Channel 4 has confirmed that Leeds will be the location of its new national HQ while Bristol and Glasgow will be home to its two new creative hubs.
Channel 4 announced its 4 All the UK strategy in March 2018 – the biggest change to the structure of the organisation in its 35-year history – and was central to the compromise reached with the Government, whereby the broadcaster could keep its London headquarters in exchange for “significant” investment across other regions of the UK.
At the heart of the strategy is a increase in the organisation’s nations and regions content spend – from 35% to 50% of main channel UK commissions by 2023, worth up to £250m more in total.
The broadcaster said this will support up to 3,000 production jobs in the wider nations and regions economy.
The new national HQ and creative hubs will be home to 300 Channel 4 jobs when fully established, including key creative decision makers – responsible for commissioning Channel 4 content and programmes from producers right across the UK.
Alex Mahon, Channel 4 Chief Executive, commented: “Diversity and inclusion have always been at the heart of Channel 4’s mission and the launch of our 4 All the UK plan is the biggest and most exciting change in the organisation’s 36-year history – as we open up Channel 4 to people from across the UK and supercharge the impact we have in all parts of the country,”
“We undertook a rigorous process over the last seven months and the high calibre of all the pitches meant those were incredibly difficult decisions to make. However, I know that Leeds, Bristol and Glasgow will best deliver our objectives to grow the production sector across the UK, build the pipeline of creative talent outside London and support our increased investment in programming produced across the nations and regions.”
Thirteen cities were originally invited back for the second pitching process, with a shortlist including: Cardiff, Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Sheffield, Brighton and the West Midlands.
Keith Hardman, head of the Leeds office of commercial property consultants Cushman & Wakefield, said: “This is excellent news for the city and a ringing endorsement of Leeds’ reputation as a thriving centre for media and the creative industries. Channel 4’s decision is a tremendous boost to Leeds economy, it brings further diversity and additional resilience to the changes and challenges that lie ahead, and boosts the city’s profile which can only be a good thing. This is another chapter in Leeds’ rich creative history; the first moving image was shot on Leeds Bridge in 1888 by Louis le Prince and, this year, the city celebrates 50 years of television production with the anniversary of both ITV Yorkshire and BBC Look North.”