A-Z of BBC Birmingham

A-Z BBC BirminghamAndy Griffee Welcome to the MailboxCopyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.

This A-Z Welcome pack was given to BBC staff transferring from Pebble Mill to the Mailbox in 2004. The pack included some discount vouchers for shops and restaurants in the Mailbox, as well a copy of the BBC Values, and this ‘Welcome’ message from Controller of English Regions, Andy Griffee.

The irony of the statement about striving to bring more and more production to the Mailbox will not be lost on stalwarts of BBC Birmingham.

Thanks to Dharmesh Rajput for sharing this pack, and keeping it safe over the past decade.

The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Jane Elledge: ‘It was utter bullsh*t at the time – anyone who argued against the move was labelled ‘negative’ and a troublemaker. We weren’t. We were just rightly arguing against what was obvious to most of us and has proven to be one of the most stupid things ever done by the BBC.’

Helen Chetwynd: ‘What a laugh!  I particularly like the bit that says he believes that “key talent will increasingly look forward to coming here and working at the heart of a newly buzzing city centre building……” yeah, right’

Jane Green: ‘Agree with everyone here – the hard part was having to listen to the PR we knew to be false and that the move was the beginning of the end for BBC Birmingham. I still have my BBC drinks cup given in ‘celebration’ of the move too.’

Chris Camden: ‘Remember it well and so agree with Jane Elledge. As union reps we fought against the decision but no one in management would listen to us and had their own agenda. We all knew it was not the ‘centre’ of Birmingham and that it was an unsuitable building for television production. So very very sad. I still have the piece of mosaic from Pebble Mill wall, that we were all given.’

Herbie Donnelly: ‘They even piloted the One Show from the Mailbox, guess what? Yeah London knicked it.’