A drive to get top restaurant operators from across the UK to open in Bradford city centre has been beefed up.

Campaigners say that work on the Westfield shopping centre and financial incentives offered through the city centre growth zone programme, along with Bradford’s status as the UK Curry Capital, should help attract new operators to transform the city’s culinary offering and generate more employment.

The efforts will focus on developing areas such as Market Street and Broadway which have several empty premises and are close to the Westfield centre, as a new ‘culinary hub’ for the city.

Lobbying group Bradford Breakthrough, which represents 32 private and public sector leaders, together with Bradford Council, is staging a major event next month to which more than 700 restaurant and other food-related businesses from across the UK have been invited.

The Taste of Bradford event on March 27 at the Midland Hotel will enable potential investors to find out what premises are available, what the financial incentives are and why now is a good time to consider opening a restaurant in Bradford.

Colin Philpott, Bradford Breakthrough chief executive, said: “We are the UK Curry Capital and we have a number of great restaurants across the Bradford district but everyone acknowledges that the city centre in particular needs more restaurants and more choice of food as a key part of developing the leisure and business economy.

“With work now under way on the Westfield shopping centre and some significant financial incentives available through the Growth Zone, now is the right time for people to open in Bradford.”

Mr Philpott said Bradford Breakthrough members believe a better restaurant offer is vital to the regeneration of the city centre. The group includes business people, cultural leaders and council officials who will broker contacts between potential new restaurant operators and property agents looking for tenants in city centre units and in the Westfield centre.

It includes Amjad Pervez, managing director of Seafresh, Gideon Seymour, from arts organisation Fabric, Saleem Kader, managing director of Bombay Stores, Dave West, from Little Germany Action, David Robertson-Brown from the Gumption Centre, solicitor and property developer Simmy Sekhon, along with Kevin Reed and Andy Taylor from Bradford Council and Mr Philpott.

A Taste of Bradford will include meetings with property agents, presentations on financial incentives worth up to £170,000 per company and city centre tours. Delegates will also be able to sample some existing culinary offers and attend the opening of the 20th Bradford International Film Festival at the National Media Museum that evening.

Restaurants of all types are being targeted, including English, Asian and European. Although the focus is on the city centre, the group also wants to talk to anyone interested in opening anywhere in the Bradford district.

Bradford Council last week announced proposals to change planning regulations to make it easier for change of use of premises within the Growth Zone so that, for example, a unit previously used as a shop could become a restaurant more easily than in the past.