The recruitment of staff to MediaCityUK continues to rumble on in the news, specifically the split between local and non-local results.
The Guardian continues the story, although without much conviction.
I think it comes down to this. The best outcome for Salford is that MediaCity is a roaring success and achieves all it can do to be a magnet for world class companies.
That can only happen if world class talent is attracted to work there and it is obvious that the talent pool in Salford or even Greater Manchester does not possess some magical and unique qualities that have hitherto been invisible to everyone, the workforce included.
Elements of the media would love to write ‘told you so’ headlines about the failure of the BBC’s Salford experiment, based on the idea that you can only be brilliant if you live and work in London.
Those headlines are going to be a lot harder to write a) if the quality of programmes improves and b) a lot of the ones making the programmes are recognisably the ones who used to make the programmes in White City or Broadcasting House.
I have written before that the real challenge for the BBC will come about three to four years after the BBC is really up and running, when the initial wave of talent, decides to move on to new jobs.
If by then the skills pool in Greater Manchester cannot meet demand then the BBC MediaCity experiment will face some bigger headlines.