Bradford's triumph in contest to become UK City of Culture 2025 provides once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

A district which acted as a cradle for David Hockney, the Bronte sisters, JB Priestley and Frederick Delius has always welcomed those who have left their homeland in search of sanctuary and the chance to build a better life.

Dr Manoj Joshi DL, the newly appointed chairman of the Bradford Economic Partnership, knows how it feels to flee from a tyrant.

“In 1972, Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of Uganda’s South Asian community,” he recalled. “My family was thrown out, but England offered us a warm welcome. My family settled in Derby, and I later moved to Bradford in 1981 after spending time living and working in London for ICI.

“I fell in love with Bradford. It was a warm and welcoming place and I made friends immediately. The quality of life was superb, and the cost of living was so much more affordable in West Yorkshire.”

Dr Joshi, who was recently awarded an MBE by The Queen, found the support, community spirit and education in Bradford which acted as springboard for a successful career in pharmacy and pharmaceuticals.

“I built up my businesses and professional connections through Rotary Club of Bradford,” he said. “So many avenues opened up to me, and I felt very energised and inspired.”

Forty years ago, Bradford’s economy was in a period of transition, which proved painful for those working in many traditional industries.

He recalled: “Although the 1980s was a decade of decline for much of Bradford’s manufacturing economy, there was also a very strong and vibrant entrepreneurial spirit. Today there are great companies like Morrisons and strong firms in financial services like Provident Financial and Yorkshire Building Society as well.”

Bradford Economic Partnership brings together leaders from local businesses, Bradford Council, the University of Bradford, the City Region Local Enterprise Partnership and the Chamber of Commerce to support economic development and regeneration and ensure the city’s voice is heard in the corridors of power.

“We need to build economic partnerships and engage with businesses in a meaningful way,” said Dr Joshi. “We also need to get people to collaborate and communicate; there has been too much fragmentation and duplication with different groups doing their own thing. There is phenomenal potential.

“Bradford really is a test bed of levelling up. That means public sector investment. You can’t deliver ‘clean growth’ without investment and connectivity.

“At the moment, we seem to have piecemeal and competitive arrangements within the Government where decisions are made remotely from areas of need like the Bradford district.”

He is keen to see investment in the ‘circular economy’ which aims to protect the environment by ensuring nothing is wasted.

“I want to make Bradford a place to invest, play and grow. We need to encourage young people to reuse and recycle goods from an early age.

“The role of education is crucial,” he added. “I came to Bradford because of the excellence of Bradford Grammar School. I want every child in Bradford to have the same opportunities as my children have had.”

It’s vital that local people act as ambassadors for the district.

“We undersell ourselves,” he said. “We have the capacity to grow and shape our future in the way we want.

“But we need to remove structural disadvantages.

“The city is disconnected; we need improved transport connections so we can bring investors in from anywhere in the world. It can take more than an hour and a half to get from Manchester to Bradford, sometimes much more.

“Business has a massive role to play in all of this, We have to leverage all the available opportunities in terms of arts, drama, literature and sport. Salt’s Mill is a UNESCO World Heritage site and Bradford is the first Unesco City of Film. Too many young people leave Bradford to go to university and never come back, we need to address that.”

Dr Joshi believes the city needs to tackle the environmental factors that are pushing people away.

He added: “We need to make sure our housing stock is fit for purpose; we need to have good hotels and safe streets. These things are not in the gift of the Government; it’s in our hands.

“We need to speak with one voice. In Britain today, nobody should go hungry, and nobody should sleep on the streets. We need to stop the vicious circle.

“But I want Bradford to look forwards, not backwards. I hope we will deliver clear wins in terms of clean growth.

“The southern gateway masterplan, is set to transform the area around the Richard Dunn site in Odsal into an area for housing, sustainable transport and sustainable energy.”

Dr Joshi believes Bradford’s successful City of Culture bid is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which local people must seize with gusto. It marks the end of a quest that began a generation ago.

He said: “Bradford is going to be on show now. It’s our time, let us make the most of it.”

Dr Manoj Joshi DL, is the newly appointed chairman of the Bradford Economic Partnership.

As a young boy, Dr Joshi fled Idi Amin’s oppressive Ugandan regime to find sanctuary in Bradford where he found the support, community spirit and education which acted as springboard for a successful career in pharmacy and pharmaceuticals, most recently as business development manager at AstraZeneca.

He is a well-known figure in the West Yorkshire business and civic communities and in his new role will be championing the economic potential of the Bradford district, leading on clean growth, and working with partners to develop a new economic plan.