Latest news with #CityOfCulture
BBC News
24-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Bradford City of Culture baton finishes district-wide journey
A celebratory baton designed by pupils at a Bradford school is on the final day of a four-week tour of the artwork, commissioned to commemorate the City of Culture year, was created by students at Carlton Bolling and has visited each of the district's 30 electoral journey, which began in the Keighley and Ilkley area, ends in Clayton on Thursday, and has seen hundreds of pairs of hands carry the piece since the start of Boyle, head of art at the school which came up with the design, said: "It's been named the Baton of Cohesion because the whole point of the event is to try and link all the wards together with a single event during the City of Culture year." Mr Boyle said about 20 pupils had been involved with coming up with the distinctive design which ended up resembling the Olympic torch."We've made 10 all together. Of the first four there's one left that's been taped together and is making its way around."But we've made another six in the last week-and-a-half with the idea that hopefully that will get them to the end," he each ward the baton was carried by someone from the local area, with nominations coming via Bradford Council concluding in a celebratory Boyle said: "The Baton of Cohesion has given some students the opportunity to see other parts of Bradford."And I know that seems strange; why aren't they going to other parts of Bradford? "But for some students that is a challenge." Thursday's final handover at Clayton Village will be followed by a special family fun day at Odsal Stadium on Thursday, 31 will happen to the remaining batons is still Boyle said: "I know we've got one for our school. And there are six (in total)."It could be that they're distributed to different organisations in Bradford to hold on to on a permanent basis... depending on how many are left, of course."
Daily Mail
20-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The ghost town centre with more abandoned shops than nearly every city in the UK as locals blame drug addicts, high rents... and EACH OTHER
Bradford may have been crowned City of Culture but its shopping streets have been devastated by a slump which has led to stores being boarded up across the town. The West Yorkshire district has more empty shops than nearly every other city in the UK and double those in London and Cambridge, according to a new think tank study. Bradford Council is now gambling the town's retail future on a multi million pound strategy to reverse the decline. The idea is to replace the city's Oestler and Kirkgate Markets with the new Darley Street market which opened this week creating 1,000 new homes in the process. The two markets closed last month as part of a scheme which will also see the demotion of the Oestler Centre and eventually the Kirkgate Shopping Centre. With Darley Street Market welcoming its first customers this week Mail Online visited the town to see if optimism is in the air. We found a city centre that is a real Curate's Egg of a retail experience. Some shopping streets are swarming with shoppers and the atmosphere seems vibrant. But around every corner is a boarded up shop. The Oeastler Centre stands derelict amid a maze of deserted streets. Across town, traders at the Kirkgate Centre reckon it will not be long before it also becomes a concrete shell to be flattened by the bulldozers. Many areas are now wall to wall betting shops, vape stores, and nail bars, squeezing out local cafes, corner shops and even designer jewellery stores. Several shops are reduced to selling tat for pittance to survive including bunches of fake flowers for £1. Last year, the city centre suffered another blow when Marks and Spencer closed its branch in the Broadway shopping centre. Debenhams also closed its store in the Broadway in 2021 when the stores closed nationwide and the brand was snapped up by Boohoo for online sales. Meanwhile, High Street names have continued to disappear from the city, possibly for good. One the latest casualties of the slump has been Dunkin' Donuts, near the entrance to the Broadway. It closed without warning this week, leaving customers stunned including Sophie Webster, 29. She said: 'There are so many shops closing. I am born and bred here but I normally shop in Keighley town centre. I am only here now because I am at work. 'My favourite coffee shop Dunkin' Donuts closed on Tuesday. There was no warning. it just shut so I don't know what that was about. 'Most shops in Broadway will only be open for a few months or a year and then close and become something else. 'Taco Bell has shut as well and I have no idea why. They didn't put anything where Burger king used to be and all the food places are going. 'Some places are not getting enough customers to pay the rent. Dunkin' Donuts was never that busy. But Taco Bell was, I don't know what happened there. But it seems something will open and then close again so its all a bit rubbish.' John Henry Brown, 69, said: 'I was born in Bradford in 1956 and I have not been out of Bradford in the 69 years since. 