Tag: Bradford

A feather in our flat cap

It’s difficult to pin point just what makes Yorkshire so great but if I had to choose just one thing I would always come back to the people. There is a real honesty about Yorkshire folk that sets it apart from other regions throughout the country. Yorkshire is different – but in the best possible way.

Not only do you have the beautiful countryside on your doorstep but also city living. Leeds Trinity has brought a shopping experience that even I realise we were missing and further planned developments in Sheffield and Bradford will once again put the county on the map. Some people will argue that we will never compete with London but the real truth of the matter is, I don’t believe we want to. We have a fantastic offering in Yorkshire, which is large enough to deliver choice and small enough to give a friendly and personable service.

A regular comment that I hear is that people are so friendly in Yorkshire and that is something to be really proud of. Not only is it a compliment but with the knowledge that people buy people, it has become apparent that being honest, open and friendly leads to better business – who knew!

There great thing is that there is something for everyone in Yorkshire whether you love the great outdoors, enjoy shopping and leisure or are considering starting a business. The county is growing and with that comes exciting times ahead.

Take the Tour de France, who would have thought that Yorkshire would not only welcome but host the Grand Depart of the world’s most famous bike race. Obviously the impact of an event like this is huge and we can presume that it will attract inward investment and showcase the county for everything that it offers.

My hope is that people will stop seeing Yorkshire as a county that isn’t quite there yet and recognise that it is home to some of the UK’s leading brands and businesses. As a Yorkshire girl I have to add a caveat to this blog to say that I am massively biased but that doesn’t mean that the comments that I have made aren’t based on fact.

Recently Yorkshire was crowned Europe’s top tourist destination – now you can’t do much better than that. When we are going head-to-head with the likes of Rome and Paris you know that we have something worth shouting about.

There is something however that Yorkshire isn’t very good at – shouting about its success. Welcome to Yorkshire have done a fantastic job of putting the region on the global map and have without doubt raised the profile of the county in order to encourage the recognition that we deserve but smaller businesses still don’t seem to get it.

The problem is that Yorkshire people are proud and with that comes a sensitivity to sharing their news. People don’t want to shout from the roof tops, they don’t even want to talk too openly about their good news in the pub, they just prefer to get on with it.

As many of us know, this isn’t the way forward. Companies of all sizes need to share their stories and successes in order to let people know what products and services they are offering. In fairness we have seen a slight shift in attitude towards communication from many smaller brands – they understand that they need to communicate they just don’t know how to go about it.

This is where we can help. We offer a service called Open for New Business, which is a full day session that is tailored to each individual organisation. We have never conformed to the belief that one size fits all – or that hosing events for 30 people will be of any real use to them – and so that is why we created Open for New.

The idea is that we create an agenda to cover all of the topics that a business wants to focus on – this could be anything from how to write a press release, to social media strategies or brand buddying. As every business is different and has a unique personality we aim to bring this to the forefront of the session and make it a focus for communications both internally and externally.

Not only is this a great opportunity for businesses who want to address their communications needs but as a single day session there is no monthly fee or retained relationship – we simply pass everything over and get you excited by the opportunities that communicating effectively can bring you.

So come on Yorkshire, let’s start shouting. We shouldn’t be too proud to stand up and be counted for the many successes that we have to share. We are a region that is rich in heritage, has an amazing and varied culture and benefits from a very real enterprising spirit. Let’s not leave it to the Council or Tourist Board to bang the drum – let’s make sure that there is a worthy feather in our traditional flat cap!

BUILDING FUTURE SUCCESS

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has noticed that the tides seem to be turning for developers in the Yorkshire region. Iconic sites such as the Lumiere in Leeds and previously mothballed  master plans, which have been on hold for a number of years, are now getting the attention and funding that they need to move forward.

This is fantastic news for our region. Not only will this turnaround means a greater experience will be had by visitors and shoppers, as well as there being more opportunity for those looking for residential properties in the cities, but it will also create jobs for the many labourers, developers, construction workers and bricklayers who have found recent years particularly difficult.

I have a real passion for development and was very fortunate to have the opportunity to work on two major projects earlier in my career; Bradford, the birth of a new city and Leeds Leads, the marketing of Leeds as a city to those outside of the region.

Working on two major areas within our region and promoting them to other cities throughout the UK, Europe and the World was hugely exciting. I had the chance to work with leading developers, to see sites as they unfolded and to witness and experience the evolution of a brown field site to a masterpiece, a mill building to luxury apartments and a run-down and deprived area to a community hub attracting people of all ages to work, visit and enjoy.

I arranged and managed a number of journalist visits during this time – we refer to them as familiarisation visits – with journalists from national and international papers coming to visit each city in turn. It was interesting to see their imaginations come to life when they were made aware of the projects that were planned.

Double page spreads featured in titles including the Guardian, Independent and Observer. The interest was astonishing, particularly as many of these journalists were based in London and at the time it could be difficult to drag them away from their desks to visit our humble region ‘in the sticks’

Two recent stories that have hit the headlines, which support the shift to greater levels of investment in property and development, are the proposed sale of the Leeds Victoria Quarter for £136million to Hammerson and the multi-million pound scheme to regenerate the neglected Gateway to Wakefield, which is close to the award winning Hepworth Gallery.

Both of these developments will have a huge impact on the areas that they are in. Hammerson are proposing an extension to the Victoria Quarter (let’s get saving ladies!) and the regeneration of the Wakefield Gateway will once again put the city on the map and reiterate that it is a place to work, visit and enjoy. Wakefield suffers from a lack of outside attention, which the Hepworth has certainly addressed, however this must continue.

Building and development to me is about more than bricks and mortar, it’s about more than high rise flats and iconic designs. The regeneration of our area needs constant marketing support and a sustainable communication plan which takes our messages to those who live outside of the region. We need to ensure that we attract the attention of those who will come into our cities to stay and most importantly to spend.

Regeneration needs to meet with objectives – we don’t want a beautiful collection of towns and cities that stand empty. We want a hub of excitement, which delivers shopping, leisure, art, creativity, socialising and what we are famed for – a friendly welcome.

The next few years will be very interesting. Buildings are already going up and with the Leeds Trinity Walk project underway there is already a feeling of anticipation in the city. I hope that I will be joined by others in celebrating the hard hats which are being dusted off and put firmly back on the heads of those who will make these changes happen before our eyes.

It’s this commitment to making our cities more appealing for us and those who come to visit that will keep Yorkshire firmly on the map.