‘Bristol is the perfect match for Channel 4’

Bristol is likely to bid soon to become the home of Channel 4’s new national HQ or one of two smaller creative hubs, following the news that the broadcaster is to move some of its workforce out of the capital.

The three new sites will be home to 300 Channel 4 jobs including “key creative decision makers”, with more money to be spent on nations & regions content, and a new Channel 4 News studio and regional bureaux.

So why should Bristol be the new regional home of Channel 4? We asked people working across the creative industries in the city to find out what they think:

Carolyn Hassan, founder and director of Knowle West Media Centre
“Its great to hear that Channel 4 are moving out of London and I really like the idea of them coming to Bristol, but specifically I’d like to see them coming to south Bristol. My plea: don’t do the obvious and settle for central. Come south and see what we have to offer: Knowle West Media Centre and Knowle West of course, but also green spaces, The BottleYard Studios, Filwood Green Business Park, numerous great community organisations and brilliant people looking to build a better future for all. Imagine what a difference they could make by being here on the doorstep of so many creative young people who are looking for fresh opportunities in their part of the city. Channel 4 were famous for their forward thinking, taking creative risks and new approaches to producing TV. They made a real impact. If they moved here we could create a whole new story for south Bristol.”

Dick Penny, Watershed managing director
“Bristol is the perfect match for Channel 4: unorthodox, diverse, rebellious and pioneering. We have one of the country’s strongest creative digital clusters with TV and film production companies and talent in depth. Add in the world-leading creative meets technology innovation in emerging areas like AR/VR and 5G, and Bristol is the perfect fit for Channel 4.”

Marvin Rees, mayor of Bristol
“(Channel 4’s) announcement provides positive news for the creative sector, in particular the commitment to increase its Nations & Regions content spend from 35 per cent to a voluntary target of 50 per cent by 2023. This shows a clear and welcome commitment to benefit the sector outside London. As for the relocation, we respect the process and have anticipated for some time that this announcement would reflect the fact that Channel 4 needed the space to work out the ‘what’ before moving to the ‘where’. Having said that, we were pleased to hear how central diversity will be to the final decisions. We look forward to future conversations with Channel 4 about their ambitions and the great potential we believe there is in our future working relationship.”

Roger Griffith; author, broadcaster and executive chair of Ujima Radio
“Channel 4’s proposed move away from London will be a very welcome one and will give regional media a much needed boost. Too often our media and culture and therefore our politics and power are skewered by a London-centric view. With many great television production companies already calling Bristol their home, having Channel 4 move to Bristol along with Bristol’s recent UNESCO City of Film status will bring talent and opportunities to the South West and provide another chance to utilise the great untapped diverse creative talent in the region.”

Fiona Francombe, site director at The Bottle Yard Studios
“Any move that brings jobs out of London and evens the playing field around the country is great news for the industry. And yes of course, Bristol is the obvious choice for a regional hub. We have the skills, the storytellers, the infrastructure and so much great work going on in the city already to bring forward diverse voices in programme-making. There is a serious commitment here to enabling young talent from all backgrounds to find routes into TV. The BAME drive from major players like Aardman, Plimsoll and Icon, and the new Media Production diploma for 16- to 19-year-olds being offered here at the Studios are just two examples. There are countless other forward-thinking schemes going on in the city right now, many of which are being driven by production companies working together. Bristol has been ploughing its own furrow very successfully for a long while and you need only look at the boom in production we’re accommodating to see how strong a proposition we should be for Channel 4.”

Phil Chamberlain, head of the School of Film & Journalism at UWE Bristol
“Channel 4’s mission to foster innovation and encourage pluralism is brilliantly suited to Bristol. The city’s creative industries, with their breadth of expertise, are fantastically well placed. Not only that but institutions such as UWE are a pipeline for future talent in a range of professions. The recent City of Film accolade shows the power of Bristol’s networks. Channel 4 would be a great fit at so many levels.”

Caroline Norbury, CEO of Creative England
“Creative England welcomes Alex Mahon¹s announcement… that Channel 4 will dramatically increase its physical presence and commissioning spend in the nations and regions. To genuinely reflect the UK’s diverse communities, Channel 4 needs to be truly embedded in our nations and regions. (This) announcement is affirmation that Channel 4 remains committed to finding new talent, and we look forward to working with them and creative clusters across the country to make the most of this step change. It is disappointing, however, that they have stopped short of a wholesale move, as recommended by the Government commissioned study, that demonstrated such a move would create 7,500 extra jobs and have a transformative impact on the UK’s broadcasting landscape.”

Rob Mitchell, co-producer of The Mayor’s Race
“I suspect they will go north as it’s cheaper but wherever Channel 4 end up, their presence will clearly enable industry growth in the independent media sector. It’s like having the BBC West here in Bristol has made careers and companies possible. An independent production sector providing production and post-production services grew to serve the BBC. Many of the founders of these companies were ex-BBC an used ex-BBC talent, setting up their own companies after BBC market-oriented policies came to bear that forced them to do less in-house production. However, these companies also produced ideas and provided services to others UK broadcasters, like Channel 4 and internationally. With a cluster of talent, comes more talent and more companies and more opportunities. So people like myself who came as a student, almost 30 years ago found enough partners in crime here to have a career in media, based in Bristol.”