Granada/BBC deal near conclusion

A decision to set up a joint Granada/BBC studio centre in Manchester could be made within days.

BECTU has been told by Granada Media that a process of "due diligence", in which the two organisations study each other's books, could finish by June 20, opening the way for a final announcement on the new centre.

BECTU has established that talks between the two organisations have been conducted secretly over several months to hammer out plans for a single TV facility in Manchester to service both BBC and ITV.

The BBC claims that its facilities are currently under-utilised, and the cost of upgrading equipment to digital standards cannot be justified. According to Granada, who have been more willing to answer questions on the talks, the new centre would be on their existing site, employing roughly 220 of their staff and 70 from the BBC.

Staff would be moved into a new company under TUPE regulations which protect terms and conditions, but do not guarantee pensions. The BBC has, however, pledged that any of their staff transferred to the new centre would have pensions protection.

The creation of the new centre would put a serious question mark over the future of the BBC's present TV and Radio HQ in Manchester's Oxford Road.

BBC activities in Manchester have already been hit by an announcement that the Outside Broadcast base in Oxford Road will close under a reorganisation of Resources London Operations, the section of Resources Ltd which runs OBs.