'The state of the place now is atrocious. They have blocked so many roads off it has stopped a lot of disabled people getting into town on the bus. 'Yet they are calling it the City of Culture. Where is the culture? It is just crap. 'The new market is very expensive. If you want a chocolate eclair it is going to cost you a fiver. 'They are supposed to be pulling a lot of the shops down to turn into houses but they already have so many empty properties they could turn into flats. 'Demolishing the empty shopping centres is going to cost millions and it is just a waste of money.' Josephine Eastwood said: 'You will be surprised how many people who live in Bradford will say to you "Oh, we don't go to Bradford to shop". 'We go to Leeds for our shopping and a lot of people go to Harrogate as well, like we do. It is not just the shortage of shops it is the smell of the drugs people are smoking. 'That's put me off as well. Then, you can guarantee someone will stop you and ask you if you have any money. 'It is not just a one off, and that's what puts people off coming here as well. 'Me and my husband shop in Harrogate all the time and never once have we had the problems we have here in Bradford.' The store is on the historic site of the A Fattorini The Jewellers, which made the FA Cup Trophy won by the Bantams but closed for good in 2021 after 190 years in Yorkshire A former Gold Connection Rolex dealers is now a pop-up shop selling cushions for £3 and head scarves for £1. The store is on the historic site of the A Fattorini The Jewellers, which made the FA Cup Trophy won by the Bantams but closed for good in 2021 after 190 years in Yorkshire. A man browsing the £3 cushions, who refused to be named, said: 'This used to be the best jeweller's shop in Bradford. Now it has all gone downhill. 'I blame people with cars travelling to out of town shopping centres That's why all the corner shops have closed down.' Many shoppers were in town to check out the city's new Darley Street market which opened this week. The much trumpeted state-of-the-art complex is being hailed by council bosses as a major boost to the flagging retail sector. Catherine Bagnall, 76, added: 'The shops around here are rubbish. Marks and Spencers closed down because of all the shoplifters. 'We are lost without Marks and Spencers. That was the only thing worth coming into town for. We are only here today to see what the new market is like. 'Bradford is not what it used to be. There are too many people high on spice. Your heart is in your mouth every time you hear someone behind you.' Among the first visitors to the new market were Jordan Fry, 29, and Rowan Tordoff, 27, and neither was impressed. Jordan said: 'The new market is not too bad. But there are not a lot of shops in there either. It is the first time I have been in the city centre in ages. 'We have only come to see the new market. When I was a younger I used to love going up and down the high streets. 'The new market is nice. But I don't know if there are more shops that are going to open up. Inside, there are three or four butchers, a fruit place and the rest is fabrics. 'We walked in five minutes ago, had a quick look, and came straight back out again.' Nodding in agreement, Rowan added: 'The new market looks a lot better than the rest of Bradford does. 'But I would rather go shopping in Leeds because there is more there. The shops in Bradford are all the same shops. 'I only came in for a spot of breakfast and to see the new market but it has been a bit of waste of time. 'The Kirkgate Centre is still open there is just not a lot in there now. Most of them have moved to Broadway or into the new market.' Abdul Pandor, 70, has been selling watches in the Kirkgate Centre for 15 years. He said: 'We had a really good business. 'Then over time things changed. Covid did not help but shopping has changed over time. 'They are selling stuff online cheaper than I can buy wholesale and I cannot beat that and survive when I have to pay rent and wages. 'We are keeping going for as long as I can then I will head away into the sunset. 'Fifteen years ago we were always busy but we are so quiet now. 'Young kids nowadays don't want watches anymore so we repair more than we sell.' Alec Janow, 63, was one of the only people window shopping in the nearly deserted streets leading to the city's former Oastler Centre. After decades of trading it closed on June 28 along with the Kirkgate Market. Both are facing demolition to make way for the Darley Street market. Mr Janow said: 'The whole place has gone to cock. I was born and bred around here and it has all gone downhill. 'The shops have been driven out by high rents and all the shoplifters. The new market is all very well but I think the place is too far gone.'
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why does this city have so many empty shops?
