BBC Scotland Director Donalda MacKinnon reflects on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the BBC’S Scottish HQ at Pacific Quay in Glasgow on 20 September.
If a week’s a long time in politics, imagine what 10 years feels like in broadcasting.
This week, 10 years ago, the Prime Minister (then) Gordon Brown officially opened our new Scottish HQ on the banks of the River Clyde at Pacific Quay.
Like most “flits”, the move from our much-loved studios at Queen Margaret Drive in the bustling west end of Glasgow was an emotional one but one borne out of a desire to move with the times beyond a less than fit for purpose HQ to a new building which would avail us of the latest digital technology to offer improved quality to audiences.
Many of our staff loved working in the west end so although our new base was little more than two miles away, it did seem like a cultural chasm for some. Glasgow south-siders frequently used to mock their west-end colleagues by pondering whether they got nose bleeds whenever they crossed to the other banks of the Clyde. As a south-sider myself, the move was most welcome. The avoidance of the Kingston Bridge in the mornings was a welcome trade off from my point of view.
In broadcasting terms, 2007 was a very busy year, and to put it into context, digital switchover was just about to begin in November that year, with Whitehaven the first area to have its terrestrial TV signal turned off.
When we came to cut the metaphorical digital ribbons on PQ, a number of very big stories had already been covered by our news crews who had moved across the river several months earlier as part of a phased transition.
While Gordon Brown had replaced Tony Blair in Number 10, Alex Salmond had just been elected First Minister of Scotland, the first from his Scottish National Party to hold that office. Interest rates had recently risen to the giddy heights of 5.2% while agreement on updating the Trident missile system had just been forged.
Just a few months earlier our radio news teams at PQ had responded to the Glasgow Airport terrorist attack while the search for the missing toddler Madeline McCann was continuing in Portugal.
But some things don’t change and the UK had once again stuttered to second last in the Eurovision song contest!
The BBC was also in the headlines itself when our Middle East correspondent Alan Johnston was abducted and held hostage for more than three months. BBC Scotland staff were among those who had held regular vigils for his release and one of our happiest memories over the last 10 years was welcoming Alan and his Lochgoilhead-based parents to Pacific Quay when he made an emotional thank-you to staff for keeping his plight in the public eye.
While moving to our new home was a wrench for some, the opportunities to work in the most advanced state-of-the-art broadcast centre in Europe was a gift-horse to be grabbed on two fronts.
Firstly, it allowed everyone to share any filmed material which was a boon in particular to our news teams as they could significantly enhance our story-telling using new desk-top editing and much quicker turnaround processes.
Clyde the 2014 Games mascot is unveiled in Pacific Quay
Secondly, it allowed us to branch out and use different parts of PQ as broadcast spaces. That brought us live music at The Quay via our intimate pop-up studio in reception; Jeremy Vine live from The Street with his latest graphic gadgets during the Scottish Independence Referendum; Election Results programmes from across the building; wonderful radio drama production in their new purpose-built premises and of course the hugely successful sitcom filmed in our main television studio, Mrs Brown’s Boys.
Prince Charles delivers the Reporting Scotland weather forecast at Pacific Quay
And who can forget the memorable Royal visit when Prince Charles toured PQ and tried his hand at doing the Reporting Scotland weather forecast – complete with specific information on whether it would be raining in various Royal households throughout Scotland. And of course, as it was mid May in Scotland, it was accurately forecast!
Lulu, Jim Kerr and Clare Balding guest on The One Show from Millennium Square
My own particular favourite memory, however, was when the building truly came alive during the Commonwealth Games in 2014 when real collaboration between BBC Scotland, BBC Sport and many other parts of the BBC brought the very first reaction direct from successful stars of the Games like boxer Charlie Flynn (the mailman who always delivered), gymnast Claudia Fragapane and swimmer Adam Peatty. It all came live from our reception - with a little help from Clare Balding and not forgetting restaurant staff member and cocktail mixer to the stars, Hugh McDonald. And while all that was happening inside PQ, our staff pulled out all the stops to create fantastic live events daily outside in Millennium Square for thousands of visitors.
As I’ve often heard said on some of our entertainment shows, "it’s been an emotional journey" – and not without its challenges.
The novelty of unisex toilets; the occasional blip getting to grips with our new technology; debating the artistic merits of our famous red sheds and even our opening night celebrations playing out in the background of our first news bulletin were hurdles that we skipped over enroute to today – maybe not quite with the grace of Colin Jackson but we did so nevertheless.
And throughout those 10 years, our staff and colleagues across Scotland have continued to produce programmes, services and major events which have informed, educated and entertained audiences. That desire to put our audiences at the heart of all we do continues to underpin all our activities and remains our ambition for the next decade and beyond.
Donalda MacKinnon is BBC Scotland Director
- Find out more about BBC Pacific Quay
