Leaders across the UK, creatives and businesses join forces in opposition against privatisation of Channel 4

In an open letter, Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, Sir Roger Marsh OBE DL, and other high-profile people from across the United Kingdom’s regions and nations, have expressed dismay at the Government’s plans to sell the publicly owned broadcaster Channel 4 to a private company.  

Dear Ms Dorries, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport,  

As leaders, creatives and businesses across the United Kingdom, we are dismayed to hear that you have decided to move forward with plans to sell Channel 4. The current remit of Channel 4 means a commitment to things that matter most to people who often don’t have a voice. The channel celebrates and embraces being different and champions diversity behind the screen, on our screens and among its viewers.  

The unique public service model guarantees a meaningful commitment to talent, people and ideas in places like West Yorkshire and beyond. From Bristol to Bradford, Leeds to Lincoln, Glasgow to Gwynedd: Channel 4’s remit ensures that the programming reflects the lives of people across the vibrant and diverse Britain that we are all proud to call home. Its innovative Nations and Regions strategy, with 50% of commissioning outside of London and the South East and hubs in cities across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom, shows us just that.   

Channel 4’s decision to bring its headquarters to Leeds followed a competitive process and recognised the qualities the region offered. The opening of the headquarters in The Majestic created 200 jobs and brought a wealth of investment, including The Unit in Bradford. But it also ignited a spark that went beyond the West Yorkshire borders. With the BBC’s Media City on the doorstep in Salford, the new headquarters signalled the beginning of a real Northern powerhouse in the cultural industries. Across the North, there was an excitement, with the next generation at the very forefront of our minds – a publicly owned Channel 4 bringing skills and training opportunities, apprenticeships and a genuine offer to harbour independent talent. We saw some of the UK’s largest independent producers setting up in the region or expanding their presence, alongside new production and studio facilities, plus significant financial support from the public sector. Is this not levelling up in action? 

Equally worrying is that selling off Channel 4 threatens jobs. In September 2021, an independent analysis by Ernst and Young LPP stated that the creative sector could be £2 billion worse off if the broadcaster was privatised, with 2,400 jobs in the creative industries at risk, with at least 60 production companies at risk of closure. At a time where we face a cost-of-living crisis, the likes of which many of us have never experienced, risking people’s livelihoods in this way is reckless and illogical.  

The economic argument for privatisation just doesn’t stand up. You have stated that “a change of ownership will give Channel 4 the tools and freedom to flourish and thrive”, protecting its future model. But Channel 4 is already flourishing and thriving. It has a highly robust financial position for a not-for-profit organisation, and last reported an annual surplus of £74 million. It’s an engine for economic growth, creating an ecosystem of new businesses, creating jobs, boosting skills and stimulating growth for us all. Privatisation is a solution, where there’s no problem. 

A publicly owned Channel 4 also puts diversity and difference above profit. It takes risks, tackling major issues that have the power to spark national conversations. Think of Russell T Davies’ BAFTA nominated drama It’s A Sin, or the channel’s #BlackToFront project, which brought the issues of Black under-representation to the very forefront of our screens, and its longstanding support of the Paralympics. It’s these broadcasting decisions that break the mould, giving a voice to marginalised communities and pushing boundaries. There’s no guarantee that a global giant would protect these values and the remit that make Channel 4 so precious to us.  

And the broadcaster moves with the times. It was one of the first broadcasters to move into streaming, with its All4 platform launching back in 2006 - before Netflix. It has an enviable youth reach, with an 16-34 audience profile twice that of BBC1 and BBC2 and four in five 16-34 year-olds signed up to All4. 

It is a matter of public record that the big streaming services see public sector broadcasting, and Channel 4 in particular, not as a challenger, but as a necessary part of the whole ecosystem and a seedbed for talent.  

Channel 4 is a service made for us, but at no cost to us. It’s the jewel in our crown and something that we are rightly, very proud of.  

Your decision to privatise threatens the Channel 4 we know and love, its commitment to nations and regions and the UK’s unique, diverse and extraordinary creative sectors and independents.   

