20 BusIness AUGUST 2019
digital, media, and creative
Email: [email protected]
A
s a child, BBC
Breakfast’s business
presenter Nina
Warhurst feared that
her northern accent
would thwart her
dream of becoming a
national broadcast journalist.
Now, thanks to the BBC’s move to
MediaCityUK in Salford eight years ago
today, accent is no longer a barrier for
aspiring regional reporters.
“I distinctly remember watching the
national news every night when I was
about five years old and thinking ‘I’ll
never do that because of my accent,’”
admits Warhurst.
Born in Sale and moving to Salford as
a teenager, Warhurst, who is also the
BBC’s political editor for the North
West, went on to study broadcast
journalism but was told she’d have to
change her voice to be successful
nationally.
“When I started out in journalism
people said to me, ‘you’re going to have
to change your vowels sounds, you’re
going to have to improve your accent if
you’re ever going to be on national
news’, but I felt very strongly that I
would never, ever do that, and I never
h a v e .”
Warhurst’s first job in television was
for Russia Today in Moscow, followed
by other roles including a stint as a
presenter at Channel M in Manchester
before finally coming to work for the
BBC in Salford.
From the moment the BBC signalled
its intention to move jobs to Salford,
Warhurst says she began to dream of a
career with the national broadcaster.
“The development at Salford Quays
was unfolding before my eyes and I
remember thinking, ‘I hope I can get a
job at the BBC’,” she says.
“In fact, my dad kept saving clippings
from the Manchester Evening News
reports on the relocation for me. I
remember him saying ‘there’s got to be
a job for you there’ and me replying –
‘they’ll never have me,’” she laughs.
The BBC relocation was one of the
biggest moves in broadcasting history
and the catalyst for the MediaCityUK
development, which now houses some8,000 people both living and working
there.
With 3,500 staff on the state-of-the-
art site, BBC North is the BBC’s second
biggest creative hub and the biggest
news centre outside of London.
It’s home to five of the BBC’s flagship
digital products and base to some of
the biggest BBC programmes,
including BBC Breakfast.
As part of the move, top level execs
such as Helen Thomas, director at BBC
England, have made Salford their
home.
As well as playing an important role
in helping to rebalance the media and
other related sectors away from
London to other parts of the country,
the relocation has helped transform the
BBC for an internet age.
BBC Digital is now the largest team at
BBC North, with 1,100 staff working
across MediaCityUK.
BBC North in Salford is home to
many of the BBC’s digital teams,
including BBC iPlayer, Sport, CBeebies,
CBBC and Homepage, and the
broadcaster partners with local social
enterprises such as Sharpfutures to
help local, entry level candidates gain
experience in Manchester’s creative
digital sector.
As the anniversary celebrations
commence today, Adrian Mills,
director, business and operations, BBC
England comments: “It is eight years
since BBC North opened its doors in
MediaCityUK
“The move brought thousands of
jobs, millions of pounds worth ofinvestment and created partnerships
around Greater Manchester and
beyond.
“As we celebrate today, we also look
to the future and we are excited about
the continued development of the site
and new opportunities on offer.
“The move has been a great success
and has created a sea change within
the industry.”
Now in her own dream job,
Warhurst’s hope is that the BBC will
continue to make the aspirations of
young people from a diverse range of
social backgrounds come true.
“My wish for the BBC is that we
continue to bring in local talent that
hasn’t gone through the traditional
routes to journalism – via redbrick
universities – and I think we need to get
more and more people from diverse
communities in Greater Manchester
through the doors, otherwise we’d be
missing a trick.”Nina on dream
job thanks to
BBC’s move to
Salford Quays
Presenter Nina Warhurst speaks to Fiona Vlemmiks as the
broadcast giant marks its eighth anniversary at MediaCityUK
Nina WarhurstBBC at MediaCityUK