Category: BBC

Date: 10.03.2005
Printable version

The BBC today announced that the first round of plans to transform the organisation will release £139m a year by 2008 to reinvest in to programmes.

The savings are part of Director-General Mark Thompson's vision to ensure the BBC can meet rapidly changing audience expectations by developing a bold content strategy, transforming itself into a state-of-the-art digital broadcaster and becoming much simpler in its operations and business processes.

The first changes have come from the BBC's Professional Services which include: Strategy & Distribution; Policy & Legal; Finance, Property & Business Affairs; BBC People (HR) and Marketing, Communications & Audiences.

Overall, including savings from better procurement, these divisions will collectively be saving £139m a year by 2007/08 which will be reinvested in to programmes.

There will be a 46% reduction in headcount - 980 posts will close, some through staff turnover, others through redundancy and 750 posts are planned to be outsourced.

Mr Thompson told senior staff that the BBC Governors had endorsed the plans but would consider these and further savings plans from the content and output divisions as a whole at their meeting next week before giving final approvals.

Overall, costs savings across the BBC are higher than anticipated at £355m, compared to the £320m target.

He said: "In December I talked about the creative prize for the BBC and our audiences - but the cost is nothing short of transformation.

"We have made a strong start, showing we are serious about change and ensuring we are maximising the value of our income for audiences' benefit.

"We need to make the BBC a simpler, more agile operation, ready to take the creative lead in a very different, very challenging digital future."