GLASGOW is to be the location for one of Channel 4's new Creative Hub offices.
The new 'National HQ' for the channel will, however, be based in Leeds.
The broadcaster's chief executive, Alex Mahon, has announced the location of the new National HQ, and that Bristol and Glasgow will be the locations of its two new Creative Hubs.
Ms Mahon said: “Glasgow has a well-established production sector across multiple genres, and locating a Creative Hub in the city will give Channel 4 the opportunity to tap into the rich cultural diversity of Scotland and also allow us to exploit the city’s strong connectivity with Belfast and the Northern Ireland production sector."
Glasgow had made a pitch, led by broadcaster and writer Stuart Cosgrove, to host the new headquarters of the channel, but lost out at the last stage of deliberations in July.
The city had been hopeful its robust bid could nevertheless attract one of the two smaller production and commissioning hubs planned by the channel as part of a major shake up of its operations.
READ MORE: Glasgow misses out on Channel 4 HQ bid
Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “I’m absolutely delighted.
"This is a huge boost for the whole city – but, in particular, Glasgow’s amazing creative industries.
“Their talent and attitude was really important to our bid – and they will also play a major role in making this new partnership a success. Channel 4 has made the right choice.”
Mr Cosgrove said: “It is fantastic that Channel 4 wants to be a part of a young, educated and diverse city like Glasgow.
“Our bid was strong in many areas, but our dynamic and original independent broadcast sector was absolutely at its heart.
"Glasgow and Channel 4 are bursting with potential and I think working together will be a huge success for both.”
Channel 4 said that the new Leeds headquarters will "enable Channel 4 to capitalise on a strong and fast-growing independent production sector across the North of England – and further unlock the potential for growth in the underserved East and North-East of England."
Of Glasgow, the channel said in a statement: "Glasgow has an incredibly well-established and vibrant independent production sector with strengths across a number of different programme genres.
"Establishing a new Creative Hub in the city will bring Channel 4 commissioners even closer to key production partners in the Glasgow and help develop the production and creative sector across Scotland.
"There is also the opportunity to exploit the strong connection with Belfast and develop deeper links with the production sector in Northern Ireland."
READ MORE: How Glasgow lost out on HQ, but in running for C4 'hub'
It added: "Locating a Creative Hub in Glasgow also enables Channel 4 to harness the city’s rich cultural diversity, to further improve on-screen representation, and to work with the sector and the region’s educational establishments to grow the pipeline of new talent into the production and broadcast industries."
Alex Mahon
Ms Mahon said: “We will be spending up to £250m more on programming produced in the Nations and Regions and to catalyse that spend I’m delighted to confirm that we will be establishing a new National HQ in Leeds and new Creative Hubs in Bristol and Glasgow.
“We undertook a rigorous process over the last seven months and the high calibre of all the pitches meant those were incredibly difficult decisions to make.
"However, I know that Leeds, Bristol and Glasgow will best deliver our objectives to grow the production sector across the UK, build the pipeline of creative talent outside London and support our increased investment in programming produced across the Nations and Regions."
Now the channel and Glasgow will work to find a suitable location and property for the Hub.
They will likely begin operating in the second half of 2019.
The Hub will involve 40 jobs, it is believe, and will be focussed on commissioning programmes for the channel.
The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said: “Channel 4’s announcement that Glasgow will host one of its new creative hubs is fantastic news for Scotland’s screen sector and creative industries.
“The enthusiasm, excitement and support behind Glasgow’s successful bid for the hub is testament to the city’s thriving creative community, as well as Stuart Cosgove and Glasgow City Council’s tireless work to attract this new investment from Channel 4 to Glasgow.
“As home to one of the most vibrant cultural scenes in Scotland, BBC Scotland, STV and more than 120 production companies - I am pleased Channel 4 has recognised Glasgow is the ideal location for one of their new hubs."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel