91Èȱ¬

The 91Èȱ¬'s final deadline for London-based staff, whose roles are relocating to 91Èȱ¬ North at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays, Greater Manchester, ended at midnight Wednesday 30 September 2009.

Five hundred and nineteen 91Èȱ¬ staff in grades 2 to 7 had to make their individual decisions and 45% (234) have decided to make the move. This is in line with the recent decision by 45% of senior staff who have already committed to move north.

The percentage of those choosing to relocate is significantly higher than initially expected. According to the 91Èȱ¬'s independent relocation partner for the move, Cartus, an acceptance figure of over 40% for large-scale relocations in both the public and private sector is considered high.

This final round of decisions means that the 91Èȱ¬ will now begin a programme of redeployment and recruitment both inside and outside the organisation in order to fill the roles left vacant by those staff who have decided not to move north.

Already nearly 1,000 staff from across the 91Èȱ¬, whose roles are not moving to 91Èȱ¬ North, have expressed interest in the move.

Richard Deverell, Chief Operating Officer, 91Èȱ¬ North, said: "I would like to thank all staff for their professionalism at this challenging time. The leadership team is delighted with the number and calibre of staff from across the moving departments but appreciate that the move is not right for everyone."

He added: "Now the main part of the internal decision-making is complete, we will begin the next stage of the process which will involve a significant recruitment exercise as well as working hard on the redeployment of those staff who aren't moving to 91Èȱ¬ North.

"Looking ahead, this is an exciting time as we see more progress on the journey to our new home this month with the official handover of the first of our new buildings at Salford Quays."

Notes to Editors

Cartus is the 91Èȱ¬'s independent relocation partner for the move to Salford.

The 91Èȱ¬ is expected to begin moving into the new 91Èȱ¬ North in a phased way during 2011, from around Easter onwards.

Departments relocating to 91Èȱ¬ North at MediaCityUK in Salford are Children's, Sport, 5 Live, Learning and parts of Future, Media & Technology. An estimated 1,500 roles will relocate from London. Around 800 roles currently based at 91Èȱ¬ Manchester will also move to the new 91Èȱ¬ North in 2011.

Peter Salmon started his role as 91Èȱ¬ Director North full time on June 1 2009, while Richard Deverell, Head of Children's, has already been announced as the Chief Operating Officer for 91Èȱ¬ North.

The 91Èȱ¬'s priority is to redeploy staff who are not able to make the move in order to minimise redundancy costs. In the event that redeployment is not possible, the individual may be offered redundancy when the move is finally made.

Staff from across the 91Èȱ¬ in areas not moving who have expressed an interest in the Salford move have done so by registering for information via the staff intranet.

91Èȱ¬ Press Office