Last night, radio presenters, producers and media personalities from Greater Manchester’s first independent radio station, Piccadilly Radio, gathered at City Tower – the station’s original home – to unveil a commemorative plaque marking its 50th anniversary.
The pioneering radio station, which at one point was listened to by over a million people across the North West, is known for discovering and nurturing local media personalities such as, Andy Crane, Mike Shaft, Pete Baker, Phil Wood, Mike Sweeney, and Becky Want, all of whom attended last night’s celebration.
The event was hosted at Piccadilly Radio’s original premises, City Tower, by the station’s first employee, Jim Hancock, who did the honours of unveiling the plaque alongside Matthew Baddeley of Schroders Capital, who are owners of the building. Jim said a few words about the radio station’s impact on Greater Manchester’s community before welcoming familiar faces to share their stories from their time on the airwaves from the building’s 28th-floor Sky Lounge.
Piccadilly Radio began broadcasting in April 1974 from its studios in Piccadilly Plaza, now known as City Tower, before being split into two services in 1988 – Key 103 (now Hits Radio) and Piccadilly Gold (now Greater Hits Radio Manchester). It became the most popular and successful mixed news and entertainment radio station in the country and launched the careers of national media personalities such as Chris Evans, Timmy Mallett, Gary Davis, Mark Radcliffe, Andy Crane, Steve Penk, and the late Andy Peebles.
Jim Hancock said: “This plaque acknowledges how Piccadilly Radio became such an important part of people’s lives across Greater Manchester and beyond. A major part of the station’s success was the fact that it was based in such a dominant and recognisable location, right in the heart of the city. With Piccadilly Gardens just below, Piccadilly was a bright and fun name for the dynamic music and news station that it became.”
