Only 20 to 40 staff working for Channel 4 in London will be relocating to Leeds, it has been reported.

Up to 90 per cent of the broadcaster's staff based in the capital are seeking redundancy instead of moving north to Leeds, according to the Guardian .

Channel 4's move out of London could cost it more than £50m in redundancy payouts, with generous packages for departing staff including one month's salary for each year of service with no upper limit.

In total 300 of 800 staff are expected to leave the London hub , relocating to the new national headquarters in Leeds and to two creative hubs announced for Bristol and Glasgow.

The Guardian reports that around 40 per cent of the 300 moving will be staff who previously worked for out-sourced units, including 'technical and IT operations'.

The news comes as the chairman of the Leeds Enterprise Partnership, Roger Marsh urged West Yorkshire to 'not be complacent' when it comes to pushing for job opportunities for local people as part of the Channel 4 move.

He told a meeting of the LEP board: "We need to make sure it isn’t just about relocation from London. Companies like Burberry and Perform group, for example, brings some of those jobs from London, but has opportunities for people here too.

An artists impression of the new Majestic as seen from Leeds Railway Station
An artists impression of the new Majestic as seen from Leeds Railway Station

“It could even bring people out of Salford Quays [the location of Media City UK] into Leeds. It would be foolish to say it will be thousands of jobs but it will certainly be hundreds.”

Channel 4 made the decision to move to the city last November, following a lengthy bid process which saw the city battle it out with Manchester and Birmingham.

The broadcaster is set to move into the iconic Majestic building by Leeds train station once its refurbishment is complete.

Staff will have initially moved into the Platform skyscraper on New Station Street, and will move into the West Gate development on Grace Street from September.

Channel 4 is expecting to move into the Majestic in the second half of 2020.

Channel 4's move to Leeds

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