BBC Salford

Well, Christmas is truly here and Christmas parties are in full swing. Last Thursday I had a surprise call from my previous boss, William Dunne, from iDEA, inviting me to their Christmas day out literally the next day. I couldn’t refuse. It was so nice to be remembered and to be surrounded by so many familiar faces. It felt like I hadn’t been away. In true iDEA spirit, they held a special Christmas event and this year it was a trip to Manchester to look around the new BBC buildings in Salford. This is a job iDEA have been heavily involved in for many years now. The day then progressed into a leisurely walk around the German market in the city centre, finishing with a slap up meal – although this meal was not raw! Ooopps!

Now, only ever seeing the new BBC buildings on plans and in a CAD format, it was very exciting to see the three buildings well on their way through construction. Although still a long way from completion, it was a great privilege to get a sneak preview of how these buildings are being developed and the huge organisation needed to keep a job like this running. It is one of the biggest jobs I have seen at this stage. The site has been set up with a changing area, huge temporary office, security barriers, walkways and boot wash. The guys working on site are some of the friendliest and politest bunch of workers I’ve met, with plenty of friendly hello’s and door opening for us ladies, despite how we looked in our hard hats, fluorescent coats and muddy wellies.

We spent an hour touring around the site guided by one of the site managers from Bovis Lend Lease – the construction management team. We were taken around to some of the areas where a few of the BBC departments will be transferred to such as Sport, Five Live, Children’s and the Blue Peter garden. It was a fantastic insight to see how some of the spaces are forming and developing. This will be a truly amazing place to visit when completed in 2011.

Thank you iDEA for such a great day out.