It may be Bradford's City of Culture year but, according to a report from the Centre for Cities, the city has more empty shops than nearly every city in the UK, and double those in London and Cambridge. The think tank report claims Newport, Bradford and Blackpool have the highest retail vacancy rate, while London, Cambridge and Oxford have the lowest. So, why is the city so empty, what is being done about it and is UK City of Culture 2025 the boost Bradford needs? John Varey and his family have been running Blossoms Florist from a unit in Market Street for nine months. "It started off as a florist but we're evolving to fit in with the Bradford community," he says. "We're also opening up in Darley Street Market. We're opening a plant emporium up there [and] this shop here is going to be turned into a flower cafe. We're evolving." He suggests the city's empty shop problem could be minimised if the council took more of a role in deciding which businesses were based in which units. "If all these businesses were owned by Bradford Council it wouldn't end up like this," he says. "Because they're privately owned and the guys who own the businesses just want to fill them, they don't care what gets in them. If we had control of what goes in here and the council could sign it off, you stand a better chance." But he adds the City of Culture year has been a boost, and he hopes the city can build on the momentum. He says: "Ever since the City of Culture signs have gone up, we're getting quite a lot of tourists coming in here and we're changing things into gifts for tourism promoting Bradford. "Bradford Council has done an excellent job. What they're doing now is not for today as such. Rome wasn't built in a day. Bradford wasn't built in a day. But it's evolving. "This year is a good standard now to build on." Jonny Noble, chief executive of Bradford BID, says the news that Bradford has a lot of empty shops is not exactly new for those who know the city. "I've lived in Bradford all my life and it has been recognised for some time to be honest," he says. "We've got a lot of not fit-for-purpose retail. In the 1980s and 1990s, obviously Bradford was much more vibrant, shall we say, than it might be classed as now, or the retail scene, generally, in the UK was." Independent retail expert Catherine Shuttleworth agrees. "The landlords of Bradford have got to get real and rethink the space, invest in it, and the council have got to work with the landlords to make it somewhere attractive for people to come and open shops," she says. "Fundamentally, for a modern retailer, you need easy access. "You need air-conditioned shops, you need buildings you can get in and out of, and you need footfall." The report backs their claims, advising one of the reasons Bradford has a high rate of vacant units is too much space. On Thursday morning in the Kirkgate Centre - which is earmarked for demolition but is yet to have an exact date - there are empty units everywhere. And in the Broadway shopping centre, though busier, there are a considerable number of empty shops. A number of retailers, who did not want to speak on the record, say this is because the Broadway rents are too high and the closure of the Kirkgate Centre is affecting the businesses in that area of the city. Mr Noble says BID does its own research into vacancy rates, and that number is starting to drop. "I don't really like the phrase shrinking the city centre, but it's making it fit for purpose and making sure the right offers are there," he says. "We had far too much not fit-for-purpose space that was never going to be brought back into use [as] retail space and, with changing shopping habits, we need an experiential offer where people can touch and feel and smell and see." He says the city needs to shift away from mainstream retailers. "Retail used to be everything. You'd look down every street around the country and see all the same signs. Well, that is not happening anymore. "One thing I would be really keen to see is more independents - they are the life and soul of a city centre." Si Cunningham, chairperson of Bradford Civic Society, says the drop in retail is to do with online shopping. "There's an issue with wider national and international trends and retailers are not needing as many branches anymore, so they are consolidating the bricks and mortar branches into bigger regional centres. "We do risk cities like Bradford, that are not regional centres, losing out because of that, but that probably highlights why it's important for Bradford to have a really strong independent offer." Ms Shuttleworth believes part of Bradford's problem is its close proximity to Leeds and out-of-town retail hubs. "We've seen some really high-profile names pull out of Bradford, particularly Marks & Spencer. I think the reason for it is the provision of shopping outside of town," she says. "Places like Leeds' White Rose Shopping Centre pull a lot of people in from Bradford. "These are easy places to go to, easy places to get in and out of. Bradford's really hard to get in and out of. "Leeds has a fantastic retail offer and is super easy to access either by bus or train." Mr Cunningham says the answer is fewer shops, more restaurants and more culture. "We need to make sure we're promoting things like food and drink and cultural experiences rather than retail," he says. "If we just follow the retail trends internationally then we're always going to end up with high vacancy rates." Mr Noble says that shift is already under way, with the opening of Darley Street Market and more cultural venues across the city, such as Loading Bay and Bradford Live. "We've got a fantastic offer and the place has never looked as good as it currently does," he says. "I am absolutely confident that vacancy rates will drop significantly over the next couple of years and get back to where we feel we should be." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. 'We're finally here,' say traders as market opens Visitor numbers to Bradford rise - but are they spending money? Shoppers dismayed as Bradford M&S ceases trading Bradford BID Centre for Cities
BBC News
12-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Why does Bradford have so many empty shops?
