MediaCity is aiming to double in size over the next decade as the Salford creative and technology hub plots an expansion of both its physical footprint and the MediaCity brand.
CEO Alice Webb said the development is currently only around halfway built, leaving another 50% of the site still to be developed.
“We will double in size over the next ten years. That is the ambition here,” Webb said.
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The next phase could also see MediaCity broaden its activities across content, technology, culture and innovation, with MediaCity Studios and MediaCity Post being brought under the wider MediaCity brand.
Further concepts including MediaCity Labs, MediaCity Live and MediaCity Music could also create new opportunities as the development looks to build on its position as a major creative and digital cluster.
“We operate in a global industry,” Webb told Insider’s Georgia Brown. “Having one brand like MediaCity, which is already relatively well known, gives us a place to shout louder to the world about who we are.”
Around 8,000 people are now based at MediaCity, with a further 30,000 jobs supported across the wider supply chain. The site also produces almost 50,000 hours of content every day.
Webb, who was involved in the BBC’s original move to Salford before returning to MediaCity as its CEO, said the development’s growth since the broadcaster’s arrival had been dramatic.
“It’s been like launching a rocket ship,” she said. “There was literally nothing here before. It was muddy car parks on the site of the old Manchester Docks.”
But she believes the next stage of MediaCity’s development will need to go beyond adding more buildings.
The changing media landscape, including the growth of streaming and shifts in how audiences consume content, is creating opportunities to invest further in infrastructure, technology and talent for the next generation of content businesses.
MediaCity’s combination of the University of Salford, BBC and independent production and technology companies also means people can potentially develop an entire creative career within the cluster.
“You can start at the University of Salford, come here, work on a podcast, join the BBC, set up your own production company and build an entire career without ever leaving the city,” Webb said.
She believes skills will be particularly important if the next phase is to attract businesses and investment.
“Skills ultimately – you can build buildings, you can fit out technology. But if you don’t have people with skills to operate it, that’s ultimately what business is looking for.”
MediaCity is also working with organisations including Salford Youth Zone and the Salford Foundation, alongside the University of Salford and businesses on the site, to create routes into the industries based there.
Webb said ensuring people in Salford felt a sense of ownership over the development remained an important part of its plans.
“When local families came here to watch the football, it finally felt like people were saying, ‘This is our backyard. This is our park,’” she said.
“That’s exactly what we want. MediaCity should feel like a place where Salford residents belong, whether they’re coming to work, learn, create or simply spend time.”
Webb also highlighted MediaCity’s longstanding relationship with Salford City Council as central to its development.
“We haven’t done this in isolation,” she said. “We’ve done this with a very, very strong partnership with Salford, with Salford City Council particularly.”
With the next phase now taking shape, Webb described MediaCity as an “anchor” for Salford’s creative and digital industries.
“We are the anchor tenant of Salford’s creative and digital sector and we take that responsibility very seriously.”
And despite 15 years of development since the BBC’s move north, she believes the project remains at an early stage.
“MediaCity hasn’t finished,” she said. “It’s only just getting started.”
