Broadcaster plans to move staff from The Mailbox in 2027

Overbury has beaten off competition from Heydon & Carr Ltd to win a £13m contract for the fit out of the BBC’s new home in Birmingham.

Contractor BAM are expected to complete work redeveloping the previously derelict Tea Factory building into a shell-and-core office by the end of this year, with the broadcaster planning to 650 staff there from The Mailbox in 2027.

220906_Typhoo_Bordesley Street Entrance lr (c) GHA

Source: Glenn Howells Architects

View of the Typhoo Tea Factory in Birmingham, where the BBC plans to move in 2026

Two firms had been in the running for the fit-out job, including Hertfordshire-based SME Heydon & Carr Ltd. But a decision was made earlier this week in favour of Overbury.

The contract is estimated to run from 15 December to 30 September 2026.

The work covers four floors and a plant area on the roof and will include eight radio studios, 10 edit suites, a TV studio, a lecture theatre and four apparatus rooms.

Design of the works has been led by BBC Workplace, with support from a range of specialists, including J4 Projects as project managers, MGAC as cost consultant, and AWW as architects.

The project team also included interior designers IDSR, MEP design by CMB, acoustic engineering by Ion Acoustics, and Arup as structural engineer.