Bradford's manufacturing and commercial base has suffered a few modest blows lately. Hi-tech company Filtronic recently entered into talks with staff with a view to shedding jobs. The end of a lease means Abbey National is to close one of its city-centre branches and transfer business to the other. And now New Plan Furniture is in trouble, a victim of competition from the Far East, with 70 jobs lost yesterday.

This is a disappointing series of events. There is obviously a difficult climate at present, particularly in manufacturing, but Bradford can ill afford to lose any businesses or see others slim down, given the need to provide work for a young and growing population.

We would welcome a concentration of efforts to help to regenerate the business community in the district, with special emphasis on helping new businesses to get off the ground.

Particularly welcome would be a more obvious, more public effort on the part of the Council, Bradford Vision, Business Link and Yorkshire Forward to get more new businesses started and offer encouragement to the entrepreneurs whose bright ideas sometimes need a helping hand in the early stages if they are to thrive.

It is important that Bradford attracts jobs from outside and sees established companies expand here rather than shrink. But there needs to be a special emphasis on encouraging home-grown talent and innovation, of which Bradford has plenty.

The plan to nurture embryonic businesses in the Manningham Mills complex should prove helpful in this respect. But the district cannot wait. Action needs to be seen now to counter and hopefully reverse the depressing trickle away of jobs and businesses.