A major new plan to drive Bradford forward over the next ten years has been unveiled by Council bosses.

The ambitious scheme is to make Bradford the UK’s ‘producer city’ to give the district a national – and even global – reputation for being a good place to make things, from car parts to artwork.

This would then drive the wider regeneration of the area.

Council leader David Green insisted the plan was not just empty words but was firmly grounded in the district’s existing business strengths.

He said hi-tech, creative and service industries would play a key role in creating the ‘producer city’, as well as more traditional manufacturing firms.

And he said schools, colleges and the university would also have a key part to play to make sure the city had a workforce with the right skills.

He said: “If you look at the district economy, what we do is we make things. We produce things. It may not be at the level it was 120 years ago – although if you look at output rather than employment, there is not such a great disparity.

“This is where the idea of the ‘producer city’ came from. We have got a high percentage of manufacturing work here, in purely traditional terms, but we also produce culture, we produce art, we produce services. It’s in the DNA of the city.”

The ‘producer city’ label will gather together a host of different economic and regeneration schemes which have either already started or are in the pipeline.

This branding will then be used to try to attract new investment to the city. It forms part of the Council’s new ten-year vision for Bradford, called the City Plan.

The Council gave business leaders and groups a briefing on its plan on Monday.

Chief executive Tony Reeves said: “It was a consultation evening to test out these concepts to see if we have been listening to the right messages from these businesses and different groups.

“I think the message we got was overwhelmingly, ‘Yes’.”

He said while the Council couldn’t control what businesses did, it wanted to give them the conditions they needed to flourish.

He said: “If we can provide leadership, funding where it is needed, getting the planning right and the infrastructure, like transport links, to enable companies to grow, then we will make a real difference.”

The ‘producer city’ brand has already got a cautious welcome from two key organisations.

Both Bradford Chamber of Commerce and lobby group Bradford Breakthrough have been consulted on the Council’s plans.

Bradford Breakthrough’s chief executive, Colin Philpott, said: “I think the concept of a ‘producer city’ is something people already feel they can get behind – although there needs to be more discussion about what exactly it means.

“My understanding is that producer doesn’t just mean manufacturer, it’s a producer of anything of economic or cultural value. I think that makes sense.

“But it needs to then lead to a list of actions. That’s the next stage, we’re not expecting that now, but certainly a vision is stage one, and stage two is very much a list of actions and projects that people can get behind, beyond the ones we already know about, such as the Growth Zone. Otherwise there’s a danger these things remain strategies.

“Quite understandably, in the past people have got a bit sceptical about strategies.

“If the strategy is linked to an action plan, which I think it is, then I think it is the right approach and I support it.”

Mike Cartwright, policy executive at Bradford Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber still needed to consult with its members before drawing up a full reaction to the plan.

He said: “The ‘producer city’ concept has been fairly well received. People like the idea of a city that’s creative and makes things, and I suppose it’s a phrase that is both historical and modern. It taps into the current zeitgeist about calls for support for manufacturing, but doesn’t leave out other sectors and industries.”

The Council’s ‘producer city’ ambition is just one part of its new City Plan, which will set out an overarching vision for Bradford from 2013 to 2023.

Bradford Council will be developing its plan in more depth, with input from businesses and other interested groups, over the next seven months. It is aiming to publish a full document in December or January, setting out its aims in more detail.

But a key ambition will be improving the city centre, making it a more attractive place to live, work and socialise.

Councillor Green described the City Plan as a ‘road map’, which would need to respond to changing demands from industrial and retail groups over the years.

He said: “We are aiming to work with the private sector, to have a plan that isn’t like tram-lines, but will make sure that we can still get to where we want to be in ten years’ or 15 years’ time, together.

“It’s not about instant gratification, it’s about having a vision and making sure we can deliver it for the area.”

The City Plan will be split into four areas – people, place, property and prosperity.

Under its ‘people’ plan, the Council would encourage city centre living by improving its residential offer, night-time economy and sense of community.

Coun Green said of the four strands, ‘people’ was the most important.

He said: “We need people to want to be in the district – in the city centre in particular. We want it to be a ‘place to be’.

“We want to make sure people have got the skills to take advantage of the opportunities in the district and we want to make sure people have got support from the Council to achieve their goals.

“That leads on to ‘prosperity’, because if people are in work and people have the skills they need, then people are confident enough to invest. It becomes a virtuous circle.”

Bradford Council has already set out its vision for ‘place’ with its City Centre Area Action Plan, which will allocate which areas of land can be used for which purposes over the coming years.

And it hopes to improve ‘property’ in the city centre by reducing the number of vacant buildings and investing in development.