ITV starts MediaCityUK move

ITV Granada has started to move the first of 500 staff to its new base at a MediaCityUK tower block.

Its accounts, finance and human resources teams were the first to leave Granada’s Quay Street premises in Manchester which have been home to the broadcaster since the 1950s.

Around 160 people have moved to MediaCityUK’s Orange Tower where ITV has taken three floors. The University of Salford is already based in the building.

The interior has been designed by Sheppard Robson’s ID:SR with the fit-out handled by Overbury’s Manchester office. Both firms worked on the BBC’s MediaCityUK offices.

The production team for The Jeremy Kyle show is the next to move but other departments will not follow until after Christmas. These include CITV, drama, post-production and the regional news programme Granada Reports, which should leave in March. No date has been given for Coronation Street which will swap its original set for a replica at MediaCityUK.

Move director, Jon Huddleston, said: “ITV’s investment in to a brand new base at MediaCityUK is not only exciting, it is an important part of the company’s future in a region that we have been proud to be part of for over fifty years.”

Reports earlier this year suggested a joint venture between Chelsfield and Manchester-based Genr8 was the preferred bidder to buy the 14-acre Quay Street site.

In March Manchester City Council endorsed an ITV development plan which involved the potential for a visitor attraction based around the Coronation Street set, new Grade A office buildings on Quay St facing Spinningfields, the redevelopment of Granada House to provide cheaper Grade B space, and the extension of John St to create a potential “Harley St of the North”.

New high-spec residential apartments are also proposed, including larger properties for families, and a series of independent restaurants and retail outlets.

ITV has put the cost of the move, including the construction of a new Coronation Street set, at £45m.