THE sense of optimism building in the Bradford district was tangible as the best of the district’s businesses were celebrated at the Telegraph & Argus Bradford Means Business Awards on Saturday.

More than 300 of the district’s great and good packed into the Aagrah Midpoint for another fantastic night focussing on the pioneering, innovating and enterprising spirit of so many Bradford entrepreneurs.

And it was fitting that the keynote speaker at the event was Peter Miller, chief operating officer for Westfield.

The construction and imminent opening of the Broadway shopping centre seems to have been the catalyst for a wave of optimism in the city centre which should fan out to the surrounding district over the next few months.

The buzz around the city is heartening to see, and rewards the patient wait for the arrival of the Broadway development.

The fact that there were a number of new and thriving city businesses represented on the awards shortlist – most notably with the Bradford Brewery winning best New Business Of The Year – offers strong support for this, as does the #bigupbradford hashtag gaining ground rapidly on social media.

This feel-good buzz will undoubtedly continue to grow with the opening of Broadway this November – and with the huge strength in depth the whole district offers in terms of business talent, as shown on Saturday, the whole district is in a great position to capitalise on it.

The district seems to have turned the corner and has the capacity and skills to retake its place as a northern powerhouse in its own right if they can be harnessed in the right way.