The news that the Laisterdyke woolcombing and topmaking firm of W & J Whitehead has called in the receivers severs another of Bradford's links with the industry on which its fortunes were founded. Now only SMC Textiles remains to represent woolcombing not only in this city but in the UK.

It is a disheartening time - particularly for the 600 workers whose jobs are now under threat, but also for Bradford, which seems set to lose a major company which has been an important part of the local industrial scene for more than 140 years.

Times have changed. Britain is no longer the traditional manufacturing nation it once was. Bradford is having to move on, along with the rest of the country.

The district has already made its mark as a centre for high-tech industries. It is taking an important step towards consolidating its reputation as a leisure location with the building of the Leisure Exchange off Vicar Lane. And today comes news of a new pub to be created in the imaginatively-renovated Telecom House, near Centenary Square.

Bradford is certainly not at a standstill. An encouraging indication that things are going ahead as normal came yesterday with the unveiling of plans for Rawson Market which should breathe new life into the top end of town.

And now comes the good news that Next is to increase its presence in the city by opening a third store, this time in the Forster Square retail park, to create 45 new jobs. It is a useful gesture of confidence in the future of the city as it loses another part of its past.