Channel 4 has today announced the shortlist of cities and regions which have been selected to participate in the second stage of the pitch process for the new National HQ and two new Creative Hubs, as part of 4 All the UK strategy.
Nottingham is delighted to be in the running for a Channel 4 Creative Hub, with the final selections being revealed in October.
Brendan Moffett, Chief Executive of Marketing NG, said:
“We’re proud and thrilled that Nottingham has made the shortlist against very fierce competition.
“Between now and October we will strive to illustrate why Nottingham is the right location for Channel 4 to achieve its aims.”
The bid has been led by the city’s promotional marketing agency Marketing NG in partnership with Nottingham City Council and involving the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University (NTU), Nottingham College, Confetti Media Group and Creative Quarter.
Stephen Barker, Chief Executive of Creative Quarter Nottingham, said:
“It’s great news that Nottingham’s potential has been recognised by Channel 4. The city’s creative economy is strong and growing fast. Its creative community is inventive and collaborative. There is no better location for a Channel 4 creative hub.”
The bid, which has received support from many of the city’s creative leaders including Vicky McClure, Shane Meadows and Jonny Owen, details the city’s growing digital and creative sector, which currently contributes more than £4bn to the regional economy and employs nearly 50,000 people.
Channel 4 announced that 30 submissions were received in this first round from across the UK. These were reviewed and assessed by Channel 4 and a shortlist has been agreed by Alex Mahon, Chief Commercial Officer Jonathan Allan, and the Executive team.
As a shortlisted city, Nottingham will participate in a second stage process – which will include Channel 4 visiting the city for a presentation and Q&A. Following this, Channel 4 will engage in further discussions with shortlisted cities and regions as necessary, 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"
Channel 4 announced its 4 All the UK plan in March 2018 – a strategy to ensure that Channel 4 serves the whole of the UK and the biggest change to the structure of the organisation in its 35-year history.
At the heart of the strategy is a major new commitment from Channel 4 to significantly increase its Nations & Regions content spend from its current quota of 35% to a new voluntary target of 50% by 2023.
This will result in a cumulative boost of over £250m in Channel 4's Nations & Regions commissioning spend – which will benefit all parts of the UK.
To support and catalyse this spend across the UK, Channel 4 will move to a multi-site operating model, establishing a new National HQ and two new smaller creative hubs in the Nations & Regions in 2019 – home to jobs from across the business including key creative decision makers.
When this strategy is fully implemented, 300 Channel 4 jobs will be based in the Nations and Regions and the intention is to grow this further over time.
