‘Bitter blow’ as city loses bid to house Channel 4 hub
CARDIFF has missed out on being selected as one of Channel 4’s new creative hubs, a decision described as a “bitter blow for Wales”.
The new headquarters for the broadcaster will be in Leeds, with the creative hubs being based in Bristol and Glasgow.
The new bases are at the heart of a new plan “4 All the UK” to ensure Channel 4 better represents all of the UK, on and off-screen.
The decision to select Leeds as the new national HQ and Bristol and Glasgow as new hubs follows an extensive pitch process in which shortlisted cities were carefully assessed against Channel 4’s vision and objectives for the National HQ and creative hubs set out in the pitch entry guidelines.
The broadcaster is moving 300 members of staff out of London – with the intention is to increase this further over time – to the three new bases next year in the biggest change to its structure in its 36-year history.
At the heart of the strategy is a major new commitment from Channel 4 to significantly increase its nations and regions content spend from its current quota of 35% to a new voluntary target of 50% by 2023.
This led the broadcaster to move to a multi-site model, establishing a new national HQ and two new smaller “creative hubs”. These will home to jobs from across the business including key creative decision makers.
Cardiff was in the running for one of the creative hubs, but Bristol and Glasgow were chosen.
On the decision to select Bristol, the broadcaster said the city put forward exciting proposals to establish new social mobility initiatives to work with diverse communities across the city and bring through new talent into the industry.
The statement from Channel 4 said that locating in Bristol will also enable it to work closely in partnership with Cardiff and its production sector – with the opportunity to further accelerate the growth of the creative cluster around South West England and South Wales – and also connect with companies across the West of England, Birmingham and the Midlands.
On the decision, Anna McMorrin, MP for Cardiff North, said: “This is hugely disappointing.
“Channel 4 have chosen not to have a hub in Wales at all despite claiming a 4 All the UK strategy.
“Scotland’s existing hub in Glasgow will simply be built upon, and the two additional creative hubs will be in England. Once again, Wales has been completely let down.”
“I’m very proud of the work the Cardiff team put together hoping to secure some of the 300 Channel 4 jobs, and demonstrating how much Wales and our Welsh capital offers in terms of creative skills, infrastructure and the potential for economic growth. At the moment, this sector is notoriously Anglo-centric, and the decision today proves there is little chance of that changing, despite Channel 4’s rhetoric.”
Alex Mahon, Channel 4 chief executive said: “Leeds put forward a compelling and ambitious strategy for how they could work alongside Channel 4 to further build the strong independent production sector in the city and develop new diverse talent from across the region.”
Mr Mahon also praised Cardiff council leader Huw Thomas for his effort and passion.
Cllr Thomas said: “It goes without saying, that while we are disappointed, we still look forward to working with Channel 4 in the future.
“My thanks go to all those partners from the various creative organisations who supported our bid so ably.
“We will now begin plans to welcome the UK’s screen sector to Cardiff, when we host the Creative Cities Convention in April 2019, funded by Channel 4, BBC, ITV and Pact.”