Mayor calls for efforts to be harnessed to bring Channel Four to Yorkshire

Two Yorkshire cities have made the national shortlist to become either the home to Channel 4’s national HQ or a creative hub; and the newly elected mayor of the Sheffield City Region has called for efforts to be harnessed to bring the broadcaster to the region.

Leeds has been named as one of the seven cities shortlisted by Channel 4 as part of the broadcaster’s plans to relocate its HQ and have more people based outside of London. Meanwhile, Sheffield could become a creative hub location as part of the plans to disperse the broadcaster across the country.

Leeds – along with Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Greater Manchester, Liverpool and West Midlands – has made the shortlist to become home to either the National HQ or a creative hub site.

Six other cities – including Sheffield – have been shortlisted for the chance to host one of two creative hubs across the UK. The Steel city is up against Belfast, Brighton, Newcastle-Gateshead, Nottingham and Stoke-on-Trent.

Sheffield City Region Mayor Dan Jarvis said that while it was disappointing Sheffield had not been chosen for the new headquarters, efforts could still be harnessed to bring Channel Four to Yorkshire. “That’s why I’ll be working hard to bring a creative hub to Sheffield, and supporting the Leeds bid for the national HQ,” said Jarvis.

The newly elected mayor, also Barnsley Central MP, added: “The Sheffield City Region is a hotbed of creativity that we believe would have been the perfect fit for Channel Four’s headquarters, so I am disappointed that Sheffield has not been shortlisted.

“However, I am pleased that Sheffield is still in the running to host one of Channel Four’s creative hubs. We’re bold, innovative and not afraid to do things differently.”

Although the so-called national headquarters will be secondary to Channel 4’s London HQ, cities from across the UK are keen to be chosen. Channel 4 agreed to move 300 jobs out of London after sustained Government pressure. The roles will be based at a national HQ and two smaller hubs as part of the broadcaster’s Nations and Regions strategy.

Roger Marsh, chair of Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership, said the decision to shortlist Leeds as a national HQ or creative hub was a “significant achievement” given 30 areas had put themselves forward. He added: “However, while this is a positive step there is still a lot of hard work to do to secure the tremendous prize on offer and we will continue to work with our partners to achieve the outcome we all want to see and capitalise upon it.

“I believe firmly that what Channel 4 is looking for is also what we as a region desire; to harness our youth, celebrate our diversity, embrace our differences, nurture top talent and pioneer new technologies.”

Councillor Mazher Iqbal, of Sheffield City Council, said: “This announcement is a catalyst for our next wave of transformation. We have successfully demonstrated what a Channel 4 creative hub would mean to a generation of talented film, media and production students.

“While it is incredibly disappointing to have been left off the shortlist for C4’s national HQ, we are pleased that we remain under consideration for the creative hubs, and we will be seeking to make the very best case for Sheffield as part of C4’s move.”

In a joint statement, councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, chair of West Yorkshire Combined Authority and leader of Bradford Council, Councillor Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council and councillor Ian Gillies, leader of City of York, said the broadcaster relocation would provide mutual benefits to Leeds City Region.

They added that it would  create fantastic opportunities for our young diverse and digitally savvy population “while providing Channel 4 the opportunity to access new talent and re-balance the creative sector in the UK.”

Each of the shortlisted cities will now participate in a second stage process – which will include Channel 4 visiting each city for a presentation and Q&A. Channel 4 will then engage in further discussions with cities and regions 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.”

It 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.