The Director General of the BBC said in Bradford yesterday that the Corporation needs to recruit from the city or risk missing out on "a wealth of talent".

Mark Thompson, who is currently involved in a dispute with BBC staff over cutbacks, said there would be a bigger shift in jobs from London to the north of England, bringing more jobs to Bradford.

During a keynote speech to celebrate the 15th annual review of the influential Bradford-based charity QED UK, he also said the BBC was considering plans to create a new radio station for Bradford as the corporation looks to expand its presence in the city.

"We are steadily increasing our investment in local services," said Mr Thompson. "If we do not recruit from cities such as Bradford we will be missing a wealth of talent."

He added: "A radio station in Bradford is one of the plans being considered."

Mr Thompson said QED was an "amazing" organisation whose work and influence went far beyond West Yorkshire.

"The BBC has a lot to learn from the organisation and will be working closely with them in the future," he said. "We want to work with QED to try to provide more opportunities for BBC careers for young people from this part of the world."

The assistant commissioner of specialist crime at the Metropolitan Police, Tarique Ghaffur, and the director of the National Employment Panel, Cay Stratton, were also speaking at the event at the Cedar Court Hotel.

Dr Mohammed Ali, OBE, chief executive of QED, said: "We are delighted to have attracted such high profile speakers to the event."

He said that, although the charity had accomplished a lot in the last 15 years, there were significant challenges ahead.

"Despite remarkable success, ethnic minorities still face disadvantages and we will continue to work to redress this," said Dr Ali. QED UK, a charity set up 15 years ago to support the economic development of disadvantaged South Asian groups, has been shortlisted in the Research, Advice and Support category of the prestigious Charity Awards 2005.

Last year the charity's New Arrivals Support Centre helped 345 people, more than 100 of whom went on to find employment.

It also supported nearly 150 community groups by giving out £600,000 of Neighbourhood Renewal Grants.

The charity helped 180 children to improve their literacy skills.

The event, which was attended by more than 250 delegates from all over the UK, was sponsored by the Environment Agency.