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Channel 4 HQ not coming to Bristol
Bristol may have missed out becoming home to Channel 4’s new national headquarters, but we are still in the running to be the location for one of its two creative hubs.
Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds are the trio of cities shortlisted for the national HQ, with two creative hubs to be chosen from Bristol, Cardiff and Glasgow.
A pessimist would look at that lineup as pointing towards Cardiff and Glasgow as homes for the creative hubs, thereby spreading Channel 4’s regional bases throughout the nations as the new national HQ is guaranteed to go to an English city.
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But Bristol mayor Marvin Rees remains positive. In a tweeted statement, he said: “While we are slightly disappointed that Bristol won’t hold this honour (of being home to the HQ), we believe we are a natural fit for one of Channel 4’s new creative hubs.”
“Give me four”
A team of six from Channel 4 including chief executive Alex Mahon visited Bristol on the morning of June 22. They were met at Temple Meads by Rees, historian and television presenter David Olusoga, Lynn Barlow from UWE Bristol, Dick Penny from the Watershed, and former Rife journalist Euella Jackson.
The group caught a ferry to Aardman, where they were joined to give the pitch by Mark Leaver from Invest Bristol & Bath, David Sproxton from Aardman, Sammy Payne from OpenBionics and David Carter from the West of England Combined Authority, before asking a series of questions and then taking part in an hour-long networking session.
“I believe it was a positive day,” Rees said. “We couldn’t have tried any harder to give them a chance to experience the kind of city we are and relationships they’d come into.”
Channel 4’s chief commercial officer, Jonathan Allan, said that his visits to the 13 shortlisted cities over the last month “were incredibly inspiring”.
He said: “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 national HQ and creative hubs are part of Channel 4’s 4 All the UK plan, which aims to increase their Nations and Regions content spend by £250m over the next five years.
A combined total of 300 Channel 4 jobs, including senior positions, will be housed in its national HQ and two new smaller creative hubs, with the decision on their locations likely to be taken in August.
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