Running costs at BBC’s flagship Broadcasting House hit £14k per worker
The National Audit Office has published figures showing that running costs at the BBC’s flagship New Broadcasting House in London have hit £89m per year, equivalent to £14,000 per employee.
Built at a cost of £1bn the premises consume a third of the broadcaster’s annual property budget but this hasn’t been sufficient to escape criticism from staff angered by broken lifts and loos.
The revelation was described as ‘staggering’ by the chairwoman of the Commons public accounts committee Margaret Hodge, who said ‘The huge cost of Broadcasting House is the single most important reason why the overall cost of running the BBC’s main properties is well above external benchmarks’.
As a result Hodge is now expected to haul executives before parliament next month to explain the spend.
Criticism of the new HQ hasn’t been limited solely to politicians however, with many of those who work their also less than happy. In a letter to the BBC’s in-house magazine, Ariel, one employee wrote: “I could mention broken taps, the constantly out-of-order lifts, or automated doors that no longer open. But the single most annoying and embarrassing issue has got to be the toilets. Is there a single toilet anywhere that hasn’t been out of order?”
A BBC spokesperson said: “Broadcasting House is not comparable to other buildings. It makes around half of all BBC output, houses the biggest newsroom in Europe and broadcasts globally 24 hours a day every day of the week, which requires unique levels of technology and security.”