From Majestic nightclub goer to a Channel 4 executive, Jonathan Allan talks regional opportunities, privatisation and broadcaster's priorities

But it was clear when we spoke that being in the walls of that building held a personal significance for Allan, who grew up little more than 15 miles up the road in a village near Boston Spa.

When he was promoted to his current position at the start of 2020, Channel 4 said Allan had played a “significant role” in bringing the station to Yorkshire as well as creative hubs to Glasgow and Bristol as part of the 4 All the UK strategy, which sparked the largest structural shake-up in Channel 4’s history.

“Personally for me it’s been very rewarding to work on the Nations and Regions project because the more everybody can provide really fun, different, creative jobs and more opportunities outside London, the better. Some people don’t want to move - they have roots and friends in the cities they grew up or studied in...

“It’s been really rewarding for me to be able to come back to see Channel 4 in Leeds and walk the streets I used to when I was 21 - I used to come to the Majestic nightclub when it was open so I love the fact we’re in that building.”

Channel 4 opened for business in a temporary home in Leeds in late 2019, before moving to The Majestic last year.

In 2021, its proportion of commissions and spending outside of London hit an all-time record high. Around two thirds of its main channel commissioned content came from Nations and Regions independents, with 55 per cent of spend on new content commissioned from suppliers also pulled from outside the capital.

Speaking about the benefits of having the national HQ in Leeds, Allan, who was formerly Channel 4’s Chief Commercial Officer, says: “Firstly, there’s the immediate employment of people who work for Channel 4, then we have the ripple of all the content investment. When we made the move, it wasn’t just back office, it was things like 4Studio (the broadcaster’s digital content studio) and commissioning... It’s employment, it’s content and investment and it’s training and skills.”

On the latter point, the broadcaster says its training arm 4Skills is set to create more than 15,000 training, development and learning opportunities nationwide from this year, with a particular focus on young people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, who want a career in broadcasting.

Among its initiatives is the Content Creatives scheme, a fully paid 14-week programme which sees trainees undertake training on topics including production techniques, storytelling and pitching, followed by a placement in 4Studio or with one of Channel 4’s partner creative organisations.

Mahnoor Akhlaq, 21, from Bradford, is among those currently on the scheme. “It’s really important to have these opportunities up north. Personally I wouldn’t be able to afford to move down to London and I don’t particularly want to,” Mahnoor says.

“Having an opportunity like this that’s paid is important and I think there should be more because it motivates people and helps them to see that working in a creative industry is an option…I think it’s also important that we retain talent in Yorkshire as well.”

Neve McNamara, 23, from Huddersfield, was on the first Content Creatives course in Leeds last year and now works at Channel 4 as an assistant digital producer in 4Studio.

“I’d always wanted to work in TV but thought I wouldn’t be able to, with being from a working class background, living up north and not being able to move to London, where most of the roles were (and still are),” Neve says.

“So when I saw that Channel 4 was going to be opening an office in Leeds I was excited and knew that I would love to work there.

“The scheme was so valuable to me as it allowed me to learn about roles that I never knew existed, and what skills I needed to have to be able to do them.”

Earlier this year, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport unveiled plans to take Channel 4 out of public ownership. The Government claimed it would struggle to survive in a media landscape increasingly dominated by the likes of Netflix and said it had been overly reliant on declining TV advertising to support its business.

Ministers have insisted that the proposed sell-off will give the publicly-owned broadcaster the tools to “innovate and grow” but the plans have received widespread criticism among the creative industry and a number of politicians.

Conservative leadership candidate Liz Truss recently said she had not made a final decision on the future of Channel 4 yet, but prefers “to have companies operating in the private sector”. She said she would review the Government’s controversial plan for privatisation, but if the broadcaster is sold off she would ensure the national headquarters remain in Leeds. Her rival Rishi Sunak has previously said he would proceed with the sale of Channel 4, if he becomes Prime Minister.

On the plans, Allan says: “We are looking, as the Media Bill is written up, that it has a lot of protections around Channel 4 if it is sold. And we need to be really conscious that a private owner may well have different incentives than a public ownership model.

“In public ownership, we’re not for profit and we wholly prioritise the remit and I would say it’s not the most cost effective way to run a business having five different offices around the country or indeed investing over half of your money outside London with smaller independents.

“We don’t have a problem per se with privatisation as a concept, it’s just really important that what Channel 4 is, is protected and we can invest in young people, have great content and have a distinctive brand in perpetuity.”

Going forward, Allan says diversifying revenues away from advertising, “continuing to give voices to the unheard and underrepresented” and digital transformation are key priorities for Channel 4.

“In 10, 15, 20 years time, everyone will be watching television in an IP fashion through the internet, on demand,” he says. “We have to really lean into digital viewing through All 4, with investment in big on-demand content and the platforms that features on.”

A big focus is also on increasing the diversity of people working within broadcasting and addressing skills gaps in the industry, he says.

“At the moment there is a huge skills gap in this sector. In terms of screen skills, we need thousands of new people to join because the UK creative economy is so successful and lots of people are coming here to make content - so we need a lot more people in the industry. And we have to work together to make sure as we bring more people in, they are more reflective of the UK at large.”