Filling buildings

It's happening again. The BBC Academy (in-house training to you and me) is moving from White City to the wide-open tundra of Auntie's office space in the Mailbox, Birmingham. This will be grim news for those who had found a refuge in the Academy, in order to stay with a London life-style rather than move to MediaCityUK, Salford. Will it attract the full attention of Academy Director Anne Morrison (package £217,750) who's also deputy chairman of BAFTA?

Many of the remaining in-house HR team are to join the Academy in the Second City - these are people who avoided outsourcing and moves to Belfast. Do you think they told new HR Director Valerie Hughes D'Aeth when they hired her ? It's 90 miles (up the M40) from her base near High Wycombe.

Also heading up the M1 - "the core of the internal communication team". In all 190 posts to re-settle. And the Academy will ask for some expensive training rooms. Still, the prize is the eventual sale of leases at White City. You're not safe yet, TV production teams.

Meanwhile, Lord Hall has expanded the responsibilities of "King of the North" Peter Salmon, in attempt to bring his duties up to the level of his £387,000 p.a. package. Peter becomes "King Of England", but doesn't regain a seat on the Executive. This role begins to look a bit like the old Managing Director Regional Broadcasting - held previously by giants like Geraint Stanley Jones, Ron(ald) Neil and yes, Mark Byford. David Holdsworth, who looks after regional tv newsrooms and local radio within News (prop James Harding) now also has to keep Salmon happy.