From today's Guardian

Sian Williams and many members of programme's team have yet to commit to working in Salford Quays

BBC Breakfast presenter Sian Williams is believed to be worried about the impact on her family of a move to Manchester. Photograph: BBC
It represents the biggest test of the BBC's ambitious £155m plan to relocate 2,300 jobs outside London. But with five weeks left to make up their minds, fewer than half of those working on Breakfast are expected to move 200 miles north.

Sian Williams – the best known face of the programme – is among those still uncertain about whether to relocate to Manchester, while only a handful of the 100 who work on the show have definitely decided to move.

Programme insiders say it is "looking like less than 50%" of the Breakfast staff are planning to move, leaving BBC executives "seriously concerned" about the impact of a depleted workforce on Britain's most popular morning TV show. Despite being urged by BBC management to make up their minds, some are "still in denial", according to a second source.

The ambivalence of the BBC's Breakfast staff towards relocation is perhaps best demonstrated by what organisers have called "Salford or crappity smack it" drinks on 31 March – the last day employees have to make a decision.

Breakfast, along with Match of the Day and Blue Peter, will be made at the new BBC North in Salford as departments including children's, learning, sport, future media and technology and parts of Radio 5 Live are due to move to the city within 12 months.

It is a strategy mired in controversy, with staff being offered four- and five-figure relocation packages – including £3,000 towards redecorating their new homes in the north-west – but the public broadcaster insists that it will help make the corporation less London-centric. Some fear the show will miss out on big interviews because politicians and celebrities will not want to travel to Greater Manchester.

The morning magazine show is presented by Williams, Bill Turnbull, Susanna Reid and Charlie Stayt and runs daily from 6am. It is understood that Turnbull has said he will go to Salford, along with Reid, but other famous Breakfast faces such as sports presenter Chris Hollins have refused.

Williams is concerned about the impact the move will have on her family of four children, one of whom is facing his A-levels. But the BBC is said to be working hard to make to make it possible for her to move, even if it is just for a short period. One insider said: "The BBC wants her there. Even if she can only commit for a few months for the move and relaunch. Other options are being looked at for her to make things easier."

Williams's agent said: "Sian is completely open-minded at the moment. She's looking forward to going up there to have a look around but no decision has been made."

BBC Breakfast was a late addition to the list of departments moving and staff only found out last July after it emerged that more space was available at BBC North due to deeper cost-cutting.

A BBC spokesman said: "This is completely speculative. Breakfast news staff do not need to make a decision about relocating to Salford Quays until the end of March and previous experience has shown that the majority of staff do not make a decision until they are closer to the deadline date."

Those staying are hoping they will be able to get a job elsewhere at the BBC. However, about 1,600 other BBC staff are also looking for new London jobs, following 600 redundancies at World Service and 300 at BBC online. BBC bosses are warning that not everybody who stays will be found work.

About 700 people from children's, sport, learning, 5 Live and technology have chosen not to go to Salford and are seeking to be transferred.

Writing in the Guardian earlier this month, director general Mark Thompson admitted there would be "bumps of transition" during the corporation's move out of London but said they would be forgotten


Mike

I can actually see their point in this case.
An enforced move to another city many miles away from where you chose to live must be a terrible wrench.
It's not like you can down tools on a Friday and easily travel back 'home'!
That dream job your husband,wife or partner has worked so hard to get ...in lets say...South Kensington...the other breadwinner that doesn't want to move hundreds of miles away...the one who doesn't work for the BBC...what happens there?
What if your entire extended family live in London?
All the mums,dads,sisters,brothers,grandparents...your friends ?You can say goodbye to a close knit family and community and say hello to expensive child minders, nurseries and settling in to a whole new life.
Who thought this one up..Norman Tebbit?
Another relocation for hard working loyal staff who will be transfomed into unhappy workers.
No consideration for them but thoughts only for the balance sheet.
It's the BBC once more cracking the whip in it's 'Do as I say' mode.
Oh by the way...Is Thompson moving to Manchester?