Sets from shows at BBC Television Centre in west London are being transported across the road at night on Land Rovers in a bid to cuts costs.

Previously scenery from programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing, Later with Jools Holland and Channel 4 quizshow 8 out of 10 Cats was stored just outside the studios at Television Centre.

After each recording they were taken down so the studio could be used by other productions and protected from the rain just outside in a special set store.

However, according to sources, Johnson Controls, the outsourcing company that manages Television Centre for BBC Studios and Post Production wanted to increase the charge for the use of scenery storage and other areas used for workshops, studio stores and props to about £250,000 a year.

As a result, BBC Studios & Post Production has moved its facilities from Television Centre, across Wood Lane to a building off Ariel Way. To transport the scenery that it used to store just outside the studios it has hired two Land Rovers and trailers.

One insider said: "It means now that sets have to be put on the trucks and carted over the road, probably late at night to avoid traffic problems. So if you fancy seeing the set of Strictly Come Dancing when it comes back to Television Centre, then walk down Wood Lane late at night."

The BBC is unclear about the future of BBC Studios & Post Production, which is a commercial subsidiary of the corporation and runs its studios at Television Centre and Elstree. Television Centre is up for sale as the BBC is vacating it by 2015, but the Studios arm may maintain a presence there if it can find partners, especially if the BBC decides it needs London studios.

Some BBC staff fear the corporation will become too reliant on Peel Media, which owns the studios the BBC uses at its new northern headquarters in Salford and which has recently been cleared to take over Pinewood Studios. One insider said: "Peel has already shown it is a good negotiator in Salford. Now it has Pinewood too, just as the BBC seems to be giving up on its own studio business and relying more on Peel."

W12 programme director Richard Deverell recently told in-house BBC magazine Ariel that the BBC does not need the TVC facilities: "There are plenty of other options. The BBC has studios elsewhere, such as Pacific Quay and Salford, we already use Pinewood. Television Centre is expensive to maintain."

Staff numbers at BBC S&PP have fallen from more than 1,000 to about 200 and its future has been in doubt since a sell-off was ditched four years ago. According to the BBC's annual report for 2010/11, BBC Studios and Post Production's operating profit was its highest ever, £6m, but after restructuring costs its income actually fell by 1.1% to leave it down £700,000 on last year.

A BBC S&PP spokeswoman said: "We have moved our studio stores, props, workshops and scenery storage across to a purpose-built unit on Relay Road, just across from TV Centre, which will enable BBC Studios and Post Production to make significant cost savings and operate more efficiently than having to work to fit to the spaces available in our former home the Drama Building.

The head of BBC Studios and Post Production's Television Centre studios operation, Craig White, said: "We are exploring and evaluating a number of strategic options around accommodation, including staying at Television Centre and will continue either at Television Centre or elsewhere."

"As well as making BBC shows such as Later with Jools Holland, Miranda, Strictly Come Dancing and EastEnders, recent credits also include ITV's Harry Hill's TV Burp, Channel 4's Deal or No Deal (made at our production facilities in Bristol), Living TV's Britain's Next Top Model and Channel 4's 10 O'Clock Live."

By:- Tara Conlan

Source:-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/03/bbc-sets-stored-off-site