BBC's presence in Greater Manchester will go from strength to strength, says Northern Beeb boss

With a major new show due to start filming in Salford later this year, Alice Webb, the director of BBC North, explains there's more to come from the Beeb....

The Manchester Ship Canal is a majestic marvel of industrial Britain. Built in 1894, it’s a 36-mile-long testament to the vision of Manchester’s Victorian leaders.

Those pioneers of industry and trade failed to see why the city’s position 40 miles inland should stop it becoming a major port. So they built a direct passage to the Irish Sea in an act of bold ambition and rock-hard resolve.

From the fifth floor of Quay House, one of three buildings the BBC occupies in MediaCityUK in Salford, you can see the canal snaking for several miles as it heads west to the sea. It’s an inspiring sight that allows you to appreciate the achievements of those who constructed it. I hope we’re continuing their pioneering spirit.

We needed plenty of ambition and resolve while building BBC North. The site started as a piece of post-industrial land that looked an unlikely home for a modern media hub.

With our partners Peel Holdings and Salford City Council, we’ve built one of the most advanced broadcasting centres in the world.

BBC staff started relocating to Salford in the summer of 2011. It’s our fifth anniversary this week. We now have 3000 BBC staff on site, working for some of the BBC’s biggest departments including BBC Sport and BBC Children’s.

BBC Breakfast is broadcast from Salford every morning while BBC Radio 5 live broadcasts from the site 24 hours a day. And BBC North has become a digital giant, powering the BBC iPlayer and home to six of the BBC's biggest digital products.

We’ve announced today that Gary Barlow is bringing his new talent show , Let It Shine, to MediaCityUK. Bringing a northern hero home to make a big BBC One Saturday night show demonstrates we’re still serious about serving the north.

Last week, the BBC made a series of management changes , designed to make us simpler and save money, which can be invested into programmes and services. It means the teams at BBC North will now report into different directors and form part of different divisions. But none of this changes anything on the ground where it is very much business as usual.

And we’re in the business of making great content. From Match of the Day to Dragons’ Den to Blue Peter to the BBC Sport App, we’re busier than ever.

There is huge potential for creative and digital growth in the north, building on the already thriving creative sector in the region. The BBC wants to help drive this growth in the spirit of the pioneers who built the canal that our northern base proudly stands beside.