Broadcasting House, Barrow

In May 2020, the BBC, committed to local broadcasting as it always is, announced the planned closure of 20 local radio satellite operations around England. One put up for sale was in Barrow in Furness, and now the Labour Party has moved in. 

Radio Carlisle started in 1973, and when it relaunched as BBC Radio Cumbria in 1981, there was also an opt-out service called Radio Furness, operating at breakfast and lunchtime. The Furness branding was dropped in 1991, though some opt-outs continued for a few years. 

The 1,680sq ft of offices, newsroom, studio and kitchen area were put up for auction in February 2021, with a guide price of £73,000+ and went unsold.  The particulars may not have been that appealing. They were re-advertised in July 2021 at £90,000, with a promise that the BBC tenancy would end in September.

  

Now the cheeky Labour Party have renamed the building, and are defraying whatever they spent on purchase by renting out the studio area to local musicians.