It may be Bradford's City of Culture year but, according to a report from the Centre for Cities, the city has more empty shops than nearly every city in the UK, and double those in London and think tank report claims Newport, Bradford and Blackpool have the highest retail vacancy rate, while London, Cambridge and Oxford have the why is the city so empty, what is being done about it and is UK City of Culture 2025 the boost Bradford needs? John Varey and his family have been running Blossoms Florist from a unit in Market Street for nine months."It started off as a florist but we're evolving to fit in with the Bradford community," he says."We're also opening up in Darley Street Market. We're opening a plant emporium up there [and] this shop here is going to be turned into a flower cafe. We're evolving." He suggests the city's empty shop problem could be minimised if the council took more of a role in deciding which businesses were based in which units."If all these businesses were owned by Bradford Council it wouldn't end up like this," he says."Because they're privately owned and the guys who own the businesses just want to fill them, they don't care what gets in them. If we had control of what goes in here and the council could sign it off, you stand a better chance."But he adds the City of Culture year has been a boost, and he hopes the city can build on the says: "Ever since the City of Culture signs have gone up, we're getting quite a lot of tourists coming in here and we're changing things into gifts for tourism promoting Bradford."Bradford Council has done an excellent job. What they're doing now is not for today as such. Rome wasn't built in a day. Bradford wasn't built in a day. But it's evolving."This year is a good standard now to build on." Jonny Noble, chief executive of Bradford BID, says the news that Bradford has a lot of empty shops is not exactly new for those who know the city."I've lived in Bradford all my life and it has been recognised for some time to be honest," he says."We've got a lot of not fit-for-purpose retail. In the 1980s and 1990s, obviously Bradford was much more vibrant, shall we say, than it might be classed as now, or the retail scene, generally, in the UK was."Independent retail expert Catherine Shuttleworth agrees."The landlords of Bradford have got to get real and rethink the space, invest in it, and the council have got to work with the landlords to make it somewhere attractive for people to come and open shops," she says."Fundamentally, for a modern retailer, you need easy access. "You need air-conditioned shops, you need buildings you can get in and out of, and you need footfall."The report backs their claims, advising one of the reasons Bradford has a high rate of vacant units is too much Thursday morning in the Kirkgate Centre - which is earmarked for demolition but is yet to have an exact date - there are empty units in the Broadway shopping centre, though busier, there are a considerable number of empty shops.A number of retailers, who did not want to speak on the record, say this is because the Broadway rents are too high and the closure of the Kirkgate Centre is affecting the businesses in that area of the city. Mr Noble says BID does its own research into vacancy rates, and that number is starting to drop."I don't really like the phrase shrinking the city centre, but it's making it fit for purpose and making sure the right offers are there," he says."We had far too much not fit-for-purpose space that was never going to be brought back into use [as] retail space and, with changing shopping habits, we need an experiential offer where people can touch and feel and smell and see."He says the city needs to shift away from mainstream retailers."Retail used to be everything. You'd look down every street around the country and see all the same signs. Well, that is not happening anymore."One thing I would be really keen to see is more independents - they are the life and soul of a city centre."Si Cunningham, chairperson of Bradford Civic Society, says the drop in retail is to do with online shopping."There's an issue with wider national and international trends and retailers are not needing as many branches anymore, so they are consolidating the bricks and mortar branches into bigger regional centres."We do risk cities like Bradford, that are not regional centres, losing out because of that, but that probably highlights why it's important for Bradford to have a really strong independent offer." Does Leeds take all the shoppers? Ms Shuttleworth believes part of Bradford's problem is its close proximity to Leeds and out-of-town retail hubs."We've seen some really high-profile names pull out of Bradford, particularly Marks & Spencer. I think the reason for it is the provision of shopping outside of town," she says."Places like Leeds' White Rose Shopping Centre pull a lot of people in from Bradford."These are easy places to go to, easy places to get in and out of. Bradford's really hard to get in and out of. "Leeds has a fantastic retail offer and is super easy to access either by bus or train." Mr Cunningham says the answer is fewer shops, more restaurants and more culture."We need to make sure we're promoting things like food and drink and cultural experiences rather than retail," he says. "If we just follow the retail trends internationally then we're always going to end up with high vacancy rates."Mr Noble says that shift is already under way, with the opening of Darley Street Market and more cultural venues across the city, such as Loading Bay and Bradford Live."We've got a fantastic offer and the place has never looked as good as it currently does," he says."I am absolutely confident that vacancy rates will drop significantly over the next couple of years and get back to where we feel we should be." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Radio 4's Prayer for the Day to feature six days of Bradford voices
Six voices from Bradford's diverse faith communities will contribute to BBC Radio 4's Prayer for the Day this month. From July 5 to July 11 (excluding Sunday, July 6), and to celebrate the 55th anniversary of Prayer for the Day, the BBC has invited six faith leaders from Bradford to share reflections and prayers. Carmel Lonergan, producer, said: "To be able to showcase the voices of Bradford, the City of Culture, on Radio 4 for Prayer for the Day's anniversary is a real privilege." Each instalment will be broadcast at 5.43am - between the Shipping Forecast and Farming Today. Contributors include the Revd Ned Lunn of Bradford Cathedral, Jane Williams of The Bradford Synagogue Star, Hindu priest Haridas Sharan, Simmy Sekhon of the Yorkshire Sikh Forum, Furaha Mussanzi of The Light Church, and Saarah Hamayun, spiritual care practitioner at Martin House Children's Hospice. The contributions were recorded at the National Science and Media Museum.
