So what did you think Granada were like as a company towards its employees? How do you think it treated its employees?
Well it could be very easily over-simplified and said they were very paternalistic and very ‘blah, blah’ but I don’t think that was the case in everybody’s experience. I think there was a closeness in some ways in the early years because they’d come, people like David Plowright, they were programme makers so he had allegiances with programme makers whereas in the later days when Charles What-his-face came in from making butties at motorway stations his approach was, he was an accountant. It was numbers on a page in columns. So I think there was more of an affinity and an understanding between the higher ranks of personnel with those who were making the programmes whereas when the business changed and it became everything run by accountants then everyone became something in a column. But at that time I do think it was, and I think there was a bit of heart there. Because I do think the Bernsteins had real commitment to regional broadcasting and to the Granadaland area. And so I suppose some of that did filter through. But I wouldn’t like to say categorically that it was one big happy family. I’m sure in different parts of the organisation would have different stories to tell.
