So long to the dumpy building

JACKfm and Family moves to new Eynsham digs

 

29 March 2019, Oxford: The JACK Radio Family, including iconic Oxfordshire radio station JACKfm, are moving to new digs in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, after 11 and a half years ‘playing what we want’ from the wonderfully Dumpy Building on the Woodstock Road, Oxford.

 

From 1 April 2019, the JACK network of radio stations (JACKfm, JACK 2 Hits and JACK 3 & Chill in Oxfordshire, as well as national stations Union JACK and JACK Radio) will be broadcasting from new studios at the Oasis Business Park in Eynsham, with the keys to the graffiti-covered Dumpy Building on the Woodstock Road having been safely returned. In the run up to the move (well, the place is falling down), Oxfordshire listeners have received guided tours of Oxford’s shabbiest broadcast centre, been given the chance to be the ‘last voice from the Dumpy Building’ and signed a book of condolence.

 

On JACKfm before the move, listeners can hear the best bits from the Dumpy Building since 2007: including when Oxford United FC got promoted to Wembley, when the radio station married two strangers who met for the first time at the altar, and when JACKfm’s Breakfast Show (JACK’s Morning Glory) followed RAF Benson to Afghanistan to broadcast messages from Oxfordshire’s troops through the Woodstock Road and out the county.

 

Trevor Marshall, who has hosted JACK’s Morning Glory since day one, said: “I love the Dumpy Building but, honestly, getting a window and studios that work after 11 years will be like heaven. The place looks ugly on the outside, is falling down inside and feels like a prison at times - but I’ve loved every second here. The new studios in Eynsham are nicer than JACK deserves. You’ll be sadly missed, Dumpy Building - you absolute eyesore.”

 

Tim Parker, Programme Director of JACKfm, JACK 2 Hits and JACK 3 & Chill, said: “The Dumpy Building fits JACK really well - it’s full of character, totally un-corporate and falling apart. We’ll be genuinely sad to leave the dumpiest and best building in Oxford, but Eynsham’s a lovely place and we’ll have a lot of fun there. See you there for a pint.”

 

Did you notice day one in Eynsham’s on 1 April? Sadly for JACKfm, this isn’t an April Fool – the keys really are being handed over. So long, Dumpy Building.