News / BBC Bristol
Fate of BBC Bristol’s Whiteladies Road HQ revealed
BBC Bristol has revealed the fate of its Whiteladies Road headquarters.
In an email seen by Bristol24/7 sent to staff, the broadcaster said it is aiming turn the longstanding offices into “a vibrant, flexible workspace with new technology and facilities to support our multi-media work”.
The aim is to bring its BBC Local and Network Audio teams together.
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The news comes after the organisation cut dozens of jobs in local radio in England with more programmes shared between its stations and money saved diverted to online journalism.
Bristol24/7 has approached BBC Bristol for comment.
The broadcasting house on Whiteladies Road opened in 1934
An email sent to staff by Stephanie Marshall, head of the West and South West at BBC England, said: “We know you’re all keen to hear more on our plans for Whiteladies Road – especially as many of you have seen people surveying and marking up various parts of the site in recent weeks.
“So we wanted to let you know that, after careful consideration, we have decided that the best possible option for our future operation in Bristol is to create a new base for BBC Local and BBC Audio Production on the existing Whiteladies Road site.
“Our goal is to redevelop the current OB base as a new home for our local, regional and audio teams – creating a vibrant, flexible workspace with new technology and facilities to support our multi-media work.
“By bringing our BBC Local and network audio teams together, I believe this will be a brilliant opportunity to create a new spirit of collaboration across all our teams.
“Now we’re clear on our preferred solution, we’re working up a full business case to support this plan, one which would see the rest of the Whiteladies Road site put up for sale.
“This business case will then go through an approval process. As a rough estimate, from this approval stage, we think it’s likely to be about 18 months before we can move over to the new facility.”
All photos: Martin Booth
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