We would strongly urge you to reconsider this extraordinary and confusing decision. 

Yours Sincerely,  

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire 

Sir Roger Marsh OBE DL, Chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership and NP11 Group of Northern LEPs 

Signed by 

Andy Burnham
Mayor of Greater Manchester 

Dan Jarvis
Mayor of South Yorkshire 

Dan Norris
West of England Metro Mayor 

Jamie Driscoll
North of Tyne Mayor

Dr Nik Johnson

Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough 

Sadiq Khan
Mayor of London

Steve Rotheram
Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region 

Cllr Bev Craig
Leader of Manchester City Council

Cllr Denise Jeffery
Leader of Wakefield Council

Cllr James Lewis
Leader of Leeds City Council 

Cllr Shabir Pandor
Leader of Kirklees Council

Cllr Susan Aitken
Leader of Glasgow City Council

Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe
Leader of Bradford Council

Cllr Tim Swift
Leader of Calderdale MBC

Cllr Andy D’Agorne
Deputy Leader of the Council, City of York Council

Cllr Nigel Ayre
Executive Member for Finance and Performance, City of York Council

Alan Lane BEM
Artistic Director, Slung Low

Alison Hobbs
Head of Production, Candour Productions

Andrew K B Warburton
Managing Director, Area Rugs & Carpets Ltd

Andrew Sheldon
Founder True North 

Ben Hepworth
Managing Director Versa Leeds Studios

Bolu Fagborun
Managing Director Fagborun Limited

Caroline Cooper Charles
Chief Executive Screen Yorkshire

Chris Squire
Creative Director Impossible Arts

Christopher Swann
Writer, TV Director & Producer

Prof Damian Murphy
Director XR Stories, University of York

David Allison
Regional Representative for Yorkshire Writers Guild of Great Britain

David Taylor
Owner, The Edge - coaching & development

Prof David Wilson
Director, Bradford UNESCO City of Film

Deborah Munt
Board Director, Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance

Dorothy Byrne
Former Head of News and Current Affairs, Channel4

Ellie Peers
General Secretary, Writers’ Guild of Great Britain

Fran Peters
Head of Production, Indielab 

Frank Darnley  

Sculptor, Cultural lead for Sowerby Bridge High Street Heritage Action Zone   

Gavin Clayton
CEO hoot creative arts 

Gill Galdins
Chair Theatre Royal Wakefield

Gill Thewlis
Director, Aperté Ltd

Graham McKenzie
Chief Exec & Artistic Director, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival

Helen Featherstone
Deputy Director Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Helen Meller
Co-Director, Arvon Lumb Bank

Jamie Sefton
Managing Director, Game Republic

Jenny Layfield
Museum Director National Coal Mining Museum

Jess Fowle
Creative Director True North

Jessica Brown Meek
Founder, Duck Soup Films

Jo Verrent
Director, Unlimited

Kamran Rashid
Founder, Impact Hub Bradford CIC

Kath Shackleton
Producer Fettle Animation

Katie Clarke
Accessible Calderdale Project

Kay Mellor OBE
Rollem Production Company

Kay Packwood
Executive Director Northern Broadsides Theatre Company

Kevin Rivett
Music teacher, performance, Pennine Guitar Centre

Lee Brooks
CEO Production Park

Lee Corner
Director LAC Limited

Libby Durdy
Founder Duck Soup Films

Lucy Smith
Development Executive at Wise Owl Films

Nat Edwards
Chief Executive Thackray Museum of Medicine

Dr Neil Kaiper-Holmes
Chairman, Thackray Museum of Medicine

Nicola Greenan
Head of Cultural Partnerships, Bradford City Council

Pat Fulgoni
Singer Producer Promoter

Dr Paul Gormley
Principal, MetFilm School

Peter Toon
Producer, Mikron Theatre Co

Philippa Childs
Head of Bectu

Rebecca Papworth
Managing Director, Can Can Productions

Rebekah Wray-Rogers
Founder, Duck Soup Films