English Partnerships will soon become part of the Regional Development Agency. What has it done to help Bradford? Business Editor Paul Parker reports

THE WORK English Partnerships has been doing in Bradford will continue even though it is to be integrated into the new Regional Development Agency in April.

Since its formation five years ago the Government's agency for regeneration believes it has done more to improve the economic fortunes of Bradford than it has any other city in Yorkshire and Humberside by spending £18.5 million of investment in 35 schemes.

A large part of this work has been aimed at regenerating the city centre and bolstering Bradford's position as a commercial hub so that it can compete with nearby Leeds. There is no doubting Bradford's old rival has achieved far greater economic success, but there is no reason why this has to be the case.

English Partnerships has been working with a variety of partners to address the shortage of good quality sites for commerce and industry which has stopped Bradford achieving its full potential.

The agency's philosophy is that local economies will never achieve sustained regeneration without employment. By providing the right conditions to attract business, jobs are secured and created, generating spending power, which in turn stimulates other sectors such as retail and housing.

The Abbey National's decision to expand its Bradford operation with a £14 million new office complex at the Interchange was in part due to the agency's intervention. Its investment of £2.5m helped overcome the difficulties of building a five storey office complex at the former transport Interchange, which will provide 108,000 sq ft of space and up to 450 news jobs by mid-1999.

In the west end of the city, the agency ensured work went ahead on the Aldermanbury scheme which will bring 65,000 sq ft of much-needed commercial space and 140 car parking spaces to Bradford.

English Partnerships has also worked to overcome Bradford's difficulties to provide additional land and premises for industrial developments. For example it has made a £3m investment in a new business park, which includes a purpose built facility for the Waddington fat refinery. In addition it has assisted in the creation of a range of industrial units at Bowling Back Lane.

The agency takes an area-based approach to regeneration, tackling regeneration issues focused on a particular priority area. A good example of this is in Little Germany, where the agency has worked with Bradford Council to bring the 20 acre site back into profitable use so new investment can be attracted.

Elsewhere in Bradford English Partnerships is in discussion with the Council regarding a proposed scheme to refurbish Listers Mill to bring it back into mixed use.

Away from the city centre the agency is providing assistance to a number of housing regeneration projects, for example at the Holme Wood estate where it is working with Wimpey Homes to develop 90 new mixed tenure flats and houses by March 2000.

It has assisted Wimpey on a similar scheme in Allerton where old fashioned maisonettes have been demolished to make way for around 80 new housing units.

Through its Community Investment Fund the agency has also supported a variety of grass roots projects which are providing training and education facilities to often deprived local communities across the city. These schemes are helping people to gain the skills needed to take advantage of the employment opportunities created by the regeneration process.

The latest of these projects are at the Thornbury Centre in Thornbury, Bradford, where the agency has invested £100,000 to support the development of a church and community facility on the former site of St Margaret's Church and vicarage, and the Bradford Cathedral Project.

There are still many challenges ahead in Bradford but the new Regional Development Agency is committed to building on the firm foundations English Partnerships has laid to improve the economic fortunes of the city.

It will join the Yorkshire and Humberside Development Agency, the Rural Development Commission and the Challenge Fund arm of the Single Regeneration Budget to form a single organisation whose objectives will be to:

l Further economic development and regeneration of the region;

l Promote business efficiency, investment and competitiveness;

l Promote jobs;

l Enhance the development and application of skills relevant to the region's economy;

l Contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in the UK.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.