Government set to sell Channel 4 HQ and move broadcaster out of London
Channel 4 could be moving its headquarters out of London as part of government plans to rebalance the economy .
Channel 4
The broadcaster will hear from Karen Bradley, the new Culture Secretary, this week when she is expected to tell Channel 4 chief executive David Abraham that plans will be put in place to relocate its headquarters to Birmingham or Manchester.
According to senior Whitehall sources, no final decisions have been made but the government is understood to be keen to sell off the current Westminster building, worth around £100m, and move the broadcaster north in a bid to help the creative economy outside the capital.
A senior Whitehall source told the Telegraph: “You would expect with what this government has said about fairness across the country that it would be attracted to the idea of moving Channel 4.”
Reviews around the potential move are expected to take months and will only add to the uncertainty which has clouded Channel 4's future after the issue of privatisation surfaced earlier this year. The government subsequently scrapped the plans in favour of a number of other reforms.
Channel 4 has reportedly opposed the idea of moving outside of London, arguing that it already fulfils its remit to support independent television production beyond the capital. Last year more than half its original commissions were outside London and it has satellite offices in Glasgow and Manchester.