Channel 4’s arrival in Bristol will open up new opportunities for the city’s creative talent and widen access to jobs in the media sector, Mayor Marvin Rees told the official launch party for the TV firm’s Bristol base.
He said the campaign to attract Channel 4 to the city following its decision to relocate jobs from its London HQ had galvanised Bristol’s burgeoning creative sector. 
“Our success was the result of a citywide effort and a shared enthusiasm for what the move means for the city and region in terms of job creation, new projects and further investment,” he told the gathering at the Bristol Old Vic.
“Bristol is an ideal partner for Channel 4, as a thriving, diverse and innovative city. It’s also a hotbed of creative talent which is developed and sustained by a wealth of industry partners and experts, many of whom supported our bid for the hub.
“We look forward to working with Channel 4 to help broaden industry access for creative talent from all areas of Bristol,’’ he added.
The event officially marked the opening of Channel 4’s creative hub.
The event for staff, producers and partners from the region also heard from Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon, pictured above with Mayor Rees at the opening, who said the new base would enable the broadcaster to tap into the deep pools of talent in the region.
“Bristol gives Channel 4 an amazing opportunity to tap into the talent and rich and diverse culture that exists in the South West and Wales,” she said.
“By having our people in communities across the UK we’ll be able to better represent the UK, and I believe we will become more creative, distinctive and relevant as a result.”
The Bristol team is led by a new factual commissioning editor and head of hub Sacha Mirzoeff and its commissioners are looking for opportunities to grow the world-class specialist factual community in Bristol and Cardiff’s thriving drama scene and indie sector.
West of England Mayor Tim Bowles, who also attended the launch, added: “Welcoming Channel 4 to the West of England’s thriving creative cluster marks our region out as not just as a national, but a global centre of excellence for the creative arts.
“Our talented, diverse and innovative workforce is a big factor in bringing such big names to our area. The West of England Combined Authority is working hard to maintain that position by promoting the skilled people in our region and the great work going on in our fantastic facilities.
“We are supporting home-grown talent to make sure they have the skills and opportunities to break-in to careers in this flourishing sector and our Invest Bristol and Bath team continues to attract inward investment.”
Bristol was selected to be one of two creative hubs from more than 30 cities across the UK which pitched to become a new base for the national broadcaster.
The development of three new centres – a national HQ in Leeds and creative hubs in Bristol and Glasgow – are at the heart of Channel 4’s 4 All the UK strategy to attract and develop talent from across the UK, both on and off-screen.
The new 3,200 sq ft creative hub in the historic Fermentation Buildings will employ around 50 people and be home to key creative decision makers supporting Channel 4’s relationships with the production sector, particularly focused on genres with strengths in the South West and Wales.
Commissioning departments represented in the new creative hub in Bristol will include daytime, drama; factual and popular factual. Creative diversity will also have a presence in Bristol to help nurture and develop on and off-screen talent.
