Busy BBC comes to Manchester

Hey Busy Girls...

How are you? It's a bit late in the day, but I thought I'd share some Busy goings on in Manchester today.

It's not something I'd usually go to, but I popped on down to The Pie Factory in Salford this evening. No Busy Girls, I've not got a sudden penchant for a steak and kidney - The Pie Factory is the name of the media centre where the BBC have been doing some of their filming from, in the wake of their move ooop North. I was invited there with a few Manchester media peeps to hear the formal news that the BBC have finally signed their agreement to come up and live in Salford, in 2011.

For those of you Busy Girls who have been a little too busy to listen to the news for the last, well, 3 years, the BBC are moving lock stock n barrel to Salford once their premises (Media City) are completed by 2011. It's going to have a massive impact on Manchester and Salford in terms of investment and I reckon will put the place firmly on the map - a massive, massive thing for Manchester (and it looks like it's going to be really fabulous - like a little city in a city).

So, I'm stood at this event, listening to the Director General of the BBC talking about the economic status, blah blah & all I could think was "I wonder what the Londoners are going to make of Manchester?"...

Not being a native of the Northern Quarter of the UK - i.e. being more of a Suvvener, I reckon it's going to be a bit of a shock to the system for the BBC. I mean, when I moved here, I couldn't actually get over the place - well, I'm still not over it I guess.

The biggest thing for me, and one of the reasons I could never go back to London, is Manchester is so much more accessible -you can actually drive to your friends' houses, rather than having to sit on a tube for 2 hours to go 3 miles.

In a way, it's much easier to be Busy and Happy in Manchester than it is in London. If I were to stand in front of the BBC and give them a little pep talk about their move, I think I'd gently tell them that nowhere else can you get to the sea in an hour, choose from a range of major airports, go to the beautiful Lakes within a couple of hours, shop and eat and be entertained by such fantastic quality and diverse restaurants (that you don't need to book weeks in advance for) oh, and drive home 20 miles within half an hour... do you think the BBC would buy it?

For some it will be too slow and too suburban. But hey ho, if everyone liked the same thing, we'd all be living in the same house, on the same road in the same city... dinner would be interesting in that house!

Anyway, that's it, Busy Girls, I've had enough for one night, it's off for a white tea with blackcurrant for me (I'd rather have a glass of wine but I'm trying to be good :( )

See you soon,

Love Eva x

PS. Promise I'll get that neck ache article to you soon - I think my massage is wearing off, the old back's playing up again...