BBC Turns To T&E For Savings

The British Broadcasting Corporation is looking to save millions of dollars amid budget cuts by tightening the rope on employee expenses.

Reports in The Guardian yesterday (Tuesday, Oct. 20) said a memo emailed to all staff of the BBC outlined the new rules for expensing purchases made while on business travel.

[bctt tweet=”The BBC outlined new rules for expensing purchases made while on business travel”]

Among the changes include the request that employees take “public transport wherever possible,” and a ban on taking first class trains or using taxis in the heart of London, according to reports. Staff will have to pay out of pocket for their taxi rides over a certain mileage, and lunch and alcohol expenses will also see large cuts from expense sheets.

BBC Managing Director Anne Bulford said that the organization will now look to enforce the same expensing rules for all employees, regardless of title.

“We told you about a £150M budget shortfall in this charter period as a result of lower than predicted license fee income,” Bulford said in the email to staff. “We also told you we would start work over the summer to address £50M of this from areas that should not affect content or services for audiences.”

The effort also includes division mergers, senior management reviews, and standardizing policies – including T&E, she added.

Additional proposals include that flights are booked on economy class when they last under six hours, while business class seats can be reserved for overnight flights that last more than eight hours when employees are required to work as soon as they land, reports said.

“We recognize that none of this is easy and we are very aware that this is an uncertain time for many of you,” Bulford said in the statement.

“With the financial challenges the BBC is facing, it’s more important than ever to get maximum value from every penny of the license fee,” a BBC spokesman said.

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