WHEN an ambitious project to shape Bradford over the next 20 years was unveiled in April 2000, its authors could not have foreseen that within 15 months the city would be the scene of riots, or that by the end of the decade the world would be gripped by economic crisis. But Bradford is nothing if not resilient - and has bounced back to be named ‘most improved city’.

IMPROVING the economy of the district was one of the main targets of Bradford 2020 Vision.

“The emphasis will be on enabling; enabling new businesses to spring up without hindrance and enabling established businesses to thrive by creating the right conditions so that they can compete effectively in world markets.”

But the report did not factor in the riots of 2001, the economic crash of 2008 and the subsequent effect it would have on the district.

Restaurateur and businessman Omar Khan was an original panel member at the launch of Vision 2020 and had worked extensively in the community.

He described the riots as ‘devastating’.

2020 VISION: How Bradford imagined 2020 at dawn of the new millennium

“It was the worst time, every single business was affected and I remember the Minister John Denham came up from London and I said we needed a ‘zero tolerance’ policy against this small pocket of criminals who had wreaked havoc to make the city safe again. I was pleased that very harsh sentences had been handed out.

“I feel like we were disowned by the international community.”

He also cited the recession of 2008 as another body blow to the district.

But he said Bradfordians had not lost their spirit.

“We did not let these challenges overcome us and I think considering what we have been through we are doing all right. There are good vibes here and our communities are working well together now.”

Businessman Shabir Hussain, who owns the highly successful chain of Akbar’s restaurants said the riots forced the community to turn to familiar industries in order to earn a living.

“After the riots no-one wanted to invest in Bradford. Major companies pulled out of the city and redirected their investment elsewhere but, because the community is hard-working and creative, we had to find another way to earn a living and we turned to what was familiar food.”

He said outside of London, Bradford was leading the way in terms of Pakistani and Indian food innovation and had transformed the concept of ‘going out for a curry’.

“The curry industry here makes a huge contribution to the economy of the district. We have customers who come from as far afield as Glasgow to make a weekend of coming down to eat at the original Akbar’s on Leeds Road. This has a knock on effect- they book hotels, go shopping, see the sites, it is all a boost for Bradford.”

Councillor David Green, former leader of the Council and portfolio holder for regeneration, agreed that unforeseen events had sent the Vision awry at times.

“But it was always a vision rather than a plan set in stone and even as we were developing that vision we knew it wasn’t a straight road and events would occur that would knock us off course.

“But we were trying to look ahead.”

One of the major effects of the crash was investors pulling out of the city.

“We were left with a hole in the ground as banks pulled the plug on investment. Bradford was last out of the recession and didn’t have the resilience of other cities to bounce back straightaway.”

But he praised Bradford’s immigrant population for bringing a fresh energy to the district adding that the growth of the high-class South Asian restaurants were a boost to the economy.

“Not just restaurants but the ‘ready-meal’ industry supplying to mainstream supermarkets has helped. Overall Bradford has demonstrated remarkable resilience.”

David Baldwin, chair of the Economic Partnership, said it was time for Bradford to stop apologising for the past.

“Two important things are happening in Bradford; all of us have our noses in the same direction and secondly we have stopped apologising for the past and started looking at the future and the evidence shows that this is having a major impact.”

Last month Bradford was declared the ‘most improved’ city in terms of economic growth by an influential think tank.

Mr Baldwin said: “A record reduction in unemployment and significant growth in skills have helped Bradford to claim the title of Britain’s most improved city in an influential annual report on economic wellbeing.”

The nationwide study measured the performance of 42 of the UK’s largest cities against a range of 10 priorities including jobs, health, income, skills, work-life balance, housing affordability, travel-to-work times, income equality, environment and business start-ups.

Bradford emerged as this year’s top improver, driven by jobs, work-life balance and skills among those aged 25 and over and with unemployment falling from 10 per cent to 4.1 per cent over the period. It also showed how more than 43 per cent of adults held at least an NVQ level 3 qualification in 2018, compared to 39 per cent in 2015.

Mr Baldwin said: “We are delighted that the underlying social and economic progress has been highlighted in the Demos-PwC report. It follows big votes of confidence in our district from the likes of NEC, Channel 4 and PwC itself, which opened a new assurance centre in Bradford earlier this year.

“We want everybody in the city to have the chance to succeed, whatever their background. We don’t want anybody to be left behind as our district rises up the rankings.”

Ben Glover, senior researcher at Demos, said: “We are delighted to see the great city of Bradford crowned this year’s top improver, largely due to an impressive fall in its unemployment rate.”

Bradford Council chief executive Kersten England said the city had had a lot to contend with and much of the decade following 2001 was about rebuilding confidence and optimism.

“The credit crunch and global recession of 2008 hit Bradford disproportionately hard and further knocked confidence and optimism and practical delivery of major regeneration schemes including, most notably, The Broadway.

“But some courageous civic leadership saw City Park delivered, Provident Financial enabled to build their new HQ in town and the Westfield development delivered.”

Of course national austerity measures also impacted services in the city.

But again, Ms England pointed to Bradford’s remarkable resilience and the ability of the people to bounce back. “The economy has grown with businesses delivering some of the UK’s fastest jobs growth; educational outcomes have improved and our work and skills programmes have national recognition; cultural industries are flourishing and we are a destination for major sporting events; health and care partnership working is amongst the best and our voluntary and community sector is dynamic, innovative and enterprising.

“The District’s reputation as a place to live and work, do business in and visit has been greatly enhanced. That progress however, has not always gone far enough or fast enough and much more remains to be done.

“Our economy is not yet punching its full weight, poverty and health inequalities persist, educational attainment still lags behind national and regional averages and we need a sea change in transport connectivity.

“The point here is that though events constrained the pace of progress the Vision provided an overarching framework that kept people focussed on the broad ambitions that had been set.”

Tomorrow we look at whether educational targets set by 2020 Vision have been reached.