Channel 4’s decision to locate its new headquarters in Leeds has been described as a game changer and “the chance of a lifetime” for the northern city.
As the rank outsider for the move, Leeds beat stiff competition to lure the broadcaster, which will move 200 staff by the autumn. Its footprint may seem like a drop in the city’s £21bn annual economy, but the ripple effect of such an influential “hero brand” could contribute an extra £1.2bn over the next 10 years.
It is expected that the broadcaster’s move will help create a northern centre for the television and creative industries, providing new jobs for the region’s young that have traditionally been concentrated in London.
It will also be a big move for Channel 4. In its 36-year history it has never had a base outside London, and the new HQ is the result of controversial government plans to try and move it wholesale. The premises will include a news hub, a broadcasting studio that will co-anchor the news with London, and a digital creative unit to make material for its online and social media platforms.
Channel 4 is also expected to locate senior commissioning editors in Leeds and its new creative hubs in Bristol and Glasgow. This is part of its strategy to ensure that it spends half of its commissioning budget outside London in the next five years, up from 35% currently. This will mean an extra £250m for the independent production industry in the regions by 2023 and potentially 3,000 new jobs.
Sealing the deal
For Leeds, this is the culmination of a two-year campaign to secure the broadcaster, bringing together its city region partners, including Bradford and York, and more than 90 local creative and digital companies.
“We got everyone behind us,” says Leeds City Council chief executive Tom Riordan. “We were actually seen as the outsider [with Birmingham and Manchester always being the odds-on favourites]. I quite enjoyed the fact that people didn’t pay attention to us as much as they should have.”
Riordan says the biggest impact on the city and the region will undoubtedly be economic, particularly boosting its £242m annual television production sector.
Leeds already has a long history of TV production, with Yorkshire Television headquartered there from the late 1960s until 2007. Across the region, around 53,000 people now work in the sector, and it’s growing at a faster rate than the national average. This infrastructure, but without a major broadcaster in the area, offered Channel 4 a “competitive advantage” and was one of the key selling points for Leeds.
Yet despite this history and burgeoning industry, television production isn’t synonymous with Leeds, and this mirrors the city’s general lack of recognition for its performance over the past few years. Riordan says that Leeds has struggled to get “on the radar” and has lacked “brand visibility”.
“It has been frustrating at times,” he comments. “As a city, we have achieved quite a lot.” He reels off a list including the opening of the Trinity and Victoria Gate shopping centres at a time “when no one was building them in Europe”. Riordan adds, “We needed something to break that, and [the Channel 4 move] will give us a boost in a way that will put Leeds on the map.”
Big impact
There has already been an immediate impact. Television companies Wise Owl, UKTV and Worker Bee have signalled their intention to move to Leeds on the back of the Channel 4 announcement. Agents in the city are also reporting a surge in enquiries from creative companies.
“It will have a huge impact, especially the associated companies that will relocate,” says Patrick Carter, Savills’ director of office agency for Leeds. “We are already getting enquiries from companies that will want to be located nearby.”
Jeff Pearey, JLL’s lead director for Yorkshire and the North East, describes the activity so far as just “the tip of the iceberg”. He expects enquiries to accelerate once Channel 4 has selected its location. “I think a lot of requirements will go on ice until we see the extent and certainty of the commitment by Channel 4.”
So far, there are scant details on Channel 4’s requirement, estimated at between 25,000 and 40,000 sq ft. It is understood to be currently talking to the market as part of its fact-finding process.
Favourable market
Pearey adds that Channel 4’s relocation comes at a great time for the Leeds market, with 2018 occupier take-up 18% above the 10-year average. Both he and Carter are confident that the city will have the capacity to accommodate a potentially rapid surge in creative occupiers over the next 12 to 18 months, despite a tighter market.
“We do have the available property,” says Carter, “but only just – we are tight on supply. We are at a point in the cycle where we aren’t producing as much [Grade A space].”
Pearey adds that he is not concerned as he expects creative companies to be looking for a variety of stock, while quality refurbishments will infill the lack of developed space.
However, this potential lack of property is clearly a concern for the city council and its regional partners, which are keen to capitalise on the ripple effect from the broadcaster. In January, a new partnership board was launched, chaired by Riordan, comprising Channel 4 bosses, the council, city region and Screen Yorkshire, to help expand the regional independent television production industry.
Riordan says part of the board’s remit will be to ensure that there is capacity to support expansion in the city. “The council will be leading on this work,” says Riordan. He adds that the council is currently looking at the best strategy, whether it’s grants to help SMEs or a”property play”. It is understood to be considering redeveloping its Engine House and Aire Street sites as workspaces for creative businesses.
Investing in the region
For Channel 4’s part, chief executive Alex Mahon has made it clear that she sees the move as an investment for both the broadcaster and the region. “For us, it is imperative that we both create Channel 4 jobs in the city and invest in the growth of the production industry in the wider region,” she said at the launch of the partnership. She sees Leeds as the base from which to “nurture talent” from more diverse backgrounds and to collaborate with creative industries in other northern cities.
And it’s this talent work with the partnership board, which will include skills and training for the television and film sectors, that Riordan says could have a huge effect on the young in the city. “For millennials and young people who perhaps didn’t see a future in TV, they will have their heads turned, and that will have a big impact.”
He says the city used to suffer from a “brain drain” of young people, but that has reversed over the past five years. The strategy of creating a northern centre for TV production and the creative sectors, he says, will provide a genuine alternative to London for its young people.
“There is a very interesting dynamic developing between Leeds and London,” Riordan notes. “We have professional services, a legal centre and a cultural and creative cutting edge that are quite similar to London.”
He points to the co-location in both cities of companies such as Burberry, Sky and Perform Group as an emerging trend. “It will have a big impact on demographics,” he adds. “People can own a house and there’s a different quality of life up here.” And he says Channel 4 will have a major impact in strengthening that trend.
