Tycoon John Whittaker will benefit from the BBC's move to Salford WHEN the BBC opens its second home in Salford next year there will be thousands of winners and losers in a jobs merry-go-round costing licence fee payers £876million. Winners will include those relocating staff happy to pocket £8,000 each as the price of the move from licence fee payers. Losers are those going to Salford reluctantly, angry at having to disrupt their lives at huge inconvenience and force their families to move to the north, claiming the £8,000 sweetener will not compensate them for the major upheaval. One winner, though, will not be relocating at all. He’s the biggest winner of all in the whole controversial move – little-known billionaire property tycoon John Whittaker, the 35th richest man in the country, who lives on the Isle of Man and is a friend of former BBC chairman Michael Grade. Lucky Mr Whittaker is the boss of Peel Holdings, effective new landlord of the BBC. The company owns 200 acres of now prime land at Media City in Greater Manchester. Under a deal with Peel Media, the BBC will effectively rent 36 acres of buildings and several TV studios. The terms of the deal are secret but Mr Whittaker’s company can look forward to large BBC cheques for at least 20 years. The astute businessman will become even richer as the BBC complex acts as a magnet for a host of other businesses. Now that the BBC has decided to make Salford Quays its second official home for at least the next 20 years, almost every blue-chip international company and designer restaurant and retail shop wants to move in to the other 163 acres Mr Whittaker’s company owns. His so-called mediacity:uk will create more than seven million square feet of new and refurbished floorspace for business, retail and residential property. THE BBC deal means he now has prospective tenants forming a long queue for what was previously derelict land. Mr Whittaker’s Peel Media is also the biggest shareholder in Pinewood-Shepperton, the historic film and television centre in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire whose chairman is Michael Grade. Last year the Sunday Express revealed that Pinewood-Shepperton had failed to get planning approval for thousands of new homes – a rare setback for Mr Whittaker. Mr Grade however, is said to greatly admire his business acumen and together they have helped make Pinewood-Shepperton a powerful global force in film and television production. Pinewood is the home of James Bond movies as well as film series like Mission Impossible, Pirates Of The Caribbean and Harry Potter. In 2008, movies made at Pinewood and Shepperton Studios took more than £5billion through cinema sales, DVD, pay TV and merchandising. The BBC also pays the Pinewood-Shepperton group rent amounting to one third of the company’s income to make more than 20 top programmes there, including New Tricks, Dragons Den, Deadringers, and Waking The Dead. It is thought the Salford development will boost Mr Whittaker’s company’s profits by several hundred million. John Whittaker considered becoming a priest but instead went into the quarrying business. Lancashire-born, the tycoon is worth £1.3billion. Among Peel empire assets are The Trafford Centre, Manchester, Liverpool’s John Lennon airport, a £4.5billion development at Birkenhead docks, a £1.2billion investment in Glasgow docks, and Gloucester docks. The BBC is moving its sports division to Manchester next year. Also relocating are BBC Radio 5 Live, Breakfast TV, BBC Children’s, BBC Children’s Learning, and parts of BBC Future Media and Technology. It is rumoured that many more divisions will follow. BBC Breakfast TV staff were told only a few weeks ago that to keep their jobs they must move 200 miles to Media City. Other BBC staff in London can expect similar traumatic announcements. John Whittaker however declares: “We are delighted the BBC has now committed to its move to mediacity:uk. I look forward to working with the BBC.”UK NEWS
HOW BBC'S MOVE TO SALFORD WILL MAKE TYCOON RICHER
Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/189003/How-BBC-s-move-to-Salford-will-make-tycoon-richerHow-BBC-s-move-to-Salford-will-make-tycoon-richer#ixzz1Bzmkorf1
Worthy of a read! Bear in mind Left wing and Muslim bias.
It appears that a considerable portion of the BBC licence fee is going to a Saudi company.
While Pebble Mill moves to Salford, and thousands of BBC employees (sports, Radio 5 Live, Breakfast TV, CBBC, children’s Learning, Future Media and Technology) relocate ‘up North’ at huge expense and considerable inconvenience, there will be one winner laughing all the way to the bank.
Literally.
John Whittaker is a billionaire property tycoon and the 35th richest man in the country. He is wisely exiled on the Isle of Man and is a friend of former BBC chairman Michael Grade.
Never heard of him?
Few have.
The Daily Express informs us that Mr Whittaker is the boss of Peel Holdings, effectively the BBC's new landlord: ‘The company owns 200 acres of now prime land at Media City in Greater Manchester. Under a deal with Peel Media, the BBC will rent 36 acres of buildings and several TV studios. The terms of the deal are secret but Mr Whittaker’s company can look forward to large BBC cheques for at least 20 years.’
But what is not so well known is that ‘Ocean Gateway’, as the development is called, is only 68% owned by Mr Wittaker.
The other 32% is being generously provided by a Saudi multi-billionaire, one Khaled Olayan, who heads The Olayan Group.
John Wittaker and Khaled Olayan together not only intend to make billions directly from the BBC’s 20-year rental deal, but they will make billions more as many BBC staff will rent or buy from properties from them.
And let us not be so naïve as to think that this arrangement does not affect editorial policy.
There will be no Panorama investigation into the links between Michael Grade, Mark Thompson, John Whittaker, Khaled Olayan and billions of pounds of licence-payers’ money.
One wouldn’t want to cross Peel Holdings (especially if you’re vulnerable to the inconveniences of democratic election).
And neither will there be any objective examination of the BBC’s pathological respect and reverence for Islam.
One wouldn’t wish to annoy the Saudi landlord.
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