The BBC World Service has today bid farewell to its central London home for more than 70 years, broadcasting its final news bulletin from Bush House.
The global broadcaster has been moving its operations to a new state-of-the-art newsroom at an extended Broadcasting House in London’s Oxford Circus, which will be shared with all of BBC News’s London-based journalists.
The final news bulletin from Bush House was read at midday and included a report narrated by the BBC’s outgoing director general Mark Thompson.
Thompson said: “I’d like to pay tribute to all those who made Bush House such an enduring beacon of truth and objectivity.
“The World Service’s London base may be changing but the BBC’s commitment to serve our audiences around the world remains as strong as it’s ever been.”
He said of the new Broadcasting House newsroom: “It’s a gleaming new digital centre full of the latest technology and its own proud broadcasting heritage.”
The World Service has been broadcasting from Bush House, on London’s Aldwych, since 1941. The lease on the building expires at the end of this year.
The move to Broadcasting House will see all of the BBC’s news services – UK and international – based together for the first time.
The aim is to create “the world’s newsroom” – enhancing the BBC’s global newsgathering and creating a forum for the best journalism in the world.
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