Peel launches joint venture to manage MediaCity facilities

MEDIACITY owner Peel Media has formed a joint venture with one of its tenants to provide technical services to the BBC for the next 10 years.

The new company, formed with live broadcast specialist Satellite Information Services, will run the studios and post-production facilities at the Salford Quays complex.

The BBC is moving several departments and 2,300 staff to a new headquarters at the quays next year. It has been joined at the site by a faculty of the University of Salford and a number of smaller, private companies.

Bryan Gray, chairman of Peel Media, said: “We are delighted to have reached agreement with the BBC and SIS on the provision of a wider range of services at MediaCityUK. Our studios will be up and running from January and we look forward to creating a radical new environment for leading companies, such as the BBC, to share in the benefits.”
 
Richard Deverell, chief operating officer, BBC North, said: “This new agreement with Peel Media will help ensure that BBC North becomes a leading innovator in digital media and content production in the UK. Additionally we hope that the deal will make MediaCityUK a first choice destination for companies interested in working in partnership with the BBC.”