C4’s move to Leeds is bigger than the BBC’s move to Salford
Speaking at the Leeds Chamber annual dinner, Sinead Rocks, managing director for nations and regions at Channel 4 said; “The broadcaster has landed in Leeds.”
In a short speech, Sinead who was also instrumental in the BBC’s move to Salford, explained how that move was transformational. It led to an improvement in the quality of the BBC’s output but also to making the once desolate Salford Quays a thriving area of production.
And the move to Leeds is no less transformational. She stated that creating a new national HQ in Leeds represented a big culture change for Channel 4, which had been based in a single building “since its very first day on earth. But that it also offered an even bigger opportunity continuing:
“The prize for Channel 4 in this part of the world is even bigger. Because unlike the BBC, we’re not lifting and shifting self contained departments. Instead we’re building a cross section of our entire business here in Leeds.”
In an update on what has been happening since the channel arrived, Sinead added: “ We’ve started to try to reshape what we do in terms of skills and training to ensure we can support a really strong production sector outside London.”
Having spent part of her career leading transformational change at national institutions, she said many have made jokes about the north and many have asked her what her hope for the future is? The answer for Channel 4 as you’d expect multi faceted. That it will act as a “catalyst for further growth in the region, and indeed across the north”. That in five to 10 years time there’ll be more companies setting up and moving into the area and existing the companies will have strengthened their businesses and be creating more programmes right across the sector.
These are lofty ambitions, which can and will truly transform the region’s economy. However she ended that on a personal level that for her, success will be her new daughter (Yorkshire born and bred) , growing up in “best region in the world”.
