Media City offers. It’s true that, before the move away from London, there had always been a bit of a club of people, mainly from more privileged backgrounds, who had exclusive access to the media community. The BBC tried to do something like this in the nineties, with Janet Street-Porter. The company tried to move youth television up into Manchester, but it didn’t have the level of commitment that we saw with the creation of Media City. That was taking it to a whole new level.
Since the pandemic, we’ve seen a little bit of movement back towards London – and part of our mission is to ensure the initial vision of making sure production also takes place outside of the capital carries on. What are some of your favourite projects that you΄ve worked on during your time at Dock 10? Picking a favourite project would be like picking a favourite child – it would be a terrible mistake! They’re all wonderful, and we’re appreciative of all the clients we’ve worked with. Over the years, we’ve had a number of anchor tenants. Part of opening Dock 10 was about settling the BBC in with their move, and one of the big elements of that was Match of the Day ( MOTD ). That was a big deal – it was and still is a flagship show with many millions of viewers – and moving that in was an important task. Then we had to evolve their workflows. Back in 2018, we had to work on a plan to transition them into a virtual studio workflow. Going through that whole exercise of working with the BBC, as well as other networks and studios, and then moving them into these virtual worlds was tremendously interesting. Another personal favourite of mine – because I’ve always felt quite attached to it from watching as a kid – is Blue Peter , which is now in its 64th year. When I joined the BBC as an engineer in my early twenties, and throughout my 20 years at the BBC, I regularly worked on the show. Coming up to Salford and bringing it with me was really special – it has been a part of my professional life for 35 years and beyond – having been totally enthralled by it as a child. We’ve done many great shows here, from The Voice to Countdown and University Challenge – we’ve even handled key election debates and Sports Personality of the Year . They were all amazing to be part of. Can you share any of the biggest challenges you and the team have faced over the years – how did you overcome them?
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