Birmingham fails in Channel 4 bid
The West Midlands has failed in its bid to become the new home of Channel 4.
The broadcaster has announced it will set up its new national headquarters in Leeds in an bid to improve the way it reflects life outside London.
It will move around 200 of its 800 London-based staff to Yorkshire, as part of plans to increase the amount it spends on programmes outside the capital by £250m over five years.
Birmingham had been in the running to be the new base, having been shortlisted in July alongside Leeds and Manchester.
The Brummie bid was spearheaded by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, who said today: “Channel 4 has confirmed that Birmingham has not been successful in the bid to house the broadcaster’s new national HQ. While the news is a huge disappointment, the work that has gone into the bid has not been wasted.
“As we progressed through the bid process we saw a growing sense of collaboration and commitment across the region between local authorities, organisations and our creative industries.
"This has led to a number of developments set to improve the creative landscape regardless of Channel 4’s decision, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
“Through our Local Industrial Strategy, we remain committed to ensuring we are home to a pre-eminent national creative and media cluster, and we will respond to high demand for production by investing in the TV and film production capacity of the region by establishing new studio and production facilities.
“I’d like to thank all those who were involved the bid for their hard work. The West Midlands region came together as part of this process and now we look to the future as one, as commit to delivering initiatives and funding that will transform our creative industries."
Channel 4 has also announced that two new creative hubs will open in Bristol and Glasgow. They will initially focus on programme commissioning.
Councillor Ian Ward, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: "The decision by Channel 4 to not award the national HQ to the city is a major disappointment to all of those who have worked so hard to bring the broadcaster to Birmingham.
“Birmingham would have been an ideal location for Channel 4, with a wealth of knowledge and creativity, talent and energy combined with one of the youngest and most diverse populations in Europe, in a region that is undergoing an economic resurgence.
“While we may not have been successful with our bid for Channel 4, we continue to be successful as city reinventing itself for the 21st century.
"We have the infrastructure, the people and the ambition needed to drive this city forward and I’m confident we will see many more successes in Birmingham in 2019.”
Channel 4 has also announced it will open 'creative hubs' in Bristol and Glasgow, with around 50 staff in each. They will initially focus on programme commissioning.
