THE leader of Salford council has laughed off suggestions that a multi-million move by the BBC to Salford could see a brain-drain from the capital to the city.
Councillor John Merry was responding to concerns raised by a London councillor that the proposed creation of a new media centre at Quay Point could lead to a loss of thousands of jobs in the capital.
He joked that Salford was not ready to become the capital of the country éjust yeté.
His comments came as Eccles MP Ian Stewart predicted that the proposed Media City would become the BBCés UK and global headquarters.
Coun Merry was speaking at a fringe meeting at the Labour party conference in which he outlined his vision for the redevelopment of the derelict 200 acre site.
Suffer
He said: éI donét get the sense that London will suffer jobs-wise from this move.é He added that he believed there were already enough other media jobs based in capital.
Hackney Labour councillor Guy Nicholson voiced his concerns at the event. He said: éThe plan is very inspiring and exciting. However, hundreds of people who work in London will be faced with relocating to Salford or losing their jobs because there will be no work for them."
Coun Nicholson urged the people behind the scheme to consider using part of the post-Olympic Games site in London as a satellite for Media City. The meeting was also attended by Salford Councilés chief executive Barbara Spicer, Media Cityés Felicity Goodey and Eccles MP Ian Stewart.
If Media City is given the go-ahead, it is expected to include an iconic building housing the BBC, a media skills institute, a university faculty, shops, housing, piazza, gyms, a city academy and a hotel.
It is thought that the move would create up to 15,500 jobs and pump around é1.5 billion into the regional economy.
A decision on the move is expected to be announced on November 1. After the meeting, the MP for Eccles said: "I think ités the greatest tribute for a London councillor to come here and use words like éinspiringé.
éThis project has national and international implications. éIf it goes ahead, it will not just benefit the people of Salford and the city of Manchester, but the region and the whole of England. If the BBC moves here it will be seen to be setting up both its UK and global headquarters in Salford."
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Who cares if there really is a brain-drain from London to the north-west?! It's been happening in the opposite direction for decades, and you can include me in the figures. I had to move to the south-east after graduating in order to work in my chosen field (which just happens to be broadcasting), and I hated almost every minute. So I moved back up north only to spend the next couple of years trying to get a proper job, doing all sorts of short term irrelevant jobs in order to pay the bills. Now I work for the BBC and finally have my career back on track, with decent long-term financial prospects that I can rely on for things like mortgages. The BBC is the only major employer in this particular field that operates extensively outside of the capital, and their move of five national departments up here only improves this, not just for me, but for a lot of other people in the media industry too.
Besides the whole point of the BBC move is to start to reverse the London-centric attitudes that are pervasive in big national organisations and companies, to show them how getting OUT of London and into the rest of the country is of benefit to themselves and their employees. So brain-drain? I should hope so! Bring it on!