BBC to open garden-based visitor attraction.

Marketing Week, August, 2002 by Amanda Wilkinson

The BBC is planning to create "a major national visitor attraction" to exploit its links with its gardening TV shows such as Gardeners' World and Ground Force.

The multimillion pound attraction is due to open to the public in spring 2004. The BBC refuses to say whether the project, which is being managed by its BBC Factual and Learning division, is being funded by the licence fee, but an advertisement in The Times for a manager to oversee the project makes it clear that the BBC is prepared to negotiate "land purchase" so that the attraction can go ahead.

The Incorporated Society of British Advertisers' director of public affairs Ian Twinn says: "This is another example of the BBC being quite aggressive commercially, and it does raise questions about its...