BBC announces name for new studios in Digbeth, Birmingham

Plans for a new purpose-built property for the BBC were announced last year.

The broadcaster is opening a new centre in the heart of Digbeth’s creative quarter. It is expected to be ready for BBC staff to move into by 2026.

The new state-of-the art building will be known as ‘The Tea Factory’, reflecting the history and heritage of the current site, which is the old Typhoo Tea Factory. The name was chosen after staff members at BBC Birmingham were asked to suggest names for the building.

All the teams at BBC Birmingham’s current home in The Mailbox will relocate, including BBC Midlands Today, BBC Radio WM and The Archers, as well as BBC Radio One’s Newsbeat and Asian Network News which moved to the city as part of the BBC’s Across the UK strategy.

Stuart Thomas, BBC’s Head of the Midlands said: “We asked the team in Birmingham what they thought our new home should be called, and we had 122 people suggest a name.

“I really wanted something that reflected the wonderful heritage of the building and so I’m delighted we’re calling it The Tea Factory. Our new home will be the BBC’s greenest, most modern site – and at the same time we’re upcycling an important part of the city’s history – which will be reflected and remembered with this new name.”

The announcement follows BBC MasterChef plans being approved for the former Banana Warehouse on Fazeley Street in Digbeth. Shine TV, a television production company that makes programmes for several TV channels including the BBC, will be the development’s main occupiers on that site. Shine makes the MasterChef TV show which is currently produced at a studio in East London.