The BBC has signed a second agreement with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and Create Central, setting out a significant expansion of BBC investment to support creative growth in the West Midlands.<\/p>\n
The agreement forms part of the national media corporation’s ‘Across the UK’ strategy, whereby it will work with WMCA, Create Central, and local partners to promote the West Midlands as a centre of creative excellence to the wider industry. The agreement will also ensure the spend for BBC network television production in the region almost doubles, from \u00a324m to \u00a340m a year, by the end of 2027.<\/p>\n
Since its first memorandum of understanding (MOU) with West Midlands partners, the BBC has committed to relocating its regional Midlands HQ to the new Tea Factory site in Digbeth and has relocated a number of key TV productions there, including MasterChef.<\/p>\n
Recent analysis commissioned by the BBC showed that investment made by the corporation in the West Midlands since 2021 will bring an additional \u00a3282m of economic benefit to the region by 2031. This economic impact will grow further following today\u2019s agreement.<\/p>\n
BBC director-general Tim Davie said: “The MOU will significantly boost investment in skills, opportunity and talent for local people, as well as stories from the region in BBC programmes.<\/p>\n
“Our agreement with the WMCA and Create Central deepens our partnership with the West Midlands to secure its place as a world-class centre for film and TV production.”<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s agreement builds on the success of the BBC\u2019s first MOU with WMCA and Create Central that has been delivered in full.<\/p>\n
“The BBC\u2019s investment is vital because our TV and creative industries are fast becoming powerhouses of our regional economy,” said Richard Parker, mayor of the West Midlands.<\/p>\n
He added: “Hits like Peaky Blinders put the West Midlands on the world stage and brought our first major studio.”<\/p>\n
“This partnership means we can provide backing at all levels, priming local people to seize new opportunities, while making it easier than ever for blockbuster productions to film here.”<\/p>\n
Ed Shedd, chair of Create Central ,added: “This next phase of our partnership with the BBC and WMCA is another huge boost for the West Midlands\u2019 creative content sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether we will build a thriving production base that supports businesses, embraces emerging technologies and new platforms, attracts ground-breaking projects and ensures the West Midlands is recognised as one of the UK\u2019s most exciting places to make content.”<\/p>\n
A statement from the BBC confirmed that in today’s MOU, it is committing to:<\/p>\n
Today the BBC announced two new dramas, The Hairdresser Mysteries and Detection Club, which will be produced in the West Midlands. The Hairdresser Mysteries will be filmed in the region.<\/p>\n
The corporation has also released images of the new Digbeth Loc-based MasterChef studio.<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s MOU, the WMCA is committing to invest a minimum of \u00a35m per year in creative industries infrastructure between April 2025 and March 2028 for activities including:<\/p>\n
The BBC\u2019s partnership with WMCA and Create Central is a key part of the BBC\u2019s Across the UK strategy to grow creative investment and decision-making across the UK and ensure that the UK\u2019s nations and regions are better reflected and represented across its programmes and services.<\/p>\n
In June 2025, the West Midlands was named as one of six priority regions for the Creative Places Growth Fund, as part of the UK Government\u2019s wider Creative Industries Sector Plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The agreement will ensure the BBC network television production spend in the region almost doubles from \u00a324m to \u00a340m a year<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":273032,"featured_media":2102370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,120783],"coauthors":[137112],"class_list":["post-2102367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creative","category-media","tag-featured-story","tag-greater-birmingham","tag-top-story"],"yoast_head":"\n