There has long been debate among parliamentarians, TV producers and the public alike, that Britain's media production must move beyond the London bubble to embrace the diversity of the rest of the country. This was backed up by an independent review of the UK Creative Industries, commissioned by the Government, led by Sir Peter Bazalgette and published earlier this year, in which he highlighted a lack of diversity in the workforce, particularly in leadership positions. The Conservatives made it a manifesto pledge to redress this imbalance, and now is the time to act.
And where better to relocate than Bristol - voted the best place to live in Britain, the best place to study, one of the top five most inspiring cities and one of the ten best cities in the world?
Channel 4 doesn't make any of its own programmes but commissions independent television and filmmakers instead. So although relocating its headquarters outside London is an important symbolic step - and certainly something we very much want to see in Bristol - what is most important is commissioning more programming outside the capital. As Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, has said, people involved at every level of the commissioning process should reflect the way the country looks and feels in the twenty-first century - those being commissioned, those doing the commissioning, and those funding it.
Currently, only a third of TV production money is spent outside London. Channel 4 is better than some - in 2016 it invested 40% of its budget in the nations and regions - but Pact, the trade association representing UK independent television, film, digital, children's and animation media companies, has called on Channel 4 to up this figure to 50%, which would put it on par with the BBC.
Perhaps best known for Banksy and Massive Attack, Bristol has an international reputation as a city of unorthodox creativity, which fits perfectly with Channel 4's existing output. There are 130 production companies and services in the city: a substantial creative talent pool that has worked on some of the nation's best-loved programmes, including BBC shows Poldark, Sherlock and Wolf Hall, and Channel 4 shows Skins, The Fear and the new Crystal Maze. And of course Bristol is home to the jewel in the BBC's crown, the Natural History Unit, and the Oscar-winning Aardman studios.
There is a real buzz about the city these days, which is attracting new creative professionals to Bristol. But Bristol's bid for Channel 4 is also about unleashing the potential of the multicultural citizens who already live and work here, many of whom have unique perspectives and valuable ideas that could feed in to Channel 4 programming. With 35% of our population aged under 24, the talent pool from which to draw is huge.
As well as offering Channel 4 a young, creative and multicultural work force, Bristol is also a leader in innovative technology, with academia and commercial businesses coming together in collaborative experimentation, and hubs like Bristol is Open, Bristol VR Lab and the Pervasive Media Studio. It is also one of three sites to pilot new 5G technology, which promises super-fast, super-reliable connectivity, and the development of our new creative/ digital quarter around Temple Meads is shaping up to be the biggest regeneration project in Europe.
Bristol is ready for Channel 4. It's a natural fit. Let's make it happen.