Cov Tory leader says C4 has shown ‘lack of vision’ after city snub

COVENTRY’S Conservative leader Gary Ridley has hit back at the decision of Channel 4 to snub Coventry for its new HQ.

Following the news that the city lost out on the HQ and creative hub bids, Cllr Ridley said the broadcaster had shown a ‘lack of vision’ ignoring the 2021 City of Culture.

The news broke on Monday afternoon when the TV station confirmed its latest shortlist of applicants for its new HQ - and Coventry was nowhere to be seen.

Neighbouring Birmingham however is still in the running - up against Greater Manchester and Leeds.

It is a blow for Coventry which would have benefited from a major economic boost if the heavyweight public service broadcaster decided to move here.

Not only would the city have cashed in in terms of jobs, but if the headquarters were based here it would have seen more shows created right here in the heart of the city.

Cllr Ridley said on Twitter: “This is very disappointing news. As a city there’s still a lot to be positive about and we need to dust ourselves down and move forward.”

In a following tweet, he said: “I’m afraid Channel 4 have shown a lack of vision by not moving to Coventry being based in the City of Culture would have been an amazing way to reinvigorate the channel4 brand.”

Leader of the Council George Duggins also said it was a big disappointment, but Coventry will now throw its weight behind the Birmingham bid.

He said: “We are naturally disappointed at today’s announcement.

“What does not change is that our city offers excellent transport links, a young, diverse population and a reputation for design and innovation which makes us an attractive option for potential investors along with our central location that means we are within two hours of 40 million people.

“Although we believed Coventry was the perfect choice, if it wasn’t to be us, the next best result is for Channel 4 to select a location in the vicinity.

“Therefore, it is good to see Birmingham is still in the running to host Channel 4 and we wish them well in their endeavours.

“But the future for Coventry is very bright and we continue to look forward to our Year of Wellbeing in 2019, our European City of Sport status next year and of course being UK City of Culture in 2021 as well as being named home of the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre.”

The West Midlands had been in an unusual position because it submitted two proposals, one for Coventry and one for Birmingham, both of them backed by regional leaders such as the mayor.

Channel 4 is to open a “national headquarters” to operate alongside its existing headquarters in London, and two smaller “hubs”.

Channel 4 says 300 jobs will be moved out of London. The national headquarters will include a state-of-the-art studio that will be used to produce programmes and events as well as live broadcasts.

There will also be a new digital production unit to create short digital content targeted at young audiences.

Channel 4 managers announced in May that Birmingham had made it to a shortlist of eight contenders, after they received bids to host the new HQ from towns and cities across the country.

This was followed by a visit to the city in June, when top executives saw a detailed pitch from West Midlands Mayor Andy Street and others.

And now, Channel 4 have announced that Birmingham is on the final shortlist.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: “As a region, we encouraged and supported a bid by both Birmingham and Coventry, so it is disappointing that the latter has not made the shortlist. Everyone in Coventry should be proud of the confidence and energy of their efforts.

“Now, it is important the whole region gets behind the Birmingham bid. If we are successful in attracting the HQ, the benefits will be felt across the West Midlands.”

Bristol, Cardiff and Glasgow have been shortlisted to host smaller “hub” offices. Channel 4 plans to open two of these.

Channel 4 Chief Commercial Officer Jonathan Allan said: “Our visits to the 13 shortlisted cities over the last month were incredibly inspiring and I’d like to thank all of those involved for the huge amounts of creativity they demonstrated and the excitement for Channel 4 and what we could achieve together.

“We have again had to take some very difficult decisions on which cities to take forward to the next stage, but we believe the six cities we have selected are best able to deliver against our vision and requirements for the new National HQ and Creative Hubs.”

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), which is chaired by the Mayor, drew up a bid focusing on potential sites in Birmingham and Coventry, highlighting the strengths of the West Midlands under the slogan of “Get Closer”.

And the bid has been backed by people using the #WMGeneration hashtag on social media.

A decision on the site of the new national headquarters, and two smaller “hub” offices, is expected on October 1.

Channel 4 News also plans to co-anchor from outside its existing London studio every night, opening a newsroom in a city outside London.

And the broadcaster will increase the amount it spends commissioning programmes made outside London by £250m.

This is expected to support up to 3,000 additional production jobs.