Birmingham and Coventry could be submitting rival bids to host Channel 4’s new National HQ and secure jobs and investment in the region’s creative industry.
The West Midlands Combined Authority, led by mayor Andy Street, last year considered four possible locations - Birmingham, Coventry, next to the NEC in Solihull and the Black Country.
Mayor Street said these have been whittled down to one or two bids from the region which will be submitted to Channel 4 by May 11.
Birmingham, with a strong creative industry sector in and around the city centre and its young diverse population has always been seen as a front-runner in the national race to grab the broadcaster.
Channel 4 last week unveiled the bidding process and, in a boost for the West Midlands, said the HQ would need to be in a major city not too far from London with a working population of at least 200,000 people and high degree of connectivity.
Mr Street, while out promoting his community day initiative , was asked about the bid and seemed upbeat at the region’s chances.
He said: “We are now preparing our bid, it has to go in by May 11 and we are just deciding whether there should be one or two bids from the West Midlands.
“We are very pleased, confident, with our credentials in terms of the creative industry, the connectivity we have and the supply of young people to work in what would be a new Channel 4 headquarters, but we are never, never complacent in our proposition.
“We going to go through all the processes to bring home the win in the autumn.”
BirminghamLive understands there will certainly be a Combined Authority backed bid for Birmingham City Centre and probably Coventry. Discussions are going on behind the scenes on whether or not the West Midlands should focus on a single bid.
If so Coventry City Council could decide to put in a bid anyway without the wider Authority and Mayor’s backing.
The bidding process
The competition to become the new national headquarters of broadcaster Channel 4 has begun.
Channel 4 Chief Executive Alex Mahon officially invited towns, cities and regions to submit proposals to become the site of the channel’s planned new National HQ.
They can also bid to host one of two smaller regional offices or “hubs” planned by Channel 4.
Channel 4 is moving 300 jobs from London to the three locations chosen, but Ms Mahon said a total of 3,000 jobs would be created thanks to the boost for local creative industries.
The West Midlands has already begun work on a bid to become the new national headquarters.
And there was a boost for the region as Channel 4 said the new HQ would need to be in a major city not too far from London.
Jonathan Allan, Chief commercial officer at Channel 4, said the city chosen for the headquarters would need:
- A working population of at least 200,000 people
- To be no more than three hours away from London
- A high level of physical connectivity and infrastructure, meaning good transport links and internet services
He said the changes would be "the biggest structural change to Channel 4 in its history, and its going to be channel defining.”
The West Midlands bid, led by mayor Andy Street , will face competition from rivals such as Manchester and Leeds.
Progress will be made quickly, with cities told whether they have been shortlisted or not by the end of May.
Those that are still in the running will be visited by a Channel 4 team in June.
