Nottingham makes shortlist for Channel 4 ‘creative hub’
Nottingham has missed out on the chance to become the national headquarters of Channel 4 – but could still play host to one of the channel’s ‘Creative Hubs’.
Those making the shortlist for National HQ or Creative Hub are: Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Greater Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and West Midlands.
Belfast, Brighton, Newcastle-Gateshead, Nottingham, Sheffield and Stoke-on-Trent will participate in a second stage process – which will include Channel 4 visiting each city for a presentation and Q&A. Following this, Channel 4 will engage in further discussions with cities and regions as necessary, before selecting the final locations in October 2018.
Channel 4’s chief commercial officer, Jonathan Allan, who is leading the pitch process said: “We’ve been incredibly impressed both by the number of pitches we received and by the high quality of the submissions – which has underlined the huge amount of creativity, innovation and talent right across the UK.
“However we have to move to a shortlist phase and, after careful consideration by the Channel 4 executive team, we’ve selected 13 cities that are best able to meet our vision for our new hubs in the Nations and Regions. We look forward to visiting all those on the shortlist as part of our second phase, but we will also be continuing to work with all cities and regions as part of our strategy to increase investment and support creative businesses, jobs and growth across the UK.”
Stephen Barker, chief executive of Creative Quarter Nottingham, said: “It’s great news that Nottingham’s potential has been recognised by Channel 4. The city’s creative economy is strong and growing fast. Its creative community is inventive and collaborative. There is no better location for a Channel 4 creative hub.”
Channel 4 has said the national headquarters will be placed somewhere with a working population of more than 200,000 people, have a high level of physical and digital connectivity, and a travel time to London that is below three hours.
It has also highlighted five key considerations – demography and diversity, availability of talent, local connectivity, travel links to London and its creative hubs, and the suitability of available office space – that the successful bidder will perform strongly on.
