Channel 4 confirms plans to sell London HQ
Instead of supplying the latest dramas, channel 4 is undergoing some problems of their own. Amidst the biggest round of layoffs seen in the company, the national broadcaster is now looking for a smaller premises.
Channel 4, a national UK broadcaster, has been based at a HQ in Horseferry Road, Victoria, London, for the last three decades. However, the multi-million-pound company have recently announced that they intend to find a smaller office in central London as they are looking to employ more staff outside the capital city.
At the beginning of this year, Channel 4 revealed they were drawing up plans to axe as many as 200 jobs in its biggest round of layoffs in more than 15 years. The organisation have since confirmed they will be reducing staff numbers by 240.
One of the reasons so many staff members are being let go is because streaming services are currently facing the worst downturn in TV advertising since 2008.
Against this backdrop, the job cuts are set to form part of a five-year strategy, known as ‘Fast Forward’, which aims to shift Channel 4 away from a dependency on traditional TV advertising to digital income streams.
The streaming service have set a target to have 600 roles based outside of London by the end of 2025.
In addition to dismissing hundreds of London-based employees, Channel 4 have also said it would close 40 unfilled roles, making an overall 18% reduction in headcount.
The broadcaster said about 70% of the unfilled roles it was closing came from its legacy operations, and that the overall cuts programme would return the number of employees close to 2021 levels.
Commenting on the news, Alex Mahon, chief executive of Channel 4 said: ‘As we shift our centre of gravity from linear to digital, our proposals will focus cost reductions on legacy activity. It does involve making difficult decisions. I am very sad that some of our excellent colleagues will lose their jobs because of the changes ahead.’
Image: Robert Bye
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