BBC may consider more moves outside M25

BBC director general Mark Thompson has said he may consider moving more staff outside of London.

Thompson said that he does "not have a closed mind" to moving more "commissioners and controllers" outside the M25, but added that he would wait to see how the move to Salford of BBC children's, sport and Five Live went first.

Approximately 1,500 BBC staff will relocate to Salford Quays in 2011, along with 800 staff currently based elsewhere in Manchester.

Speaking at the Ofcom Regions and Nations conference last week, Thompson also said growth in regions was not guaranteed and was dependent on the ideas coming out of these areas.

He later added that Ofcom's debate around public service broadcasting in the nations and regions should concentrate on how to best enable talent rather than quotas and industrial policy.